Last Stop from Innocence

This read was everything one can ask for in a book. I was sucked right in the moment I started listening. The narrator was wonderful and the author made the characters so raw and real. Takers Allen has put so many issues to light in this book and tells from a perspective many of us need to see from. Thank you Book Sparks and Net Galley for this audiobook in exchange for my review!

📆 90’s Flash Back ⏰

Picture it : DMX is on the radio, beepers are tucked in Tommy Hilfiger ( although most of us are pronouncing it “HilfIgure”) jeans, the girls are popping with their burgundy lips & smelling as sweet as their cucumber melon body spray from Bath & Body Works. You’re in the 90’s. Were you Brandy or Monica when you sang “The Boy is Mine?”

Amore’s ( obsessed with this name) mom passed away & she has to move in with her “barely there” father for the rest of the summer before attending Howard for school in the fall. But, Jersey City, NJ is nothing like what she is used to. The city streets are dangerous & you never know what to expect when you turn the corner. There’s a wanted man out there right now for kidnapping, raping & murdering between 4-6 women.

She starts hanging out with her cousin Tammy whom she absolutely adores (so do I) & throughout their journey she runs into Gabriel aka “Guapo Guapo” which she automatically assumes stands for handsome as would most, but actually means $$. He’s nothing short of extraordinary in the eyes of every girl he passes by, including Amore. But when he sees her time stands still.

But Gabe runs with the wrong crowd in order to take care of his baby brother & parents, to make ends meet. But what 18-year old girl would care what a guy does for a living if he’s THAT hot , makes bank, takes her out on motorcycle rides & adores her like no one ever has. It’s just a summer fling anyway, right? What’s the worst that can happen?

But soon tragedy strikes not once but twice in their own little circle of the world & Amore if left devastated. In this thriller meets romance novel, you will be sweating from the heat under the sheets but also looking over your shoulder for what happens next. This book moved at breakneck speed for me.

I’m from NJ so that made me enjoy this book that much more & although I was young in the 90’s I wasn’t TOO small to remember everything I mentioned. I also enjoyed Gabe’s & Tammy’s Interludes.

5 ⭐️

Thank you BookSparks, Netgalley, Podium Audio & Takkera Allen my #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. This was title #3 of 4 on the #src2021 Audiobook Track!