Reviews

Nothing Left to Lose: Part 1: Guarding the Broken by Kirsty Moseley

mariannadefen's review against another edition

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5.0

Beautiful.

amber1226's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

bookpanda87's review against another edition

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5.0

such a beautiful love story. i absolutely loved this book .

evmb_c's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This was a re-read for me, but I hadn’t read this book since I was about 14 or 15 which was nearly 10 years ago. And my opinion on the book definitely has changed because I do remember liking it a lot more back then in my naivete than I did now. 
My biggest issue with this book, and really the main issue I have, is that it’s definitely too long. There is a lot of repetition and a lot of inner monologue that just is not necessary. There’s also a time period within the story where every single day is described and I just didn’t feel like this was necessary.
The action and suspense that comes at the end does make up for this quite a lot however not enough that I can ignore that I was bored and skim read a good 150 pages of this book.
There are a few things in this book that I find slightly unrealistic especially considering the very hard-hitting topics that are discussed, and I definitely feel this is a book that target audience is late teens but again the length goes against this.
There is some good quotes in here and a lot of scenes that I did enjoy however unfortunately the middle did just drag and there was a few days where I just didn’t feel the motivation to read this book, and if I hadn’t of read it already and knew that the ending got a lot better I probably wouldn’t have finished this book.

Steam rating: 15

TWs:
Abduction
Rape
Assault
Domestic abuse
Torture 
Murder
Violence 
Gun violence 
Blood 

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spatlese's review against another edition

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2.0

The storyline was good, but I felt the book was much longer than it needed to be...a lot of filler that did not add anything. First third & the last third are ok....I skimmed through the middle :)

enrida's review against another edition

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2.0

I honestly had to drag myself inorder to finish this book, but the ending was worth it.
It was quite predictable though, girl loves boy, boy loves girl, he saves her, they get married, the end.
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I loved the story, no arguments there, but I wish it would be a little bit more intense and not too cliche.
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However, I'm glad I picked up this book because now I get to marvel at the love story of Annabelle Spencer, the first daughter and Ashton Taylor, a hot SWAT agent.
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This book deals a lot with what is happening today, the power the drug lords holds in some places, kidnapping, abuse( mentally and physically), rape and torture. Even though Kristy Moseley dives into the dark side of human nature, she did not fail in showing us that though there exists evil, goodness will always triumphed over it.
In the darkness, the light is always there. And we need to hang on tight to that little bit of light and let it expand and overshadow the darkness because no matter how much one had to go through in life, something good will always come out of it. I know some people might argue but that is what I solely believed.

ravenkiller88's review against another edition

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4.0

Actual rating 3.5
I've come about this book when I was searching for something similar to The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window, which is also by Kirsty Mosely. Nothing Left to Lose have quite a few similarities to The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window. For instance, the smell-his-scent-and-calm-down part, hero being overly protective of the heroine...etc. I like it but it's weird reading it with different characters and of course it does not sound as good as it was in The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window.

The book started out with sixteen year old Annabelle and her boyfriend, Jack queuing to get into a bar. There she bump into Carter, who then kills Jack in front of Annabelle and kidnap her. Chapter one begins from Ashton's, the hired SWAT bodyguard for Anna, POV. Ashton graduated top in his academy and found himself a not-so-prestigious task but he took it anyway as he got to guard the future President's daughter with the hopes that the President would pull some strings and get him a job with the Front Lines after Ashton's done guarding the future President's daughter. So when Ashton finally met Annabelle and she, him - they're instantly attracted to each other.

Honestly, I find it a little ridiculous. How did the paranoid, bitchy Anna gives in almost immediately to Ashton's charm. It makes me wonder the previous near guards she had. Did they just ignore her or never tried to care for her at all? I guess not since Ashton somehow got through her barrier with just one day with her.
SpoilerHe even got to have sex with her after only three days with her.


The story is a little too long and unnecessary. I keep waiting for Carter to pop up, which didn't happen until the end of the story. It was still a good story I guess...I like protective heroes such as Ashton, it's just that the story just began too fast, took too long to end and there are strings left untied in the story. I was waiting for Anna to tell her parents everything or maybe get a therapist, Ashton can't really be the all-things cure...can he? And also Anna's sketch of her daughter, which I thought was an indication that she will have a daughter with Ashton.
SpoilerTo my surprise, she got son and the sketch was never mentioned again.


I hope Nate's story (*second book*) would be better.

gildedpages123's review against another edition

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4.0

This was really good. Although Anna annoyed me sooooo much especially when she sent Ashton away WTF?!! But Ashton...I actually love Ashton he was amazing. However my favourite character was Nate he is hilarious, I can't wait to read his story Enjoying the Chase! X

hannlouise's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

amymarie512's review against another edition

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1.0

Nothing Left to Lose was recommended to me by a friend. She spoke very highly of it so I was anxious to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype for me. In fact, I can't figure out how this book has such a high rating. While it's not the most terrible book I've ever attempted to read, (I'm looking at you, Fifty Shades) it certainly isn't five star calibur.

