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Dusty #2

Delinquents

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The innocent girl with a delinquent heart has to live with her bad choices. Secret hope and hurt feel like falling while she learns how to breathe again, but there's still freedom in trouble.

The runaway with blacked-out eyes is losing his grip. Crushing two hearts in one fist, his addiction bends rules and breaks deals, but the boy born for bliss isn't going anywhere without a fight.

Love is knowing they should stay away, but love is illogical at best.

She's afraid to let go.

He won't let her.

This is how silliness and foolishness grow up.

Here, forever is a lie.

385 pages, ebook

First published October 18, 2014

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About the author

Mary Elizabeth

18 books1,712 followers
Mary Elizabeth was born and raised in Southern California. She is a wife, mother of four beautiful children, and dog tamer to one enthusiastic Pit Bull and a prissy Chihuahua. She's a hairstylist by day but contemporary fiction, new adult author by night.

Mary can often be found finger twirling her hair and chewing on a stick of licorice while writing and rewriting a sentence over and over until it's perfect. She discovered her talent for tale-telling accidentally, but literature is in her chokehold. And she's not letting go until every story is told.

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure."--Jeremiah 17:9

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 448 reviews
Profile Image for Christy.
4,081 reviews34.6k followers
October 30, 2014
5 ‘I can’t believe it, but I’m giving this 5 stars!

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Love is fucked-up, but love is all there is.


I should have known what I was getting myself into. After reading Dusty Innocents, there was a part of me that considered not reading the second installment. The first was just too torturous, too raw, too heart wrenching. But I couldn’t stop myself. I had to see what happened with Dusty and Bliss. I am glad I did. Delinquients was just as captivating, just as powerful, just as angsty and I loved it so much more than the first! I think I finally ‘get’ what all the hype was about when it came to the fan-fic. I didn’t get it after reading the first. Now I do!

Bliss and Dusty’s love story is painful to read. I think this quote sums it up perfect. The boy who can’t get his shit together, and the girl that loves him regardless.
I love a boy who can’t get his shit together, but without him I can’t breathe. Thomas is love to me, and this love runs deeper than my blood and stronger than my own sense of instinct and survival. This love is forever-bound.

As much as Bliss wants to hate Dusty sometimes, for all the lies he tells, the things he does, the way he leaves, the way he puts drugs over her. It’s impossible. She can’t hate this boy.

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Dusty and Bliss are still ‘together’ in their own way. Everything is still a secret. It has to be. Bliss is underage, Dusty is using, there are just too many things that prevent them from being out in the open. That doesn’t stop Dusty from wanting to be. It broke my heart. If you read my first review, you’ll know I wasn’t the biggest Dusty fan. This book… he still had his moments, but this book, I really did love him. Even though drugs consumed him, I felt like he tried in other ways to be the guy Bliss needed. He was an addict, true- but he really did want to be with her in any and every way.

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Drugs enrapture him. They are his mistress. They are the main reason for their problems. His parents standing by doing nothing… I hate it. I understand Bliss is young and in love, she lets it go. She doesn’t get involved. But those parents. I spent so much of the book wondering what if? What if Bliss would have said yes to Dusty about not being a secret anymore? What if Tommy and Lucas would have opened their eyes and forced Dusty into rehab before he was 18 and he would have gotten clean. Would their story have been different?
We kiss with our eyes open, and hers tell the story of us:
dependence, lies, and misery.

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"You and cocaine make me crazy."

Bliss was less young, less naive this book. but to be honest, I didn’t like her quite as much. That thing with Oliver. It made me a little uneasy. Dusty did have the one screw up, and he was on drugs lots, but he was more devoted in this one. I felt his love. His desperation. His heartache.
Although everyone still had multiple names (Thomas, Dusty, trouble, love, my heart etc.) I found it much easier to keep track of in this one.

I loved the crazy love. The intense love. The deep love. The painful love.
Dusty loves me too hard, too deep, too far, but it’s the kind of madness I crave. It hurts but it’s familiar to me and comfortable like hime, because loving this person has hurt for as long as I can remember.

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There were some parts in the end that gutted me. The big confrontation. OMG. I was in tears. My skin was blotchy. My heart was beating out of my chest. You have to be in the right mood to enjoy this book. If you can’t do angsty, I wouldn’t recommend it for you. It’s just not for everyone. In the end, I’m glad I read it. like I said before, all I really wanted was for Bliss and Dusty to get to together. To get their happy. I am choosing to be optimistic. I am choosing that that HELLO? is something big and something good. Otherwise, I might cry again! I feel like that Hello is the start of something.

This is a captivating read. An addictive read. It’s emotional. It’s intense. It’s an experience. A stressful experience. A heart breaking experience. And at times, a beautiful experience. One thing is for certain- it’s an unforgettable book. It’s a story that will stick with me. And that’s something that doesn't happen all the time. So it deserves 5 stars from this reader!
I'm broken, made of pieces, but my pieces are made of more than just love.

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"I love you," he whispers, breathless as he fills me.
"I love you, girl. I love you.”


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Profile Image for Amy | Foxy Blogs.
1,580 reviews1,028 followers
October 23, 2014
LIVE -> http://amzn.to/1sUmkcx

Delinquents is a continuation of Innocents. A couple things you should know about this series. (1) This series is a collaboration of two authors who originally wrote "Dusty" as a fanfic. The fans loved the fanfic and wanted a physical copy of the book. Dusty was a huge book at 1229 pages so the authors came together and divided it into 2 parts: Innocents and Delinquents.

(2) "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri inspired this series. To enhance my reading experience I listened to this over and over again.➜http://bit.ly/1mh23eE. It really sets the tone for the book.

