Thrive: Addicted, Book 2.5 (Addicted, 2.5) Paperback – July 18, 2014

*sea lion bark-clap* There are so many details that I could fawn over, but it would be impossible to fit all of them into a review and avoid spoilers. *squeals and covers mouth* But here's what I can tell you...I loved coming back to Lily and Loren. I loved returning to events from Kiss the Sky and Hothouse Flower, but seeing them through LiLo's eyes. I loved seeing new things that Rose, Connor, Daisy, and Ryke never knew about. And, speaking of the rest of the Addicted cast, I just loved spending time with all six characters again and watching this part of their journey unfold!--I'm going to love Lily how I want to love her. Overwhelmingly, uncompromisingly. Look away if you have to.In Thrive, I adored quirky, best-kind-of-weird, fangirl Lily, with her animated expressions and reactions, but she could also be sweet, quiet, and observant. She also let out her loving and protective spirit more and more. Certain scenes with her sisters made me want to just hug my Kindle and never let go!Lo was as snarky and sassy as ever, and I'm convinced that I could spend all day worshipping Lo's bromantic banter with Connor. I actually shrieked at my Kindle, "BOYFRIENDS! YOU LOVE EACH OTHER!" (Let's be honest, that Connor Cobalt is a scene stealer.) They were like Clooney and Pitt, Affleck and Damon, Fassbender and McAvoy, Cas and Dean, Damon and Alaric...Name any pair, real life or fiction, and the LoCo ship can sail right alongside any of them. I could throw a thesaurus at you, and every synonym for funny, amusing, or witty wouldn't be able to justify just how outstanding these characters are together.It was one of many things that I loved about Thrive! These characters. Together. There were developments and twists in every relationship. Some were complete surprises, but others we saw coming, thanks to Kiss the Sky and Hothouse Flower. For instance, I definitely loved revisiting the evolution of Ryke and Daisy's relationship and experiencing the tension and buildup all over again! *squeee*That's the beauty and genius of Krista and Becca's writing style. Whether they're giving you something new or something you've seen before in another book, they wrap you up in their words and squeeze every emotion out of you. Krista and Becca took our hearts in KtS and HF already, rolled them around in feels. So we thought we'd be immune to it the second time around, right? Wrong. Instead, K+B said, "Wait! Not done yet!" They took our hearts back, applied a fresh coat of feels, handed 'em back raw and heavy, and said, "Here, try this." The arguments, confrontations, and confessions...They were all emotional wrecking balls. WARNING: CAN NOT CONTAIN UGLY CRIES. (And for the record..."Go f*ck someone who actually likes you, Julius!" Will. Never. Get. Old.)--We've grown closer to them through every struggle...We're all united together by these events, a team that I don't want to disband. Not now.The bonds between sisters, brothers, best friends...family...strengthened as the story continued. They were so protective of each other, and they grew with each other. It was so palpable, and it wasn't just in the highs, but during the lows as well. When they were most human and vulnerable...It's in the way Connor shows his intelligence, but also his emotion. Not only when Rose shows her leadership, but also affection. Or when Ryke can be hard and compassionate. Daisy, with her beauty and sadness. Last, but not least...There's Lily and Lo. It all comes back to them. The most mortal of the group. The most humanly flawed.--"Will you let me know when you get your superpower?"--He nods, and his fingers slide across the base of my neck. I love that he touches me so much more. "I have to warn you though, I may not have one."--"That's okay," I say. "Sometimes I like the idea of just being mortal with you."This moment sums up Lily and Lo so well, for me. It's significant to the current state of their lives. Lily and Lo are waiting on the day when everyone will have faith in them, trust them...They're hoping to live up to expectations, but...Nobody's perfect. And that's okay, too. Rose and Connor are the power-house couple. Ryke and Daisy are the adventurers. Lily and Lo are the addicts, just trying to live in their own way, flaws and all.--...we're both exhausted from all the voices in our lives. For once, we just want to do this together. Alone. Lily and Lo.They deal with their greatest fears and insecurities. Fear of failure, of making mistakes, of weakness. At times, it felt like they were suffocating, smothered by everyone else's concerns. Lo, in particular, had so much pent up anger and frustration throughout this book.--"Don't go down that road again, Lo. You need to bury those demons."--I shake my head and look to my brother. "The things we bury," I say under my breath, "have a way of coming back to haunt us."I could feel their desperation for control and privacy. I felt the unfairness of, not only society's standards, but also expectations from their own friends and family. The weight. The pressure. Then, it became a vicious cycle of questioning their self-worth.Lily and Lo put up brave faces as best as they could, but there was a world of pain and suffering underneath. A lot of those bare-your-soul scenes were so raw and stripped down. They were simple words or actions, but they spoke so loudly and evoked infinitely complex emotions.--He laughs into a weak, pained smile, and then he shakes his head, his features just shattering. "I don't want to be the weak one."I hurt and cried, right along with every character in this book. But for all the heartache and agony, there was just as much unconditional love and support. For every stumble, there was ultimately someone to hold onto and to help find a way back up. It was all so truly beautifully written that it made me fall deeper in love with this series, when I didn't even think that was possible.The ending gave me hope for Lily and Lo's future. I could feel their hope and their motivation for a new start. They were finally standing up for themselves, and it was that undeniable strength of standing together. It was pure and utter devotion.--The perseverance to do anything, to be anything. To thrive. Someday, that word will belong to us too. After years of coming up short, it's all I've ever wanted.While I was reading this book, my mind never stopped racing. My chest would feel heavy, then soothed, then back again, all in a matter of a few page turns. There were moments that felt like a gut punch and moments that felt like a hug from your soulmate. This unique, gritty ensemble of characters are the roots, soul, and bones of this extraordinary New Adult series. I've never read anything like it! Refreshing, mind-blowing brilliance fills the pages of each book, and I can't wait for the next one!