Let's start with the fact that the author apparently did next to no research what so ever. It's glaringly obvious that the author is not American, which is fine. But if you set your book in the United States, and you make your characters American, then they should talk and act American. Both Anna and Ashton had glaring tendencies to act or speak like they were from Europe. It seemed the author threw in curse words such as "shit" and "fuck" throughout to make it seem more authentic, but it didn't work. It also took me a ridiculous amount of time to figure out that the "lounge" was the living room in their apartment. I honestly thought they had this mega-apartment that had a separate lounge area. And what the hell is a a waistcoat? I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure Americans don't have or wear them. (Also, I'd just like to point out that there is a "z" in the English language, and words like "apologize" have them. And words such as "color" and "favor" don't have a "u". I do realize that this is the European spelling, but it was very jarring for me, and after a while the European words and spellings became annoyances, making me enjoy the book less.)

Also, it is obvious that the author has absolutely no idea how the United States media and election campaigns work. Anna was kidnapped and held captive by one of the most notorious criminals in the country, and they were able to keep it under wraps?! And her father is a SENATOR who ends up running for PRESIDENT?! Honey, normal, every day girls who get kidnapped can't escape our media when they are found. If you ask, most Americans would be able to tell you who Elizabeth Smart or Jaycee Dugaard are. And their parents weren't politicians. And let's, for a moment, pretend that the Senator was able to keep Anna's ordeal mostly under wraps after she was found. Once he started running for president, that would have been one of the first things dug up in the media and splashed all over the place. Sorry, but the fact that they were able to hide her kidnapping ordeal for nearly four years is just not even close to believeable.

And then there is the author's apparent adversity to using the word "said." I don't think anyone in that book "said" anything. They stated things, they chirped them, they did everything but say them. One thing I've learned... a lot of times you don't have to write that they "said" (or chirped or stated) anything. Sometimes all you need are quotation marks around a sentence, and most people reading your book will figure out that it's being spoken.

Now, shall we move on to the actual story?

It probably took me longer than it should have to catch on that this seemed to be almost a retelling of Twilight. Anna and Ashton are co-dependent to the max. Worse than Edward and Bella, and that's saying something. The whole weekend that Ashton spends with his friends, both of them are so miserable, its not healthy.

And then there's the fact that after three years of pushing everyone away and refusing to be touched,
Anna lets Ashton sleep with her and they have sex after knowing each other for THREE DAYS.
What. the. fuck?! And then she's a bitch about it for pretty much the rest of the (LONG) story.
When she can't keep her hands off him, they sleep together, then she says "Oh Ashton, I can't take a relationship, so this is just for tonight." "This is just for this weekend." "This is just for our vacation."
And he lets her do it because he's apparently so in love with this girl. Why? I didn't figure that one out at all. She's thoughtful. I'll give her that one. But she's also a selfish bitch.

They VERY obvious Twilight rip off made me roll my eyes. First he's reading the book, and suddenly, the next day they go for a drive in Anna's "other" car, an Aston Martin Vanquish. I groaned out loud at that one. Come on, really!? Why not a Ferrari or a Maserati? Now that would have impressed him and me.

And this book is L-O-N-G long. 605 pages on my Nook, and we could have probably cut out about 400 of them. While the beginning was good, the middle was just them flirting, going on dates, flirting some more,
having sex when Anna couldn't keep her hands off him anymore,
then her pushing him away, and more flirting. I kept waiting for something bad to happen. When Ashton is away with his friends, and Anna's waiting for him to call her, her phone rings. I think, oh maybe it's Carter and he's finally tracked her down! That would be a good twist! But no, I'm disappointed because it really is Ashton calling her to say good night to his "Baby Girl."

REALLY?! Baby Girl? Pretty Boy? Do you know who I call Baby Girl? My daughter. Except after reading this book I will probably never call her that again. First of all, why do they need to have pet names for each other at all?! I call my husband by his first name, and it doesn't mean I love him less. And if you're going to have pet names, please, please make them something other than Baby Girl and Pretty Boy. UGH! I wanted to gag by the end of the book. Just like Twilight ruined the word "chagrin" for me, I will cringe from this day forward anytime I read the nicknames "Baby Girl" and "Pretty Boy". Thankfully I shouldn't come across them much in future books I read.

The whole bit with Carter was probably the best part, and it didn't last nearly long enough. He was probably the best written character in this book. He was nasty and mean and I could see why Anna would be afraid of him. Unfortunately, by the time I got to that part, I really didn't care anymore. Too bad the author couldn't have done more with him, instead of giving us 400 useless pages of Anna and Ashton making out and being annoying.

Overall, while I liked this book better than, say, Fifty Shades, (which was a DNF after four chapters for me) it wasn't a great book. It was long, boring and most parts were unbelievable. I won't recommend it to anyone, and I probably won't pick up another book by this author ever again. 1.5 stars.