Dusty and Bliss continue to keep their relationship a secret. Dusty’s addiction has become the third person in their relationship. His mistress, cocaine, controls every aspect of his life. To the outside world Bliss continues to uphold her good girl image. Lying is second natural to her and she has little regard to those who she may hurt in the end. Even though Dusty’s mistress fuels him … Bliss enables him.

description

As a mom of three teenagers this was a painful read. It left me feeling raw for these teenagers and their families. Addiction touches everyone involved with the addict. No one is left standing tall in the wake of the addiction. Families are torn apart and relationships are destroyed. ”Just say NO to drugs” seems like an easy solution to the problem but it’s NOT. Especially when parents try to be cool by allowing their teens to smoke and drink alcohol in their homes. And Dusty’s parents gave him that freedom, to do with his friends, but overtime his need grew stronger. That need turned into needing ‘harder’ stuff to just get through the day. Before his parents realized what was going on with Dusty he had become an addict and was out of control.

It's been 3 months since I read part one. It took my a little bit to get back into the flow of the books. The writing is very unique and once you catch on to the style you'll be hooked into the story. I have to thank, M. ~ B&B, for explaining whose pov chapter 55 was from … unfortunately, it’s not marked in the book. It’s Bliss’s heart. That threw me for a loop.

I didn’t read the fanfic so I didn’t know how this one was going to end. The ending reminded me how Rainbow Rowell ends her books, you are left to come up with your own conclusions. I hope in the future these two will write another book for this series giving us, the readers, the rest of the story. The Elizabeths created a realist story about some tough subjects and even though it leaves you feeling raw it was well done.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
RELEASE DATE: October 23, 2014
Pre-order | order: http://amzn.to/1sUmkcx

SERIES:
Innocents (Dusty, #1) by Mary Elizabeth Delinquents (Dusty, #2) by Mary Elizabeth
Two-part series

**Complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.**

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Profile Image for Eda**.
718 reviews439 followers
October 13, 2015

** 4,5-5 "true liars and crazy love" STARS **

There are some songs I can't listen to, but it's not because of the lyrics. Certain specific combinations of beats, bass and guitars take me right back too clearly to summertimes that were too innocent and are still too raw.

But the world is full of new music that's new to me, and I keep it going.

I cry to it.

I dance to it.




I will never be the same after this book.

I AM WRECKED ONCE AGAIN.

It's been almost 2 weeks since that night I've decided to just give into the insane urge that's been eating at me for days, telling me to open up and read this story that I've been waiting eagerly for months. I said "To hell with it!" and gave 3,5 hours of my precious study time in the middle of a very hectic exam month, to finally learn how Dusty and Bliss' story has ended.

I'M NOT EVEN SORRY.

This story is so realistic, so heartbreaking and devastating and intense, you feel like you've just got slapped right across the face.

It's not like I wasn't expecting to be in excruciating pain all through this book. If Innocents was any warning, I knew this would be full of angst and tears and melancholia. I could envision myself in the exact same state that I was while reading this, even before starting the book!



Our intentions were never vindictive. We’re selfish, not malicious. All we wanted was to be together, but addiction and dependence made true liars of us and turned our innocent love into crazy love.


This is the story of a love triangle between two young people and a poison.

This is the story of Dusty, Bliss and cocain, the Mistress.

This is the story of how the Mistress ruins a boy's life.



This is the story of a little girl that is ready to accept love in any way that he comes.



This is the story of how destructive love can be.



This is the story of a girl and a boy, trying to hide their love, but not quite succeeding in doing so.



This the story of how lovers can sometimes want to fall out of love, but just...can't.

“I hate you,” I whisper in the dark.

Trouble places his cold hand over my mouth. “Tell me you love me, Bliss.”

I show him away.

“Like I could ever not love you.”


This is the story of how a boy can finally look into the mirror, but realize it's simply too late...



Delinquents certainly is one of those unforgettable books that will always be one of my favorites.

I am so glad for jumping on this train of addiction and obsession and for not getting off before reaching the destination that is the end of Dusty and Bliss' story.

The "Let's just go." ...

The "I loved you then, you know." ...

The "Hello?" ...



It's very hard for me to explain how I feel about that ending. Just know that I was a blubbering and sobbing mess of dripping snot when it was all over... I still want to cry when I think about it.

Don't get me wrong. It's up to you to decide how their journey ends. And I refuse to be the pessimist on this particular issue, like I always am. I believe there was hope in the last few words of this book...because:



And the love that Dusty and Bliss share, is as dysfunctional as it can get...
Profile Image for Rachel  L.
1,940 reviews2,399 followers
June 18, 2016
3.75 stars

***There may be mini spoilers for those who have not read the first book Dusty Innocents! Proceed at your own risk!!!***

“Nothing about love is easy.”



Wow these two books are probably some of the most conflicting books I've ever read!

Deliquents begins with Dusty having been gone for a long time, no one knowing where he went. Upon his return Bliss accepts him back into her life the way things had always been between them. Their relationship continues to be a secret, mostly because her parents wouldn't approve. But their love for each other still burns strong, despite Dusty's struggle with drugs.



“It’s not even fair to want someone as heavily and wholly as I crave this person. I feel too small to contain it, and all he did was look at me.”

I enjoyed this book much more than the first book Innocents. I felt the writing was smoother and the plot flowed a lot better. I still don't like the use of nicknames and the way the authors have adjectives as names. And of course I didn't care for the actions of Dusty in this book.

But what made this book better than the first was I began to understand his struggle, I understood his choices a lot more. Plus he was no longer cheating on Bliss and was struggling with his past actions and how they affected Bliss. He really was questioning whether being in her life was good for her, and to me that showed genuine love that he wanted what was best for her.

Ultimately these books have unforgettable characters and a story that will stick with me. It's not a picture perfect book but these aren't perfect characters, so it fits.

“Because I love you.” I refuse to allow fear into my voice. “Because I love you, nobody else will ever touch me. Even though you are constantly touched.”

Profile Image for TheCrazyWorldOfABookLover.
362 reviews892 followers
May 30, 2017
*The most amount of stars I can give*

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has affected me quite like this one. I have not stopped thinking about it since I finished.
And I don’t have enough words to express how much I loved it. How much it hurt me. And how much I wanted it to go on forever.

description

Every single part of this got under my skin, through my veins and right into my heart.

