Review: In Review: If Only by A.J. Pine
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2014
I love a book that has angst, misunderstandings/lack of communication and the back-and-forth of a love triangle or complicated relationships as much as the next person, but this one was just a little over the top for me. It quite literally was always SOMETHING with these characters. It was exhausting. But it wasn’t all bad. I really did enjoy the book, I just didn’t love it.We meet Jordan as she’s on a train to Scotland. We don’t know why she’s heading there. We just know she’s going there alone and her friend has encouraged her to hook up with someone while she’s there because it’s been way, way too long since she’s been with a guy. She meets two guys on the train, Griffin and Noah. Griffin’s attractive, but she thinks he’s probably a player, yet she’s still tempted by him. She and Noah share an intense moment (with kissing!), but it’s ruined when she realizes he clearly has someone else in his life. After arriving at school in Scotland, she realizes that both Griffin and Noah are attending the same school, and she was correct – Noah has a girlfriend who is there with him. It’s all very complicated and the actions of each character only make it more so.Griffin likes Jordan. Jordan likes Noah. Noah is dating Hailey, but is attracted to Jordan. Jordan won’t start up anything serious because they’re all only there for such a short period of time. But that still doesn’t stop her from having a little bit of fun. And a lot of angsty drama. It wore me out. I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to happen. Griffin and Noah were both good guys and Jordan definitely had chemistry with both of them. Things were just complicated. As tiring as it all was, it was all realistic. From the dialogue to the characters to the friendship to the setting, it felt like it could be happening on any college campus on the planet.There were a lot of characters in this book. Some were better and more complex than others. Some were more likable than others. Jordan was just ok for me, but I can’t really pinpoint why she wasn’t more. She was likable enough and I could feel her confusion when it came to the boys. I could see why she would be attracted to both of them. I just wanted her to step up and say how she felt. All of the characters needed to do more of that. I adored Griffin and was more than a little annoyed when he disappeared partway through the book. You’ll have to see for yourself if he comes back. Noah was, without a doubt, swoony. He was complicated and had a difficult time making up his mind, too. The only character in this book that I felt truly ever spoke her mind, was Jordan’s roommate Elaina. I loved this girl. She was sassy, she was meddlesome, but it all came from a good place.I’ve mentioned the angst a couple times. I may have thought it was overdone, but others didn’t feel the same way, so if you’re a fan of contemporary romances, you should check this one out and decide for yourself. If you enjoy instant gratification, this won’t be your type of book at all. If Only is all about the slow burn that I usually love so much, and it’s not that I didn’t love that aspect of the book, it was all the other things that brought it down a bit for me. I will say the ending left me giddy. The premise of this book was excellent, and while I think it got a little off-track partway through, it recovered nicely and ended on a high and satisfying note. Truth be told, this is probably more of a 3.5 star book, but if you read my reviews with any regularity, you know I don’t give half stars. :)I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.