Thin White Line

Despite the slightly typical bad boy versus his best friend plot, the author tackles some serious issues like peer pressure, drug abuse and social acceptance quite beautifully . The book relays a message without being too dramatic or over the top.

I did enjoy reading Thin White Line, although YA fiction is not my usual read.

The story is about young love, first love, heartbreak and everything in between.

Kenzie is torn away from her privileged lifestyle and private school after her parents separate. She finds herself in public school, living in an apartment with her mother, over a thousand miles away from her friends and the only home she's known.

Her cousin Brooke is in a band, with some very cool, very hot, talented, tattooed guys. Kenzie finds herself attracted to Ryder, but then there's Deklan, who's quiet, made her feel welcome, and almost normal again.

Kenzie is having a tough time dealing with her parents separation, she finally has some freedom and uses it to find new friends and find acceptance of her situation.

Kenzie is very young, and in some parts of the story this shows through. She very much wants to fit in and be accepted, so she goes with the flow most of the time. It takes a few 'out of control' moments for her to realise she's better than that, and one tragic event to change the course of her life, and the lives of those around her, forever.

Ryder is your typical good looking teenage boy. He's cocky and self assured, he knows he can have any girl at his beck and call, and he's never been denied what he wants.

Deklan is older, he's finished with High School and he has a job working at Branded, a tattoo parlour. He finds himself attracted to Kenzie, but sees the way she is with Ryder, and steers clear; but it does become harder for him, and his feelings creep through throughout the book.

Overall, Thin White Line by J.A. Templeton is a good, quick, easy read. The characters are good, the story is told well. It doesn't set you alight and it won't change your life, but it's still worth a go on a lazy Sunday afternoon.