This isn’t an easy read. It’s emotional. It’s intense. It’s stressful. It’s addictive. It’s heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. But out of everything, it’s beautiful. (Chapter 55? My god. Genius. Amazing. The most beautiful thing I have ever read.)

description

I’ve been sitting here trying to type out a full review for an hour, writing words then deleting them because I just can’t process how much this book affected me.

description

So I'll just leave it with this is one story I will never, ever forget. And something everyone needs to experience.

Book 1 |http://amzn.to/2rjm6Tq
Book 2 | http://amzn.to/2qxB9ph



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Profile Image for ~♡AB♡~.
974 reviews687 followers
August 15, 2015
★★★★4.5 Stars★★★★



Wow, what a ride this has been. Destruction, dependence, obsession, addiction, it's all here and it did a number on me.

Dusty keeps running back to his mistress, Cocaine. Bliss keeps waiting for him and lying to her girl and her family, hearts are broken and innocence is long past.

Regarding the ending

I really loved this story, as angsty and heart gutting as it was <3

Beautiful and tragic, I will remember it forever.
Profile Image for * Meli Mel *.
856 reviews672 followers
October 27, 2014


♥♥♥ 3 Heart shattering Stars ♥♥♥





I don't think I will be reviewing this book. Why? Because if I do, it will end in a HUGE rant which I don't even want to get into. So, all I will say is, I enjoyed the first book and enjoyed this book as well, for the most part. A few parts did drag on a bit. I haven't read the fan fiction, so I didn't know what to expect. Yes...there was angst. A LOT of it. Maybe a litle too much for my liking. The last part of the book broke my heart. Shattered it completely. I teared up for them. It just hurt so much. The ending...well let's just say this was me after I finished.



Yeah...That is all.

Profile Image for Olga.
54 reviews60 followers
November 3, 2014


Little girl burdened with too big of a responsibility. Desperately clinging on to the hope that the boy she fell in love with is still in there, behind the sunken cheeks, pale skin and empty, black eyes. Not old enough to realize and understand how truly destructive their love is. Too young to properly handle his addiction and the weight it carries, she accepts.

"I don't care where he's been or what he's done. I'll love bloody knuckles and a filthy conscience just as much as clear blue eyes and the warmest laugh. High as a kite or in tears on his knees, he can be gone as long as he's right here. I don't care."


Young boy who may be too far gone. His addiction spirals out of control. And while Bliss is his anchor, she’s also what pushes him near the edge. She makes him feel, and he deals with these feelings the only way he knows how.

"I try to remember the last time I looked at my girl through non-addicted eyes. I've been lit through each I love you, spun through each touch, and drunk-wasted through each don't ever leave me. All the affection I've ever shown this girl has been habit-stained and guilty. She never had a chance against a monster like me."


Nothing about their love is easy.

Blissful happiness is elusive and joyous moments are short – lived. Bliss and Dusty rarely get to be just two kids in love. She forces them to face struggles that no kid should ever deal with. She makes love slip away and happiness fade away.

"Dusty loves me too hard, too deep, too far, but it’s the kind of madness I crave. It hurts but it’s familiar to me and comfortable like home, because loving this person has hurt for as long as I can remember."


Too many lies had been told. Some secrets have been kept for far too long. The bad outweighs the good. His addiction casts a shadow on each carefree, joyful moment they share. Their love, made of secrets and built on broken promises, brings more pain than joy.

"This longing, this hidden inconsolability, heartbreaking with no clear end in sight, is who we are. It’s who we've always been."




Their innocence is forever gone. This is how silliness and foolishness grow up.

Heart-wrenching. Brutally honest. Raw. Consuming. Excruciatingly painful to read, yet, you can’t look away. That’s how addictive this story is. I’m glad that this part wasn't as heavily edited as book one, and most scenes were preserved, because that’s where the real feels are. Reading this story as two separate books makes it much more darker, and it’s harder to root for these two. The sweet moments from the past are just a blur, the heaviness of their struggle, and the pain they cause each other is overwhelming. While I was dreading the ending, now, after reading the story for the second time, it seems right, after all the pain, it gives you just a little bit of hope.
Profile Image for Raj.
273 reviews80 followers
Read
November 1, 2015
...'I Don't Know' Stars

“We’re two kids who fell. hopelessly in love.”

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*silence*


*clock ticking*



*crickets chirping*



*clear throat*

So......this book.....why did I do this to myself? Seriously? Why the fuck Rag?

Lets start with the ending,
I lasted through the whole hell and they gave me that as my ending.
Talk about total frustration.



I..uh..really don't know what to say. Even the fucking sex was so thick. The writing is incredible no doubt about that, but man this book made me feel, the words went under my skin, through my veins and right into my heart.

Love holds me up, covering me as I fall apart until I’m nothing but his.
Love’s.
Loved.
Love.


We are back to the same shit all over again; Dusty drinks, gets high,leaves Bliss, stays away for about a month at times, comes back...and she fucking forgives him.



Love has burned down to learning how to breathe.
Over.
And over.
And over again.


Bliss made me mad because she made me feel everything that she was feeling. I know Dusty loves her and she loves him, but she should've done something about his addiction earlier. I'm not blaming her I know she tried but I feel like she could've tried a little harder.

“I know he loves me. I never doubt his love. I doubt his intentions and respect. I distrust his motives and allegiance.”

And Becka..not going there.

Anyways this is all I have to say. I'm not rating it because I don't know how to. I've never not known how much I'm going to rate a book but I guess there's a first for everything.

There’s only me.
All along.
I’m the tempter.
I’m the sick sadness.
I’m the cunt.
It’s my deal.
A dusty delinquent.
Mini-foul to full on filthy.
A monster.




*READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*
183 reviews32 followers
October 23, 2014
I lift my own hood from the sweater love gave me years ago. The cotton is worn thin, and Castor is faded on the back, but it doesn’t mean any less to me. And when I’m in bed and Thomas is out doing whatever it is that he does, it’s all I have to remind myself that he wasn’t always this way. There was a time when we were innocent and genuine, and young, stupid in love.

