Tuesday Reviews (On Thursday!): Don't Get Caught by Kurt Dinan

Title: Don't Get Caught

Author: Kurt Dinan

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Release Date: April 1, 2016

Format Read: ARC

Rating: Four Stars

Description from Goodreads: 10:00 tonight at the water tower. Tell no one. -Chaos Club

When Max receives a mysterious invite from the untraceable, epic prank-pulling Chaos Club, he has to ask: why him? After all, he's Mr. 2.5 GPA, Mr. No Social Life. He's Just Max. And his favorite heist movies have taught him that this situation calls for Rule #4: Be suspicious. But it's also his one shot to leave Just Max in the dust...

Yeah, not so much. Max and four fellow students-- who also received invites-- are standing on the newly defaced water tower when campus security "catches" them. Definitely a setup. And this time, Max has had enough. It's time for rule #7: Always get payback. 

Let the prank war begin.

Let me start out by saying that even if you aren't attracted to the premise of this book, you need your own copy. There are flip book cows on the corners of the pages, and I am in love with them. Especially being someone who lives on a farm and has cows of her own.

But back to the book!

I really enjoyed this one. The characters were fantastic, the idea surrounding the plot was solid, and the pranks pulled throughout the entirety of the story were hilariously completed and expertly thought out. So well done, in fact, that it made me sorry that I was such a by-the-book and follow-the-rules type of person, because all I could think about were the stunts pulled in this book and how much fun was had doing them. It screams anti-Steph, but things like these are things that I always wish I had the guts to do, but know I never would or could because of the dangers and consequences. 

Because of that, though, I loved reading about the Water Tower 5 and the Chaos Club. Their adventures became mine, and the thrill extended through the pages and reached me at all the right times. The few twists at the end, I can say that I definitely did see coming. They arrive on the last few chapters,a nd I had suspected both of them from pretty close to go, but there were other things that I definitely did not guess that caught me off guard.

An issue I had with this book is that, a handful of times, I found myself feeling a bit lost. There were instances when something would be referenced, and it wouldn't be explained until later, or times when I'd find myself in the middle of a scene or conversation and I wasn'tsure how I'd even gotten there. It felt like those things came out of nowhere, and I did find them frustrating, since it took me a page or two to catch on and piece together what was going on.

DON'T GET CAUGHT earned itself four stars from me. It's one that I'm glad I requested, and one that I now like for more reasons other than the flipbook cows. If you enjoy epic high school tales, this is for you. Fair warning, though: this book is not short on sexual innuendos and references by any means, and language makes its appearances. My question is... will there be a sequel? I feel like it left a perfect opening, and I'll be interested to see where it goes from here.

Happily,

Stephanie