*There are NO spoilers whatsoever in this review for any of the previous books nor for Thrive.*Hiii, y’all. So it’s that day again on le blog where I get to fangirl endlessly. Do you guys even take me seriously anymore when I mention this series to you? Honestly, it’s not my fault these books are so devourious (not a word, I know, but it should be: these books are meant to be devoured!). In all honesty, this book and series can be summed up in two words: READ. THIS.QUOTE"We’re going to have our happy ending. It just may take us awhile to get there."I want to get the thing that bothered me out of the way now and not waste any time on it later. You see, Krista and Becca love Ryke and Lily’s friendship and everyone else seems to as well. I don’t, unfortunately. I like them separately and I appreciate this bond they’ve formed thanks to Lo; I love how up-front Ryke is about everything, I love the awkwardness that is Lily. However, when Ryke looks at Lily like she just said something dumb and sometimes tells her some rude/mean-ish stuff (only in my opinion since, again, everyone ships this friendhsip), I always, always cringe. It’s not that Lily can’t protect herself, it’s that I want to protect her from Ryke’s hard edges. Lily is too sweet to have to bear Ryke’s hard edges and even though Lily isn’t even hurt by Ryke’s sometimes-very-harsh comments, I am. That’s the only thing that bothers me about Thrive. Reading about their friendship from Ryke's POV isn't an issue, but from any other POV? It kind of is for me. Moi is weird, I'm aware.Since the plot is too spoily to talk about, I’ll discuss it very briefly. Thrive contains everything that happens after the second book [Addicted for Now] and the two companion novels [Kiss the Sky and Hothouse Flower], so it spans throughout a few years. It’s hard to put every single scene into this novel and some fan favorites were left out (though YAAAAAS! It has this particular scene from Kiss the Sky that always brings chills all. over. my. whole. body). We have a ton of new scenes that we haven’t seen before, including something regarding Rose and Connor which had me in so many happy tears that I just couldn’t handle. We also get Comic Con and a few special bromance scenes which I did not drool over. (Ok, I totally did, but don’t tell anyone else.)As for characters, well.. Thrive is a character growth novel and basically a filler story between two periods in Lily and Lo’s lives. I love how awkward our adorable female MC is. Lily and Lo’s nerdiness is so relatable. ALSO, DID I MENTION THE HARRY POTTER REFERENCES? SPELLS. HOGWARTS MENTIONINGS. ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING A GIRL (OR A GUY) COULD ASK FOR? And it’s all spiced with a touch of awkwardorable (read: awkward and adorable) manner that’s so unique to Lily and Lo. And there's a Teen Wolf reference ;____________; I just about cried when I saw Sterek mentioned. Swoon mode is 100% activated, let me tell you.The side characters are extremely important in this series. Ofc I love all the 6 main characters *duhh* but there are a few people whom I’ve grown to love more or less throughout the series and one of them is Jonathan Hale. ”WHAAAT?” you ask. “Siiri, this is not a person to love O____O” Well, guys, my love for this character is weird. I specifically love to hate him. He’s not an obvious villain. He’s the Dan Scott of this story while Lo represents Nathan. Lo, like Nathan, is desperate to prove himself to his father and find his approval. Jonathan, like Dan, is never satisfied with anything and is constantly pushing his son to the lowest point until neither of them has anything left but try and fix what's been broken over and over again. I’m really looking forward to seeing if and how Jonathan Hale can be somewhat redeemed. He has his moments, but it’s a long, long road ahead of him and I don’t know if he is able to reach the other side of the street before the series ends.There are two more things I need to speak more about and first of them being Ryke, Connor and Lo's bromance. Bromance is something I always fangirl over and especially in this series. It’s just so real, banter-y and you can see the layer of care and concern underneath all the jokes. It’s exactly how my guy friends are with each other, so it’s humbling to see that in fiction as well. Doesn’t hurt that it includes Connor Cobalt who is the most shippable person in any fictional work I have ever read. I ship him with everyone and everything! *dies of swoon* And last, but definitely not least, the sisters! It’s so endearing to see a bond that grows throughout years; that only gets stronger and stronger. As much as I adore the romances and all the bromances, to me, the Calloway sisters are the heart of the story. Le amazing bromances and le wonderful sisterly bonds are just my favorite things about this series. Every time a book in this series ends, I just want to crawl into a corner, sob and cry: "COME BAAAACK!"So what can you take away from this review, you ask? Simply put: read this series! If you’re looking for an original, quirky, fun, emotional (oh, ‘em tears, you guys!!) and love-triangle-free series that will keep you on the edge of your seat, always craving for more and has no cliffhangers? This right here is it! Krista and Becca are a force to be reckoned with in New Adult literature and they have rocked every part of my soul with Thrive.Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5.0