I know I have made many people jealous by getting to read this ARC and I’m happy to tell you that the wait is almost over. Just a few more days and you’ll get to experience heartache, pain, hurt and regret too. Lucia reviewed Innocents for you guys, and here I am with its sequel. Lucia and I complement each other like that. My favorite part of this story has always been the second half, because it killed me a million times over, and when something hurts so deep and so real, I cannot give it anything less than 5 stars.

I’m going to start off by saying that reviewing a book that was co-written is very hard. Co-writing requires compromises and I didn’t like some of them. Some of the writing really confused me. It’s sentences like “All my heart wants finds my eyes for a single, unsubstantial second.” that had me rereading it three times until I got what it was saying that threw me off. And “Black bikini-bottomed and hot pink-topped, suntanned and platinum blond leaves her clothes and everything else behind as she makes her way to the one with bare eyes”. Sometimes less is more and I don’t think the overuse of words and descriptions helps the story flow. Also, to avoid any confusion, I feel like I need to address this to all of you who haven’t read the fanfiction: chapter 55 is from Bliss’s heart’s point of view. In case you were wondering. It isn’t marked, so you’ll probably be spending the entire chapter wondering who the hell is talking. I’m here to tell you it’s her heart. I wasn’t a fan of that chapter either, I had a really hard time trying to relate to a heart and translating its thoughts in what it means for Dusty and Bliss.

Despite the things I mentioned above, I still love this book. I’ve loved it as a fanfiction and I still love it. The authors seem to have cut out a lot from the beginning of the fanfiction, so Innocents was heavily edited, but I think the fanfiction readers will be happy to hear that the second half (Delinquents) has been preserved for the most part. Which is a good thing, because it was the most raw and painful part. In order to get the best experience, I think it's best to read both books in a row. I feel like the impact will be bigger that way, so if you have already read Innocents I'd recommend rereading. By the end of Innocents, we know that Dusty started doing coke, but it isn’t until you’re reading Delinquents that you realize just how deep in he actually is.

Delinquents is all of their bad choices, their mistakes, their lies and their hurt. Delinquents is all of the pain, the hopelessness and longing.
Love’s sheltered here, but she’s my shelter, and knowing you’d die without someone isn’t romantic. But I would.
Delinquents is keeping a secret, because the truth is too ugly to tell.
The truth is not easy. My truth: I love a lost cause. I love a failure, and I lost myself in him when I was nine years old.
But the truth is all you have and you’ll bleed and die for it.
I place my hands on the sides of his cool face and whisper, “Tell me a secret.”
His body relaxes.
“I don’t want to be a secret anymore, baby.”
This is the part where I should tell him, “It’s too late. We’re too wrong.” Instead, I say softly, “Do you really wish you could hate me?”
Delinquents is loving a drug addict and knowing you shouldn’t, but knowing you can’t stop.
I love a boy who can’t get his shit together, but without him I can’t breathe.
I bet you never thought you’d miss the old days where their biggest problem was Bliss overhearing bathroom conversations. I bet you never thought it could get worse than that. But while reading Delinquents I found myself crying just reminiscing about those days.
I miss cream soda floats and snow boots that saved the world. I miss being on the phone with her talking about nothing at all. I miss the times when she melted over my touches simply because she loved me – only because she loved me.
Because somewhere along the line, innocence was lost and so were they. Bliss and Dusty never really had a good foundation. Their love has always hurt in some way or another, but there was a time when the good overruled the bad, and now I’m just not sure that it does anymore.
You want me to hold your hand while you kill us both? What the fuck am I supposed to do, Thomas?
Bliss was just a baby, too small to carry Dusty’s weight, but it didn’t stop him from stacking it on her shoulders. And as the years passed, Bliss grew stronger out of necessity and more bitter too. But Dusty is all she knows and Bliss is all he can feel.
I've been lit through each I love you, spun through each touch, and drunk-wasted through each don't ever leave me. All the affection I've ever shown this girl has been habit-stained and guilty. She never had a chance against a monster like me.
I’ve cried, because this love is a struggle and it’s never-ending. I’ve cried, because the hopelessness of this situation choked me. I’ve cried, because this is just so raw and so real. It’s kids growing up, following the wrong path and crashing face first to the ground. It’s thinking youth lasts forever and nothing matters but you and I. It's I don't give a fuck and desperately needing to keep not giving a fuck. It’s needing coke to be able to handle what you really need. It’s loving someone so much that you sacrifice yourself for that love. And it’s knowing you will hold his hand while he kills you both, because that’s your deal.
I’m just a girl with a broken heart, half-alive. Without him, that’s my deal.

***ARC received in exchange for an honest review***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Dusty theme song:

If you just walked away, what could I really say? Would it matter anyway? Would it change how you feel? I am the mess you chose, the closet you cannot close. The devil in you, I suppose, because the wounds never heal.

But everything changes. If I could turn back the years, if you could learn to forgive me, then I could learn to feel. Sometimes the things I say in moments of disarray, succumbing to the games we play, to make sure that it’s real.

But everything changes. If I could turn back the years, if you could learn to forgive me, then I could learn to feel. When it’s just me and you, who knows what we could do? If we could just make it through the toughest part of the day… But everything changes. If I could turn back the years, if you could learn to forgive me, then I could learn how to feel. Then we could stay here together and we could conquer the world, if we could say that forever is more than just a word.

But if you just walked away, what could I really say? It wouldn’t matter anyway. It wouldn’t change how you feel.

-------

You can find this review and more on Reading is my Breathing blog
July 16, 2017
4 ★'s

There's two things that kept me going with this series...1) I kept hoping for some type of time jump and 2) I kept hoping Thomas would get some help! Seriously...his parents knew something was going on and they. did. nothing.

And so it goes...it does get a little frustrating but the good thing is that both Thomas and Leigh are getting older and their romance has stepped up a notch or two.

