Publication: July 1st 2015 by Random House AustraliaSource: Purchased
Description from Goodreads and book cover:
Taylor and Sierra have been best friends for their whole lives. But Taylor’s fed up. Why does Sierra always get what – and who – she wants? From kissing Taylor’s crush to stealing the guy they both met online for herself, Sierra doesn’t seem to notice when she hurts her friends.
So when Sierra says Jacob Jones is the one and asks her friends to cover for her while she goes to meet him for the first time, Taylor rolls her eyes.
But Sierra doesn’t come back when she said she would.
One day. Two days. Three . . .
What if Taylor’s worrying for nothing? What if Sierra’s just being Sierra, forgetting about everyone else to spend time with her new guy?
When Taylor finally tells Sierra’s mum that her daughter is missing, Taylor and her friends are thrown into a dark world they never even knew existed.
Can Taylor find Sierra’s abductor in time? Or should she be looking for a killer?
Taylor and Sierra have been best friends for their whole lives. But Taylor’s fed up. Why does Sierra always get what – and who – she wants? From kissing Taylor’s crush to stealing the guy they both met online for herself, Sierra doesn’t seem to notice when she hurts her friends.
So when Sierra says Jacob Jones is the one and asks her friends to cover for her while she goes to meet him for the first time, Taylor rolls her eyes.
But Sierra doesn’t come back when she said she would.
One day. Two days. Three . . .
What if Taylor’s worrying for nothing? What if Sierra’s just being Sierra, forgetting about everyone else to spend time with her new guy?
When Taylor finally tells Sierra’s mum that her daughter is missing, Taylor and her friends are thrown into a dark world they never even knew existed.
Can Taylor find Sierra’s abductor in time? Or should she be looking for a killer?
When a former police officer and paramedic writes a novel inspired by true
stories of online predators and love gone wrong, you know you’re getting the
real deal.
Mel's Review
I picked this book up on a whim after finding it at Big W on Thursday. I had not heard of it until I saw it sitting on the shelf. It’s not often that I read YA mystery, or YA contemporary for that matter, but when I do stray from my usual fantasy and dystopian reads I find a gem like Risk.
I had no expectations when I started reading, but mostly because I had not spotted the line on the back cover about Ferris being a former police officer. When I saw that, my expectation increased and I was even more excited to see how the story finished. I was not disappointed.
With a writing style that is easy to read and characters that are well developed, this book was entertaining from the very first page. I loved the drama and the mystery and the shocking truths that this book contains about online privacy.
Having grown up with technology and easy access to the internet, I know all too well how easy it is to strike up conversations with strangers online. Having a wary personality myself, I hated the idea and distrusted anyone I didn’t know, so the only people I let chat to me online were people I knew offline and never entered a public chatroom, but I knew a few people who were quite willing to chat to strangers. Thinking about this after reading Risk and I realise that any one of those people could have been victims of online predators.
I believe online awareness is definitely something that needs to be taught in schools (I hope it already is; it wasn’t by the time I graduated), not just at home. Risk is a perfect text to add to a high school curriculum.
I have absolutely no hesitation giving Risk a 5/5 rating, and I’m very much looking forward to reading more books by Fleur Ferris!
Jen's Review
I had actually never heard of this book until Mel told me about it. I read the synopsis on Goodreads and I was immediately interested. I have been on a YA contemporary and mystery kick lately and this book definitely did not disappoint.
This was an absolutely amazing book. The main purpose of this book was to address the important issue of online safety and awareness and it definitely did that. It was made more relatable to me by the fact that it was written by an Australian author and it took place in Australia. It reinforces the message that these things can happen anywhere and not just in America.
The writing was brilliant and the book was so fast paced. The first few chapters set the scene and once it started getting into the plot, things really took off. The outcome for Sierra was revealed before the book was even half way over and I thought that things may have been moving along just a little too quickly. But then the book went onto to portray the aftermath and people’s emotions and reactions to the situation. I thought that was a fantastic direction for the book to take and I loved it.
