Review: Run - Kody Keplinger

Run by Kody Keplinger, published by Hodder Childrens Books on 14th July 2016

Goodreads synopsis:
Bo Dickinson is a girl with a wild reputation, a deadbeat dad, and an alcoholic mom. Everyone in town knows the Dickinsons are a bad lot, but Bo doesn't care what anyone thinks.

Agnes Atwood has never stayed out past ten p.m., never gone on a date and never broken any of her parents' overbearing rules. Rules that are meant to protect their legally-blind daughter, but Agnes isn't quite sure what they are protecting her from.

Despite everything, Bo and Agnes become best friends. And it's the sort of friendship that runs more deeply than anything else. But when Bo shows up in the middle of the night, police sirens wailing in the distance, Agnes is faced with the biggest choice she's ever had to make. Run, or stay?

Review:
I normally always enjoy a new Kody Keplinger book.  Her writing is refreshingly real and honest and that's something that really appeals to me.  I have to be totally honest myself though and admit that 'Run' didn't really do it for me.  I didn't out and out dislike it but it didn't compare well with some of my favourites from her other titles, such as 'The Duff' which still holds the top spot.

The story is about two girls who could not be more opposite but who end up becoming best friends.  Bo is the wild girl about town who has a big reputation but is it all talk?  Agnes is visually impaired and has always been the one to follow others.  She is not a risk taker or a rule breaker but her relationship with Bo might well change all of that. I did like Agnes but Bo was a lot harder to warm to.  I felt that she took advantage of their friendship a lot and never fully developed into someone who I could end up rooting for. 

I also wasn't particularly keen on the format of the book which jumped backward and forward a lot of the time.  I usually prefer a much more linear structure and found myself losing interest a lot of the time.  As well as the timeframe, the narrative also alternated a lot too.  Bo and Agnes both get to tell the story from their own points of view.  I found Agnes's chapters fairly enjoyable but I ended up skimming through some of Bo's narrative. 

The ending was unusual and wasn't really what I was expecting.  Frankly it just fell flat and for me, the book didn't finish on a high note.  It's a shame because I have enjoyed most of Kody Keplinger's books in the past.  I'm going to chalk this one off and move onto anticipate her next offering.