But...but it was really hard reading his POV. To read about his addiction and the sex...that was hard. And I thought how much worse does this have to get. And will Leigh ever tell him no?

description

I was sooo happy when she finally stood up for herself but it was weird getting her heart's POV. It took me a second to realize that was what was actually happening!

And then finally all hell breaks loose...finally!

But "Love" was not happy with that ending. Nope, not even a little. So thankfully Goodreads has a book listed for a "futuretake" and we get a bit of an epilogue...or at least something. So if you need something more, here ya go:

The End: Dusty Futuretake:

http://keepcalmanddazzle.tumblr.com/p...
Profile Image for Ashley.
39 reviews26 followers
December 1, 2014
I HAVE NO WORDS TO DISCRIBE THIS BOOK MY GIFS SHALL SPEAK FOR ME ENJOY :)




























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i just saw this i am so excited



and yet the wait july for 1st book oct for 2nd i might die and dammit

after all dusty killed me i am still davastated from reading it i havent found a new book to love since

so i guess i shall be here just waiting for my heartbreak


also ladies if you need someone to read these books for you ya know just to make sure they are good i am here ;)
Profile Image for SueBee★bring me an alpha!★.
2,417 reviews14.8k followers
Want to read
March 1, 2015
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FREE on Amazon US today (3/1/2015)

Book 1 is FREE on Smashwords and only 99 cents on Amazon US.

BLURB:
The innocent girl with a delinquent heart has to live with her bad choices. Secret hope and hurt feel like falling while she learns how to breathe again, but there's still freedom in trouble.

The runaway with blacked-out eyes is losing his grip. Crushing two hearts in one fist, his addiction bends rules and breaks deals, but the boy born for bliss isn't going anywhere without a fight.

Love is knowing they should stay away, but love is illogical at best.

She's afraid to let go.

He won't let her.

This is how silliness and foolishness grow up.

Here, forever is a lie.


http://www.amazon.com/Delinquents-Dus...


FREEBIES are often good for MORE than one day, I have gathered all my FREEBIES on a special shelf: Kindle-freebies (currently over 370 books)
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Profile Image for AleJandra.
835 reviews414 followers
June 9, 2017
5 Three joints are better than one STARS

"We kiss with our eyes open, and hers tell the story of us: dependence, lies, and misery."

description

Es una de las historias de "amor" mas retorcidas, enfermizas y tristes que he leído. Drogas, alcohol, rought sex, mentiras, secretos, y estamos hablando de adolescentes.

Al terminar de leer el primer libro Innocents tenia muchos sentimientos a flote y aunque me moría por saber la continuación, mi corazón no estaba listo para afrontarlo, así que me espere unos meses hasta tener el valor de regresar a ver como Dusty se autodestruía, Bliss sufría al verlo, y nadie hacia nada para ayudarlo.

description

Llámenme ingenua, pero quiero creer con todas mis fuerzas que lo que narra este libro no llega a pasar en la vida real.

En serio este libro bien podría llamarse "Las peores decisiones que puedes tomar en cualquier circunstancia", porque no solo son adolescentes tomando no malas, si no pésimas decisiones. También la negligencia de los adultos es increíble.

"This is the youth of the nation: torrid, displaced, slutty, and drunk. It's the same people doing the same thing every weekend, promising themselves they won't grow up to be like their parents and swearing that one line won't change shit."

"Disease spreads, physically and mentally. Their laughs are corroded and their skin is melting. It's boys in men's bodies and girls doing grown-up things. We're all clueless and seeking, taking too many chances."

description

Dusty-Tomas

Los capítulos desde la perspectiva de Dusty rompían mi corazón en mil cachitos, enserio solo quería meterme al libro y abrazarlo, y obligarlo a ir a rehab.
Por su puesto también me quise meter al libro a darle unas cachetadas a los papas de Dusty, y gritarles. En serio tienen a un hijo con problemas de drogas y ¿qué hacen? le dan su herencia. WTF.

description

Bliss
"My truth: I love a lost cause. I love a failure, and I lost myself in him when I was nine years old."

description

Bliss para mi es la peor, hipócrita y doble cara con todos, por supuesto eso también la hiso la que mas sufrió. Odie la manera en que termino su amistad con Becka.

Mi parte favorita de todo el libro fue el capitulo desde la perspectiva del corazón de Bliss.

Es el primer libro que leo de estas autoras y espero que sea el primero de muchos, me encanto su forma de escribir. El uso de nicknames que en el primer libro me confundía, aquí me enamoro.

En conclusión: El final, lo odie y lo ame. Un felices para siempre no lo hubiera creído.
Profile Image for JAN.
1,199 reviews894 followers
October 25, 2014
I am very conflicted in how to rate this story.

There were so many times I went mad with the be my girlfriend/be my boyfriend thingy. Moments where Dusty wanted to put out their secret and she wanted to wait. Others, it was the other way around. She wanted to lay all the shit out and he wanted to hold it.



There was also the BF issue that really annoyed me. How can you keep a secret that big from your supposed best friend? A friend who you spend more time with than your own parents, going for sleep overs for consecutive days and sneaking out of her bedroom every night for years to stay with Love?



And that is the reason I feel conflicted, because even annoyed by this I want to give the story 5 Stars.

How could I NOT give 5 Stars when this story made me feel so much!

At 92% I couldn’t breathe. I had my emotion bursting from my heart getting stuck on my throat.
BIG.LUMP.



At 98%, I couldn’t hold more my tears.




Profile Image for Natalie.
287 reviews71 followers
October 23, 2018

★★★★ ! Is there sush a thing as loving too much too young? Addictive, heartbreaking, emotional draining (but oh so epic.....)
“We’re two kids who fell hopelessly in love.”

Dusty was a disappointment, (compared to the original version) so I really wasn't expecting much from Delinquents. But this was a much needed happy surprise. Maybe it's because this was brand new- materiel, I don't know, either way, I was hooked. I more than loved it. I almost got that magical feeling it gave me when I read Dusty for the first time years ago online. My only problem was that I once again, felt it was overly edited. The original work was over 1000 pages and book 1 was roughly 300+ pages, so it's safe to say that much from the original material went bye- bye. And it made book 1 a lot worse according to me.

