Review: It was a fun read, even though it took awhile to warm up to the main character
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
I’ve been a fan of Melody Grace and her Beachwood Bay series ever since the first book came out and I’ve loved each installment ever since. Unconditional, while not my favorite of the series, is just as interesting, filled with romance and character growth and written with Grace’s captivating writing style. Why didn’t I love this one as much as the others? It has more to do with how I didn’t really like the main character, Carina. It took me a very long time for warm up to her and I often don’t enjoy books as much when I can’t connect or when I don’t like the MC. That’s not to say that she didn’t grow on me and that it took away from the story, because her character fits with the story progression, but because I personally didn’t like her, that’s what made it an okay read for me.Carina is Juliet’s (from Unbreakable) sister, and not a very good one at that. You get to see her life now and how she views the world, and I have to say, I didn’t care for it. She’s very selfish, narrow-minded, and pretty mean, too. I definitely didn’t like how she was always on her father’s side growing up, and if you knew about their past, you’d understand (it gets explained somewhat in the book as well as the first book). While I didn’t like the situation she was in and wanted better for her, she did bring it on herself. With that said, I loved how Grace took a very unlikable character and turned her around into someone I could at least tolerate. You’ll see how she slowly learns the error of her ways and her thinking, and how she bridges those gaps with her sister. I definitely liked her more towards the end and I’m happy with how she turned out. She grew a lot as an individual and I really enjoyed her romance with Garrett.As for Garrett, he was a pretty strong character early on but he’s one of those guys who has those “hot and cold” moments that I hate so much. Also, his “secret” is totally not what I thought it was, even though it’s pretty bad, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been to make him the way he is. It’s hard to explain without giving it away, but I think he didn’t have to be as crazy as he was. I liked that he brought Carina back from the “dark side” and helped her get over her worries and problems, but I didn’t like how he refused to let her in completely and how he handled certain things between them.You’ll get a lot more emotions and angst with this one than with the others. These characters are pretty messed up, but they come together and make each other better people, which is always nice to read about. I also loved seeing some of my favorite Beachwood Bay characters.