Review: Loving Samir!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 2, 2014
The first thing that comes to mind after finishing I See London is how torn I was. One minute I would be absolutely loving what I was reading, and then the next I wasn't too sure how I felt. And it all came down to the characters. I was so frustrated by them at times. Especially Maggie. But also Samir and Hugh. All three of them did my head in at different times.I was a bit put off at first by all the partying and talk about clothes and hairstyles. Everyone seemed fairly superficial and there wasn't a great deal of emphasis placed on the learning side of college. But I eventually settled into a groove with things. I think that came down to how easy it was to read Chanel Cleeton's writing. It was smooth and really free flowing.A lot of my frustrations were with Maggie. I think that when she arrived in London and began her studies at the International School, she was taken in by the glamour of her new friends. I think that comes down to being quite naive for her age. She's never really ventured beyond her hometown before. She's never had a boyfriend and never been kissed, so everything is new and exciting for her. I totally got that side of things. But when it came to Samir and Hugh, I think she was just as confused as me about what she wanted. But under that confusion was a layer of vulnerability and loneliness, and I couldn't help but feel for her.Hugh was a really likeable character although I don't feel that I got to know him really well. He was much older than Maggie and that really came across loud and clear to me. For a lot of the time she seemed to really be out of her element. There was definitely an attraction between the two of them and in the end I was more than happy with the way the author took things between them.The character that I liked the most was Samir. Even given all his flaws, and there are many, there was something about him. I can't say it was an instant like that I felt for him. It was much more a slow developing thing. I think it was the many facets to his personality that eventually pulled me in. Besides him being utterly gorgeous, he was an incredibly loyal friend. He would drop everything and do anything to help out those that he cared about. There were so many times that I would have loved to be inside his head just to get some idea of what he was thinking and feeling. I think that there's so much more to learn about Samir and I really look forward to all his layers being revealed.Despite my frustrations, when I got to the end, I had ended up enjoying it. The writing was great, the characters grew on me and the setting was perfect. There were different points in the book where to me it had a real Gossip Girls feel to it. I could definitely use another Samir fix so I will be reading the next book in the series.3.75/5 Loving Samir StarsThis book was gifted to me for an honest review.