The creation of the website was also great and I liked how it began as a simple idea but eventually became something much bigger. It became a way to raise awareness and get a message across to the target audience in a very effective way.
I will admit, I did not like the character of Sierra at all in the beginning. She was portrayed to be very selfish and she constantly irritated me. But throughout the book, we begin to see that there was maybe more to her than that.
I really liked Taylor for the most part. She was put into the terrible situation of feeling thankful and relieved that it could have been her but wasn’t, while also feeling guilty that she didn’t do more to try and help her best friend. She definitely tries to make up for this though and I admired her courage and determination. Though she did have a brief moment of desperation or insanity or both, in which she does something incredibly stupid, dangerous and reckless. I can understand why she did it, but it was just plain stupid.
Overall, this was such a fantastic and well written book that provided a chilling insight into just how easy it is for young girls to be preyed upon by online predators. The fact that the author is a former police officer and paramedic only adds to how realistic this situation could be. I gave it a 5/5 rating and recommend it to everyone, YA readers especially.
I picked this book up on a whim after finding it at Big W on Thursday. I had not heard of it until I saw it sitting on the shelf. It’s not often that I read YA mystery, or YA contemporary for that matter, but when I do stray from my usual fantasy and dystopian reads I find a gem like Risk.
I had no expectations when I started reading, but mostly because I had not spotted the line on the back cover about Ferris being a former police officer. When I saw that, my expectation increased and I was even more excited to see how the story finished. I was not disappointed.
With a writing style that is easy to read and characters that are well developed, this book was entertaining from the very first page. I loved the drama and the mystery and the shocking truths that this book contains about online privacy.
Having grown up with technology and easy access to the internet, I know all too well how easy it is to strike up conversations with strangers online. Having a wary personality myself, I hated the idea and distrusted anyone I didn’t know, so the only people I let chat to me online were people I knew offline and never entered a public chatroom, but I knew a few people who were quite willing to chat to strangers. Thinking about this after reading Risk and I realise that any one of those people could have been victims of online predators.
I believe online awareness is definitely something that needs to be taught in schools (I hope it already is; it wasn’t by the time I graduated), not just at home. Risk is a perfect text to add to a high school curriculum.
I have absolutely no hesitation giving Risk a 5/5 rating, and I’m very much looking forward to reading more books by Fleur Ferris!
Jen's Review
I had actually never heard of this book until Mel told me about it. I read the synopsis on Goodreads and I was immediately interested. I have been on a YA contemporary and mystery kick lately and this book definitely did not disappoint.
This was an absolutely amazing book. The main purpose of this book was to address the important issue of online safety and awareness and it definitely did that. It was made more relatable to me by the fact that it was written by an Australian author and it took place in Australia. It reinforces the message that these things can happen anywhere and not just in America.
The writing was brilliant and the book was so fast paced. The first few chapters set the scene and once it started getting into the plot, things really took off. The outcome for Sierra was revealed before the book was even half way over and I thought that things may have been moving along just a little too quickly. But then the book went onto to portray the aftermath and people’s emotions and reactions to the situation. I thought that was a fantastic direction for the book to take and I loved it.
The creation of the website was also great and I liked how it began as a simple idea but eventually became something much bigger. It became a way to raise awareness and get a message across to the target audience in a very effective way.
I will admit, I did not like the character of Sierra at all in the beginning. She was portrayed to be very selfish and she constantly irritated me. But throughout the book, we begin to see that there was maybe more to her than that.
I really liked Taylor for the most part. She was put into the terrible situation of feeling thankful and relieved that it could have been her but wasn’t, while also feeling guilty that she didn’t do more to try and help her best friend. She definitely tries to make up for this though and I admired her courage and determination. Though she did have a brief moment of desperation or insanity or both, in which she does something incredibly stupid, dangerous and reckless. I can understand why she did it, but it was just plain stupid.
Overall, this was such a fantastic and well written book that provided a chilling insight into just how easy it is for young girls to be preyed upon by online predators. The fact that the author is a former police officer and paramedic only adds to how realistic this situation could be. I gave it a 5/5 rating and recommend it to everyone, YA readers especially.
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