Review: The Lure by Lynne Ewing

Title: The Lure

Author: Lynne Ewing

Publisher: Balzer & Bray

Publication date: February 11, 2014

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)

Source: Publisher

Format: ARC

Pages: 288

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From the bestselling author of the Daughters of the Moon series comes a gritty, sexy novel about a teen who is forced to become a "lure"-a beautiful girl who is used to lure victims of gang violence.

Fifteen-year-old Blaise Montgomery lives in the gritty outskirts of Washington, DC, where a stray bullet can steal a life on the way to school. Drugs and violence are the only ways to survive, so Blaise and her friends turn to gangs for safety, money, and love. When Blaise is invited to join Core 9, one of the most infamous crews, she jumps at the chance. Though her best guy friends, Rico and Satch, warn her about the danger, she agrees to be beaten for a minute straight as part of the gang's initiation ritual.

Now Blaise is finally part of a crew. A family.

But things get only more dangerous when she becomes a member of Core 9 and tensions with a rival gang heat up. Trek, the head of Core 9, asks Blaise to be his "lure," the sexy bait he'll use to track down enemy gang members and exact revenge. Rico and Satch tell her it's a death sentence, but Blaise can't resist the money and unparalleled power. As Trek puts Blaise in increasingly dangerous situations, she begins to see that there's more to lose than she ever realized-including Satch, the one person who has the power to get under her skin. With death lurking around every corner, should Blaise continue to follow the only path she's ever known, or cut and run?

Blaise is such a cool name. Like, I am slightly jealous of her name. Anyway, Blaise Montgomery lives just outside of Washington D.C, and it's a hard life. Her grandma works two jobs, and barely spends any money because she tries to put it towards Blaise's college fund. In desperate need of a family and money, Blaise takes up an offer to be beaten into Core 9, the most notorious gang in her town. Her best friends Rico and Satch warn her against it, and they had reason to. A little while after, Trek, the leader of the gang, asks Blaise to dress in provocative clothes and lure other gang members to their impending doom. All the money and power he offers her sways Blaise's decision, and she agrees. Will Blaise regret this decision-and possibly pay with her life?

When I opened to the first page, I was a bit wary. I've never read a book like this. At first, the read was very tedious, and I would have to force myself to focus on the book. Then, things started picking up. I liked Blaise as a character, although I couldn't really relate to her. I mean, if someone gave me the chance to make money by becoming a "lure" like Blaise had, I would've gave a very firm "No" and then run for my life. I can say that I didn't like Rico. He was a bit too explosive and impulsive for my cautious, thirteen year old self.

The ending hurt me. It was unexpected, but it was expected. It's like a tiny part of your brain was like Hey! This is totally going to happen. And you brush the idea aside. 50 pages later, said thing happens and you get surprised, but not entirely. I hope that made sense. I was trying to describe it without spoiling it. Anyway, the ending was well written, and it made me kind of happy to read such a good ending to such a good book. Recommended to teens 13-17, The Lure has definitely earned a place on my bookshelf.