Allured By You By A.D Graves

‘Allured By You’ is the latest book by A.D. Graves.

In the quiet town of Cherry Hills, Colorado, life gets stirred up for sixteen-year-old Bridget Bulgari. When the tranquil community gains new residents Bridget quickly develops an addictive interest in the girl next door. Seventeen-year-old Veronica Delacroix is uprooted from her life and thrown into a whole new world. She has the opportunity to reinvent herself, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. Bridget, fascinated by Veronica, monitors her at all times. However, when her obsession begins to spiral out of control and Veronica’s life is put in danger, Bridget discovers if she has the strength to do what needs to be done.

I hate writing reviews about books that I didn’t particularly and sadly this was the case with ‘Allured By You’.

Initially I was excited about this story, as I really enjoy Young Adult books and thought the premise was great but I really struggled with the story.

The story is seen through the narrative of Bridget who develops an obsession with her new neighbour Veronica. Veronica begins an emotional and physically abusive relationship with Jamie which Veronica watches from her bedroom window. It’s whilst obsessing over Veronica that Bridget starts a new relationship with Danny, the son of her family’s maid and they rapidly fall in love and he also takes part in watching Veronica. And whilst Veronica’s parents are away working in Syria, Bridget volunteers to tidy the house whilst they’re away, using this as an opportunity to get closer to Veronica.

The main struggle I had with this book was Bridget, I disliked her immensely. Her obsession with Veronica was intense and as much as she wanted to be Veronica’s friend, she stood by and watched her be repeatedly beat up, never intervened or behaved like the friend she aspired to be. Her obsession verged on voyeurism and the graphic details of the fights as well as Veronica’s substance abuse as well as self harm make for unsettling reading. I also found Bridget’s relationship with Danny, quite condescending as she brought him to the fanciest restaurants and expected his life to fit seamlessly into hers.

‘Allured By You’ is a dark, twisted story of obsession that the potential to be a gripping story but unfortunately that wasn’t the case for me.

You can buy ‘Allured By You’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.