"I lift my own hood from the sweater love gave me years ago. The cotton is worn thin, and Castor is faded on the back, but it doesn’t mean any less to me. And when I’m in bed and Thomas is out doing whatever it is that he does, it’s all I have to remind myself that he wasn’t always this way. There was a time when we were innocent and genuine, and young, stupid in love."

But Delinquents is book 2 and it pretty much stunned me how much I loved it.
It shocked me how glued I was to this book. I loved reading about a slightly older Dusty and Bliss.
It gave this story more depth. And once again, Sarah and Mary Elizabeth's writing was heartbreakingly beautiful. I felt that they really was spot- on regarding the difficulties and ups and downs about how it is being an addict/being in a relationship with an addict. I wish they would write another book together, the two writing styles really completes each other in an amazing way. Almost 4 stars! This book really saved the series from being a total waste of time. Delinquents was a beautiful, beautiful book. Harsh, but real. And so addictive, like crack.
Best read of 2014!

“But love is battling cocaine for love’s attention.”

You can probably say that Delinquents was an unnecessary book, since it ends pretty much the same as the original Dusty did. But it doesn't take away any of my love for this book. But I would say that you can just read Dusty (book 1) as a standalone. Or even better: Dusty: the fan fiction. It's the most amazing and epic I've EVER read. In a perfect world, the author's would have taken it, cut it in two and published it exactly as it was, which was perfection. The original Dusty will always hold a very special place in my heart. It is epic and magical. Everything was so heartbreakingly beautiful and perfect. That's why it was so devastating to me to see the story get ruined, according to me. Dusty really had EVERYTHING. Dusty and Bliss will forever be in my heart. Delinquents was perfection. ♥

“It’s not even fair to want someone as heavily and wholly as I crave this person. I feel too small to contain it, and all he did was look at me.”

Lastly I want to applaud these two authors. Together they really have found an unique and beautiful voice Their work is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I'll be reading a lot more by both of them. Delinquents was a beu and stunning read, it played on my emotions and was really a rollercoaster. But what a read it was; it's one to remember for a very long time and I'm shocked to say this, but were I to count the few books that really has stayed with me, Delinquents would undoubtedly be on that short list. In Dusty and Bliss, the Elizabeth's has created two unforgettable characters.

**


| Hero | 4 | | Angst | High focus |
| Heroine | 4 | | Romance | | High focus |
| Sexual tension | 4 | | Suspense | Low focus |
| Storytelling | 5 | | Humour | Low focus |
| Plot | 5 | | Darkness | High focus |
| Story ending | 5 |
Profile Image for Rochelle Allison.
Author 12 books263 followers
October 19, 2014
got book 2, delinquents, as an ARC.
this story is the type that's basically impossible to put down. even when you want to, because it's so intense and even painful to read about these mutually destructive teenagers, you can't. you have to see how things will go down.
when it's romantic, it's lush and gorgeous. but when it's bad…oh man. it's bad. dusty's not the only addict in this story, and while bliss' drug of choice involves just dusty and her obsessive love for him, she's just as strung out as he is.
love these books. well written (though at times a little flowery) and excruciatingly honest, dusty and bliss will stay with you long after the books are finished.
Profile Image for Melissa *Pervy*.
72 reviews39 followers
February 12, 2015

This is a story about a boy and a girl. Dusty and Bliss. Their love was powerful and all consuming. Unhealthy, intense and painful. It was real, emotional, and addicting. It fucking gutted me. Gutted me.
Love, terrified and unbelieving, I'm the one asking now. Love?
Love, his pulse vows as sincerely as a prisoner can. Love.
But I hear it.
In between every stifled beat of my name, I hear Dusty's heart telling him to let us go.





Thomas. Dusty. Trouble. Heart-buster. Knockout.

My favorite fucked up and broken boy.

He's a drug addict. A manipulator. A promise breaker. A liar.

He's love.
I won't be satisfied until she splits me open and touches me on the inside. I want her fingertips to dance on vertebrae, and I want her arms to get tangled in veins and arteries. It'll be enough when she's elbow deep, coated in my life source. I need this girl to break apart rib bones and puncture lungs to reach for my heart. I want her to rip the right ventricle from the left, just to feel the very center of where my heart beats for her.
"That's you," I'd say. "That's where you are."



Leighlee. Bliss. Sunny side. Baby. Kid. Little girl. Pretty princess.

My favorite not-so-innocent and weak girl.

She's an enabler. A liar. She's her own kind of monster.

She's love.
I close my eyes and I can still feel Thomas inside and all over me. I swallow, and the sullen selfish boy who carries my life in his lungs has dug himself so deeply into me, I swear I taste him on the back of my tongue.
Tap, tap, tap.
But love has made me weak.
Sniff.
I let him have Her.



This book!

I loved it!

I knew what I was getting into, but it still felt like my heart was being murdered page by page...word by fucking word. My brain was telling me "stop reading, stop reading" but there was no way I could.

This story was captivating and gut-wrenching. It was heart breaking and angsty as fuck...

But...

It was beautiful in all of its fuckedupness.

And...

Some of it was just plain fucked up...

The parents who knew and chose to pretend. The angry, lying, pill popping, unforgiving sister. The girl who gave and gave and let love make her weak and stupid. The boy who used and took and took and took.

The whole story, it was too much and not enough. It was real and unforgiving. It made my eyes water and my heart weep. I feel both sad and relieved that their story is over, but I will always be left wondering...wanting...and needing.
My heartbreaker lifts my chin, pushing hair away from my face. "It's okay. It's better...It is."

Profile Image for Angela DeSilva.
153 reviews224 followers
July 1, 2017
Loved this duology so much. Such beautiful writing and relatable characters. I'll be looking for her future works.