I was really hoping this would be a continuation after the events of Hothouse Flower but it was just a retelling of the first 2 Calloway Sisters series. It was still good because I love Lily and Lo but it definitely was repetitive and I felt a bit bored. The scenes that weren’t already included in the other 2 books were very cute and I loved seeing those. I didn’t like how it was literally word for word of what we already read just with a different POV. I love Lily and Lo BUT it got boring reading over the same thing again, especially when I was expecting the story to continue. Overall it was okay but it wasn’t necessary book? Like the end scenes imo could have been included in the last book instead. Lily and Lo are seriously adorable though.

My daughter absolutely loved this book

If you thought you couldn't fall even more in love with the Addicted gang, you're wrong.Krista and Becca Ritchie have the ability to evoke so many emotions with their writing. Each character has such a unique and strong persona. They demand your attention and you can't help but fall for them. In the end, you'll be desperately rooting for Lily and Loren to make it to the end.Thrive spans the time following Addicted For Now, through Kiss The Sky and Hothouse Flower (spin-offs) and leading up to Addicted For Now. Told in Lily and Loren's POV, we find out what their thoughts and feelings are on the events that unfold around them. What I loved most about Thrive is the character development of Lily and Lo. Their struggle throughout the novel tore me apart but to see them finish, better and more determined, I felt relief and satisfaction. Relationships grow deeper and more meaningful. We even get a few scenes with the eldest Calloway sister, Poppy and her husband Sam. Even being surrounded by friends and family, you can tell Lily and Lo isolate themselves emotionally and but can only bottle up so many things before you explode.Intense and amusing. I highly recommend reading both spin-offs before reading Thrive to get the full addicting experience. Thrive fills in a lot of gaps that come up in Kiss The Sky and Hothouse Flower, letting us see two sides of each story. Each book shows how powerfully and deeply Lily and Lo's love is, their determination to be better for each other and the strength they gain along the way. I cannot recommend this series enough!

These novels from the addicted series just get better and better! Lily and Lo's characters are just so pure and raw, it's so obvious they are madly in love, and are at that stage of the relationship where the other person is like an extension of their own soul. Every part of their lives revolves around the other, and they care about the other person more than they care about themselves.It was great to see Lily fighting her demons, and so heart-wrenching to witness the unfortunate events involving Lo's. Can't wait for the next one! I would definitely recommend this series, the storyline is so unique and real.

The characters is this series are realistic, strong and amazing. I love the emotions the authors create inside me when I read their work. You need to read this series!