Maddie thought she and Logan would be friends forever. But when your dad is a Secret Service agent and your best friend is the president’s son, sometimes life has other plans. Before she knows it, Maddie’s dad is dragging her to a cabin in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness.No phone.No Iinternet.And not a single word from Logan.Maddie tells herself it’s okay. After all, she’s the most popular … all, she’s the most popular girl for twenty miles in any direction. She has wood to cut and weapons to bedazzle. Her life is full.
Until Logan shows up six years later . . .
And Maddie wants to kill him.
But before that can happen, an assailant appears out of nowhere, knocking Maddie off a cliff and dragging Logan to some unknown fate. Maddie knows she could turn back- and get help. But the weather is turning and the terrain will only get more treacherous, the animals more deadly.
Maddie still really wants to kill Logan.
But she has to save him first.
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The book is something 6th graders should read because last year when I was in 6th grade I loved the book and I finished the book in an hour.
I loved this book that I read if twice. It is packed with love, hate, long lost feelings, feelings surfaced, and I loved it so much. This is a good reader of you love kidnapper romance books. Wonderful job.
This book was (and I know it will sound crazy) the best book I’ve read in my life. This has a factor of everything ,tragic story, adventure, realisticness, funny, inspirational, unpredictable, etc. these two kids went through so much and changed so much and yet stuck together at the time they needed each other most (even though one of them wanted to kill the other)
This book tells us about real stuff about a persistent and other and i love realistic.
🙂
:O
😀
I think this book is a amazing thrilling book that I would recommend to all ages!
Oh, how I love this twisty turny book. It is really original and the storyline you won’t find anywhere else, its really interesting and gives you this “yes yes yes” vibe. Read the book!
Not If I Save You First (2018) is a standalone teen thriller/romance by popular NYT bestselling YA author, Ally Carter. As a colossal fan of her Heist Society and Embassy Row series, I was excited about her latest release in the same vein as her previous works, involving U.S. Secret Service agents, the President’s son, and an Alaskan adventure. Fun!
This was a quick read. It’s light, entertaining, and feels like watching a movie – and those are compliments. It’s commercial fiction; I expect it to be that way. If we learn anything, it’s about Alaska and off-grid living. Not as technologically exciting as Heist Society or politically intriguing as Embassy Row, but I’ll take it.
The story is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Maddie Manchester, whose father used to be the U.S. President’s Secret Service body guard. Maddie was best friends with the President’s son, Logan, but after a highly dangerous incident at the White House, her father moved her to an off-grid cabin in Alaska, where her life has been survival in the wilderness the last six years. For the first two years of her curious exile, Maddie wrote Logan every day, but he never wrote back. The loss of her best and only friend devastated Maddie. So when Logan reappears in her life, being sent to stay with Maddie and her father in Alaska as a sort of wilderness rehabilitation for bad behavior, Maddie is furious with him. All of that is short-lived, though, when Logan is suddenly kidnapped by a young Russian man the next day. Now Maddie, with the home court advantage, will stop at nothing to rescue Logan.
My fondness for the author personally and her other works aside, I found this book somewhat lacking. Maybe because it wasn’t part of a trilogy or series, but it felt like we didn’t get to know the characters that well. We got to know their cutouts, but not who they truly are. Logan is supposed to be lovable troublemaker yet genius with a photographic memory, yet we don’t see a whole lot of his skills showcased and we never get a good reason out of him why he never replied to Maddie’s letters and broke her heart. As for Maddie, I felt that the author was pushing the girly-girl stuff way too hard. It didn’t feel organic. I think she may have been trying to distinguish Maddie apart from her other heroines – like Kat from Heist Society or Grace from Embassy Row, neither of whom are super feminine or into girly things, because it totally worked for their characters. Maddie worrying about her skin, hair, fashion, and nails in the middle of life-or-death situations – especially when she’s otherwise wielding axes and knives and guns and knows how to rough it in the wilderness – felt forced. Because I had trouble buying the characters individually, I couldn’t buy them together romantically either. But maybe I’m just old.
