Five star review from amazon.com: "Be ready to change your mind about the way your think" "I received this book as a gift and I was blown away. I work with adolescents and I can’t wait to recommend this as YA reading. It was fast paced, well written and when the tag line says, “when wrong is the only choice”, Allen, makes that tag line make perfect sense. I found myself rooting for the protagonist to steal her identify and make herself safe in an unsafe world, that was not of her making. As a therapist who works with children that live in circumstances similar to the ones she escapes from, it was easy to see why she left and the flashbacks were well places, the backstory well written and it fleshed out a brilliant story. Bravo! I can’t wait to read more from this author. I hope she is prolific and serves us many more opportunities to understand thinking that is not like mine. I won’t forget. I will look at all runaways differently now."
Four star review from amazon.com: "A very cunning plan" "Identity theft usually puts one in mind of a criminal; this story delivers a different perspective as an endangered teen flees a threatening situation in her home. Very clever and entertaining!"
Four star review from amazon.com: "A great book you can't put down" "Great read from Amy Ruth Allen. The main character, Jaynie Haart takes us through the cruel and unexpected story of her young life. Allen's narrative puts you right in the shoes of the teenage girl; her thoughts, her feelings and how she sees the world. I enjoyed the introduction of each new character with their own intricate and scarred backgrounds. As the final twist at the end came closer in view, the faster the pages turned."
Five star review from amazon.com: "Will Pull You in from the First Page" "Two unlikely teens meet under unusual circumstances while each holds secrets of their own. This book will take you with them as they travel across country and their stories begin to unwind. It will keep you guessing until the end and leave you wanting more. Maybe a sequel to this will be written. I will look forward to more from this author."
Five star review from amazon.com: "Lots of Twists and Turns" "Great story about a high school girl leaving home with a new identity in tow. Lots of twists and turns from day one till the end of the book. Highly readable." Four star review from Goodreads: "Deeply Introspective" "A deeply introspective look into the life of a girl who has become deeper and deeper involved in a mess, at least partially of her own making. The story is one of courage, stamina, and defeating the odds - a combination that is not easily mastered, but which keeps readers' attention as they learn whether Jaynie will win or lose at the crapshoot that has taken over her life."
Four star review from amazon.com: "Fun Page Turner" "17. a tough age. it’s even worse when your step-dad is an abusive criminal and your mom an addict. Jaynie’s solution is to run the hell away and never go back. Start over somewhere really safe and nice. But how to get the money? how to stay safe? how to cover your tracks? How to enroll in a new high school?
Steal. steal identies. steal money. when it runs out, steal some more. that’s the premise of Amy Ruth Allen’s new book.
We like Jaynie in spite of her thieving. or maybe because of it? it kept me turning pages to find out whether Jaynie gets caught or not.
But this book is not really a thriller; most of the story concerns Jaynie’s romance with a mysterious guy who, like Jaynie, seems to be hiding who he really is. this gave me another reason to keep turning pages: to find out if they lived happily ever after or if maybe he turned out to be a total jerk. I really wanted Jaynie to keep her new life, and for Zach to be part of it, but I suspected that he was too good to be true and that everything was going to go up in flames with this guy and would catch fire to everything else Jaynie had built (stolen?).
The writing style was straight-forward and easy to follow. It was a fun page turner and I’d recommend it to fans of YA books like John Green’s Paper Towns."
Four star review from amazon.com: "Masterful Job" "Amy Ruth Allen hit a home run with Stealing Away. The idea of passing over the crimes of a young woman guilty of identity theft threw me until I read the first few chapters. Allen did a masterful job of taking me inside the mind and heart of a girl whose home life had become so unbearable that she took the only way out. Of course there were better options that would not have involved criminal behavior, but at her age and in those circumstances, I found her decisions believable and felt sympathetic toward the main character, Jaynie Haart. I was impressed by the vivid imagery and well-written narrative. The secondary characters and unexpected twists drew me right in. This story did not disappoint."