Excellent writing. Loved this duology. Does have underage drinking, drug use and sex. I think its new adult not young adult like I thought initially.
Profile Image for Kika.
153 reviews
April 1, 2016


I wasn't going to review this book(s), but I feel like I have to; not because they were so fantastic that I can't stop thinking about them but because... I don't know, I just have to! :))

I feel like there should be a whole new category for this kind of books. Not quite YA but more like f*cked-up YA - FUYA! (this could also be read as 'f*ck you YA' which I'm pretty sure a lot of readers feel exactly that way about YA, so there you have it!)

This review will be about both books in the Dusty series which are Innocents (Dusty, #1) and Delinquents (Dusty, #2). I didn't read this story as two different books though, i read it as really big one so that's how I'm going to review it/them, as a story.

So, the story begins when Leighlee (aka Bliss) and Thomas (aka Dusty) first meet at the age of 11 and 13 I think? Well, around that age. The book(s) follow their story in detail until they're 18 and 20.

My first comment will be about their parents; they were so different but equally disappointing. Bliss's parents were (supposedly) strict and old-fashion, but they would let her spend almost every weekend at Rebecka's house (Dusty's sister) and Dusty's parents were liberal and just plain stupid IMO. Look, I'm European... My dad gave me my very first sip of alcohol (it was cognac - fancy right?) at the age of 6-7 (I know!) and i was drinking beer regularly with my dinner at the age of 15 but i've never gotten drunk until the age of 20 when i was in college. That being said, I'm not against parents letting their kids drink in a supervised environment but Dusty's parents were letting them get drunk and smoke cigarettes and pot! That's some dangerous stuff right there.

Bad parenting aside, the story starts when Bliss meets Becka and they become best friends. Bliss spends a lot of time at Becka's house and starts having some kind of strange relationship with Becka's brother, Dusty. Instead of sleeping with Becka, she waits until Becka falls asleep to sleep with Dusty. But their "relationship" has to be a secret, so no-one really knows that they're actually a "couple". They use the word love a lot, but it really should be lust or better yet obsession. They're both equally obsessed with each other but in different ways. Bliss never gets involved with another guy but Dusty sleeps around a lot, and Bliss knows all about it. Later on, Dusty gets mixed-up with the wrong crowd and gets addicted to harder drugs, mainly cocaine. That should be a deal breaker for Bliss, but she's a kid and she's "in love" so she covers for him and keeps "loving" him.

I'm a sucker for this kind of stories... I really do love them therefore, story-wise this was a 5-star read! I reduced it to 4-stars because of the writting... Don't get me wrong, it was very well-written but the style, not my thing. Let me give you an example.

"Our boy's heart is faint, an echo of an echo almost lost to cruel wind, but i hear it seeking me.
Love?
It's cutting tears.
Love?
Calling home.
Love?
I fall, and as Bliss closes her eyes to keep control, I scrape and swear against her."


Yeah, not my thing. But I loved Bliss's and Dusty's story so much especially the ending. It was the vaguest ending I've ever read and i freaking loved it!
240 reviews76 followers
October 29, 2014
This is going down as one of my all-time favorite series and tied with its counterpart for best book I’ve read all year. I am in love with this story and can’t stop thinking about it. This is a feat in itself. I read a few books a week, but I’m an out of sight out of mind reader. Even the books I really enjoy can drift from my memory in a matter of weeks, but every now and then a book comes along that really sticks and I can remember every word and feeling. The Dusty series is one of those.

Deliquents picks up where we left off and is more intense and painful than Innocents as things only get worse for Bliss and Dusty, but there are also a lot more heartwarming moments too. The emotional pull to this story is unlike any other. It’s such an unhealthy and destructive relationship, but I was wrapped up in it and understood Bliss’ inability to leave him even when I wanted to hate Dusty (which as dispicable as he can be was impossible for me to do.) I never stopped feeling from the moment I started reading this book. Whether those feelings were frustration, agony, or happiness on occassion my heart was invested. It’s such a struggle to watch this relationship play out, but there was so much truth to this relationship. Nothing I’ve read has ever felt more real.

“The truth is not easy. My truth: I love a lost cause. I love a failure, and I lost myself in him when I was nine years old.”

The writing is probably the most unique style I’ve ever read. It’s beautiful and at times lyrical. I highlighted constantly. I tend to be a skimmer. I get bored easily with long monologues and unimportant details in a story. I clung to every word in this book, and often reread paragraphs just to take it all in.

The negatives… they were still the same things I mentioned when I reviewed Innocents. I don’t feel they are worth removing any stars. The story outshined anything I didn’t like about this book.

It’s definitely one of those books that is bittersweet to finish. On one hand you got to experience this amazing story, but on the other hand what are you suppose to read now? How are you supposed to find another book that can make you feel like this? It’s the downside of reading the best books. I rarely reread books, in fact there is only one book that I reread, but I am in immediate reread mode after completing this series. It might be the only cure.

Overall I highly recommend this book. You must read The Innocents first. Now, if you will excuse me I will be searching the internet for scraps. I need more!

“Love is fucked-up, but love is all there is.”
Profile Image for Amy.
381 reviews3 followers
November 12, 2014
Spoiler alert for this one because I'm getting ready to rant...It took me TWO WEEKS to read this thing and I'm actually surprised it didn't take longer. It was agony. I would compare it to being a child and not being able to get up from the table until I finished all my green peas (I loathe green peas). Every time I put my Kindle down, I would dread picking it back up and resuming reading about a group of the most detestable people! Not one person in this crowd is good. Not one you could hang your hat on and say, 'hey, but at least there is so-in-so'. Yes, I even thought Oliver was a douchebag. It practically nauseated me reading about the gross abuse of drugs and alcohol that Thomas was doing. How is he a functioning athlete?? Please tell me how this is possible. And Bliss. Wow. I think I'm convinced that she is sociopath. She has no heart whatsoever, even though I was made to endure a lengthy chapter from her heart's POV. Wow, yeah, I think I started skipping paragraphs in that chapter. The only thing that gives her motion is her outrageous obsession with Thomas. How can she love this guy? He's ALWAYS HIGH. She doesn't have any idea who the hell he really is. She lost her virginity to him while he was high as a kite! And all the sex after that; he's high. How can you share that with someone and pretend it means everything when he's not even 'present'. Just gross. And her pretend friendship with his sister for 8 years?? Who is this girl? And why would I want to hear her story? She is a terrible person. I don't care what happens with these two. I hope they find Dusty in a ditch and Bliss kills herself with his damn sweater. Peace out.
Profile Image for Sunniva Dee.
Author 28 books2,148 followers
October 25, 2014
Okay. No. This is not just a good book. This is the best f***ing book I’ve read in a decade, and mind you, I’ve read a lot of books.

