Taking Flight (Code of Honor Book 2) by Brooke May – Review by Pippa Woods

Taking Flight by Brooke May
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you read Courage of Us and saw my review, I’m basically feeling the same way. I love May’s world-building and character development skills. Not that I “like” all her characters, but she develops them really well, in that they feel like real people with feelings, thoughts, and a personality that drives them. So, I’m giving it 3 Stars for May’s writing skills and her ability to build a vibrant, full world. But once again, I feel the premise of the plot was completely unrelatable (to me). From the opening scene, I found Jody weak, whiny, and frustrating. She wanted to be her own person and she knew she was being treated poorly by her family and could have gotten away, but she always chose to be the “victim” and went along with their schemes. Then she only gets a backbone to change her life and go after what she wants once Holt is there and he starts pushing back. So, I had to wonder what would have happened to Jody if she hadn’t met Holt? Would she have stuck with her sister or gotten into even more self-destructive behavior to act out against her perceived cage? I think it’s easy to blame Jilly and Jody’s parents for being mean, neglectful vultures, BUT Jody is a grown woman who can stop the relationships and neglect/abuse at any time. So why hasn’t she? While I appreciate the fact that love can and does change people for the better, when it’s real, I also have to say that people who ONLY grow and change because they have someone “stronger” than them to push and cause the change is called co-dependency. I’m not blaming Jody for wanting a relationship with her family or for getting caught in a rut she hates, but I just didn’t interpret the growth she was supposed to have in this story in the same way I think the author intended it to be viewed. But as I said in my other review, I just may not be May’s target audience. I am totally sure that tons of people will love this story and find themselves relating to Jody and Holt. So don’t discount it because of my review, just because it’s not MY thing doesn’t mean it won’t 100% be yours!
Pippa

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