The writing is easy to go along with, action-oriented, well executed. The plot is fast-paced and constantly churning, although not as clever or as intricate as the aforementioned Embassy Row or Heist Society series. I thought that what the kidnapper did to Maddie in cold blood was despicable, so in my eyes he was irredeemable regardless of the motive.
At the end of the day, I have mixed feelings about Not If I Save You First. It wasn’t her best, but was still an entertaining ride and I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it. I love when I find a book I can’t put down, and despite some of its shortcomings, this was one of those books. I look forward to Ally Carter’s next release.
Normally, while I enjoy Ally Carter’s fun style of writing, her commitment to research is also on display in this book. She could have made up the details, as us writers are wont to do from time to time, but the fact that she did her homework made the story all the richer. Also, Maddie feels like a more developed protagonist that she has shared with us in the past. If you are an Ally Carter fan, you will find yourself quite pleased with the fullness of the tale presented here.
I loved this story! I wish I was as tough as what Maddie is. Her and Logan’s relationship is so real, and when it was going well, marvelous. I like that some of the bad guys were complex. And there was a perfect amount of back story without losing the main story or making it boring.
The BEST book ever! I LOVED it!!
(Read June/2018)
This was a fun, quick YA romance that was light on the romance and heavier on the action/adventure/suspense. Since this was my first Ally Carter book, I’m itching for more of her whip smart writing and creative story lines. I also spent some of my time in this book listening to the audio production. It was my second time listening to this particular narrator and I found she did a fabulous job with all aspects, including the masculine Russian accents. Much better than my previous experience.
Our story begins with 10 year olds Logan and Maddie. He’s the First Son, her Dad is a secret service agent and they are playing in the White House before a State Dinner when there is an attack by evil Russians. The kids witness Logan’s Mom almost being kidnapped.
As an aside, on #MuellerThursday, the 80s girl in me deeply appreciates that the Russians are the Bad Guys again. Kinda wild that like a third of Americans don’t feel that way? I must say, growing up, I always thought we’d win the Cold War. Funny how that turned out, huh?
Anyhoo, after the attack, Maddie & her Dad move to the Alaskan wilderness. She writes lots of letters to Logan but he never writes back. 6 years later, Logan has run off from his secret service detail one too many times and gets sent to Alaska as a kind of punishment. All their parents thought the kids would like seeing each other again, but Maddie is VERY ANGRY at Logan for ignoring her, but then he gets kidnapped and she has to save him, survive the wilderness, escape the bad Russians.
Also, she has a bedazzled axe. As one does.
Pluses: As with all good YA, Maddie and Logan are free of parental supervision and have to save themselves. Maddie is snarky and funny and is basically a 16 year old James Bond–she can do anything and make a silly quip afterwards. She’s like LOGAN DO WHAT I TELL YOU, and then he does it. 100% Girl Power.
Minuses: I think YA should be judged on its own merits, and there aren’t a whole lot of minuses. Adults will notice some implausible plot/character development, but kids wouldn’t care.
Verdict: This is a super fun YA read. The romance is sweet but the “surviving the wilderness and saving everyone from the bad guys” is the main story.
I really liked it
Hi I’ve read this book about ten times not a lie so good got to read
Great book!
I believe that this just may be the best Ally Carter book yet! The characters were funny and unique. Logan was probably my favorite. I loved how he kept trying to spark conversation between him and his kidnapper. Lol!!!! Great job Ally Carter
A little too young for me. It was a cute story.
I just finished this book and really enjoyed it. I love YA fiction and action adventure. This was a great blending of both with very good characters.
Fun, easy read, good story line
The female protagonist was wise and practiced in survival skills, fearless and cunning, strong minded and loyal to her childhood friend. Initially she believed he had abondoned their friendship, but in time, an alternate truth was revealed to her. Together, they fought to escape those who meant them harm, set an effective trap and traded roles in a plot twist.