Review: After Hours by Claire Kennedy

After Hours by Claire Kennedy

Publisher- Simon Pulse

Released- June 16th 2015

Purchase- Amazon / B & N

Isa, Xavi, Peter, and Finn know that a job at the high-end Waterside Cafe isn't just about waiting tables. It's about the gossip, the hook-ups, the after-hours parties and, most of all, it's about Tips.Tips--the high-stakes game based on dares. Whoever completes the most dares wins the collected money. A sum that could change a wasted summer into a Summer to Remember.Isa is the new girl with an embarrassing secret, and as long as she stays on top of her game, she sees no reason why anyone could ever find out.Xavi will do anything for the money...absolutely anything.Peter, Xavi's stepbrother, has been in love with her for years, and he thinks the game is the perfect time to confess his feelings.Finn is in the game just for the thrill. He has enough tips coming in to keep him happy...even if those tips come with some conditions.From seduction to stealing to threats, the dares are a complete free-for-all, and only the best can win.The sophisticated Waterside Cafe is anything but classy behind the scenes...and things are about to get dirty.

My Thoughts:

I was really looking forward to reading After Hours, I use to work at a restaurant for years and while we had some fun and laughs it never quite escalated to this extent. I was expecting something a little more cute and fluffy but sadly this book turned out to be something much different.

Working at Waterside restaurant can get you some good cash but everyone knows that the real money is behind the game, Tips. Played every two weeks, the staff puts in a percentage of their wages into the pot for a chance to take an unknown dare. If your name is drawn, you get the dare and if completed, you get the cash. This part of the story, the dares, was actually pretty funny and while it did go a little far, its not the problem I had with this book. It was the characters. I had the hardest time connecting or even liking any of them. Well, ok, I liked Peter. But that's about it. Finn was okay and had his moments, but I didn't care for his 'side job'. Xavi had a lot of attitude for my taste and I didn't care for the hate one minute and love the next when it came to Peter. Isa was absolutely awful.awful.awful and I could not stand her. I just couldn't believe what she did to Finn. And Rico was just slime. But what I really didn't understand was the reasoning or motive to some of these characters actions. The need for the money just didn't seem big enough to go through this much hassle. There is a lot of shady scandalous things going on here, like prostitution, blackmail and sexual innuendo that creeped me out and the one romance, while sweet, was rushed way to fast. So, I think this would be better in the hands of the more mature YA reader.

Bottom line, even though I didn't enjoy this the way I wanted to, this was probably just me. I was expecting fluff-n-stuff and this took on a little more edge then I cared for. Still, I did like the multiple point of views, the writing style and some of the few funnier and sweeter moment, but sadly it just wasn't my kind of entertainment or the escape I was hoping for. 

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