Genres, schmenres. Young adult, new adult—who cares and who the hell knows? From where I stand, there’s no scouring for comparisons or boxes to stuff these reads into, because there simply are none. The poetic, yet thumb-on-the-pulse-of-the-characters language made me swoon and die. I was always there with them, in the midst of their love, their anguish, and their despair.

Honesty, always honesty to what the characters’ reality is, makes “Dusty” into a story where I found myself prepared for anything to happen. I had no idea of where the authors were taking me, and yet as a reader I consented and soaked up every meticulously applied word.

If you’ve ever loved like crazy or wanted to know what it’d do to you, you should permit “Innocents” and “Delinquents” to crack your heart open. Then, all you need is to lean back, and Dusty and Bliss will flood you.

I admit that I’m jealous of anyone who hasn’t already devoured these books. You’re about to be whisked off into the beautiful, ugly, obsessive, gorgeous, sad, and blissful world of Leighlee and Thomas, while I? I’m already out on the other side.

Love. So much love.
Please, world, bring on more books like these.
Profile Image for Ari Reavis.
Author 17 books161 followers
June 23, 2015
I'm so emotionally drained. I don't think I've ever cried so much while reading a book. I cried the majority of an entire chapter at one point. Writing a chapter from the heart's POV....... GENIUS. I don't even know what to write. There's no words for Leighlee and Thomas' love story. No way to explain why I wanted Leighlee to let him go, but all the while praying their love can weather the storm, that their love could somehow be repaired. This book makes you ask yourself, what would you be willing to endure and accept for the one who holds your heart in their iron grip?? I wish there was a part 3, but my fragile heart knows there isn't and it's killing me.
Profile Image for Sandra Cortez.
522 reviews51 followers
September 25, 2015
After not completely enjoying book 1 the author sucked me in with Delinquents. This was a thought provoking send off to baby, baby, baby. The authors realism on drug use and it's affect on everyone was real, at times grueling but definitely needed to capture the fall of Thomas' mistress cocaine. If you weren't sold on book 1 I urge you to continue on.
Profile Image for Lisbeth Tejada.
194 reviews30 followers
October 22, 2014
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
Maybe spoiler alert.
I had the nerve to finish this book this morning on my way to work. Needless to say that my dad had to see me lose it over the written word for the 1st time in his life. (He knows I do it, he just hadn't seen it happen). I cried. And I cried because I was moved. And I was moved because I fell in love with the characters--not in the blinded way when you accept everything they do or think they're perfect, but in the way you fall in love with characters that seem to be doomed and you want them to survive and thrive.
I cried because Dusty has been years in the making and I was lucky enough to be a part of a big part of the process. I cried because even though things aren't tied together "with a bow" (I hate that expression, btw), it felt like we came full circle and I loved that.
I cried because Dusty is a drug addict and Bliss is a compulsive liar and they are in love, and they're teenagers in love who had some bad circumstances going for them.
I cried because this is a product of two writers, one of them a dear friend of mine, whose writing style I've learned to recognize, and it STILL felt like this was one person writing. One pair of hand, one mind, one heart, working and writing the story of two fucked up kids who grew up too fast, loved too hard and hurt too much.
I cried because Delinquents (as Innocents) has all the pretty words with all the ugly truth and to see it end, and to want more made me feel this huge whole in my chest.
I cried, because the possibilities are endless, and you, who are reading this, will have to read it to understand it.
Profile Image for SammiesBookBlog.
543 reviews8 followers
October 17, 2014
I was given a ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What can I say about Dusty? this is the best story I have ever read. I love Dusty deeply. The story is touching and earth shattering. I think everyone and all teens should read this story. It's full of emotions and it captivates you from the start and doesnt let go. Its one of the most unconventional love stories I have read and its bitter sweet knowing Dusty is over. The story touches on Bliss and Dusty once more. They're growing up, growing together and apart. Dusty still battles his monsters and they only get worse, they're better together and also apart, but I could never imagine these two not together. It's heartbreaking watching these two go through what they go through. I feel equally bad for them. I feel bad for what Dusty puts Bliss through, what she misses out on. She loves her monster and only wants him. But then at times I feel she taunts him, eggs him on, asks for some things. I get it, she is hurt. There is no easy answer. Dusty and Bliss are real, raw and uncensored. The ending broke my heart, but I was happy to see they stayed true to the fanfic, I did notice many little things that were changed up and appreciate those small changes, it added to the story 100%.
The story is achingly beautiful , and it will stay in my heart forever. Must read <3




"My sex is all over you, girl." < I love Dusty. Sigh.


I'm broken, made of pieces, but my pieces are made of more than just love.

Profile Image for Malene.
1,250 reviews699 followers
April 2, 2017
Delinquents was a great conclusion to Dusty and Bliss' story. I didn't love it as much as the first book. I thought addiction and love was captured so flawlessly through the characters. It's been awhile since I've been so frustrated with characters as I was with Bliss and Dusty. I know they were young but I would've love to see some growth throughout this story. They didn't learn from their mistakes. I know and understand they were too involved, addicted to each other and to drugs to make those life changing decisions but I expected Bliss or Dusty to put a stop to everything sooner.
Their love was ugly, beautiful, obsessive and so much more. I felt it and my heart broke numerous times because of their love and Dusty's relationship with a certain white devil.
I loved how it ended because nothing is set in stone and maybe someday there'll be more story about Dusty and Bliss. Here's to hoping.

3 BadAssDirtyPromiseStars
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