Review: Pretty good novel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 14, 2014
Why I Picked It UpI enjoyed Tucker’s novel about Livie’s sister, Kacey, so I wanted to read Livie’s story.PlotI am going to start by saying that Livie’s story is immensely different than Kacey’s partly because Livie’s coping mechanism was the complete opposite of Kacey’s. Regardless of this, there was still just as much emotional baggage as Ten Tiny Breaths. Livie’s story takes place, for the most part, at Princeton, which is where I’ll be going to school in the fall. Going into the novel, I had a feeling that the continuities between Princeton in real life and Princeton in this story would be nonexistent and that this story would be harder to read for me because it wasn’t accurate. Although there were mild distinctions, I was for the most part impressed with Tucker’s portrayal of Princeton. She put in the research to make sure that it was portrayed accurately.Moving on to the plot, I didn’t quite like the characters or their actions as much as I did in Ten Tiny Breaths. These characters had some problems and did some things that were not moral in my eyes, which made getting into the book a bit more difficult. However, I was actively engaged in how things played out, partly because it was just a giant mess of a plot. Things were always going bad for the main characters and they had to deal with a lot. Because of this tangled web of events–mostly lies and deceit–I was able to stay interested enough to complete the novel.Leading LadyLivie did a complete 180 in this novel and to be honest, it was a bit unrealistic. All of the sudden she let go of her morals and good-girl attitude and turned to the dark side, all the while hiding it from her sister and friends. Livie was one of my favorite characters in Ten Tiny Breaths because of her stability, but it is completely lost in this novel. She did a lot of things that I couldbn’t have imagined her going, much less a person with morals doing, and that really darkened my opinion of her character. I get that she was coping and such, but this was like an on-the-dime change and it felt anything but realistic for me.Leading MaleAshton was one of those characters that you hate yet you love. He was a jerk, no doubt about it. He cheated, a lot, on his girlfriend. He didn’t really seem to care about anyone’s feelings. He played with Livie’s feelings for the first half of the novel, all the while urging her to stay with his best friend. But he was broken. It was evident from his first appearance in the novel and you couldn’t help but sympathize for him as you learned more of his story. It doesn’t make what he did in this novel forgivable, but it makes it somewhat (just a teeny bit) understandable. He was one of those  brooding, broken book boys but he stood out from the rest in his own way. He was an interesting character to read, to say the least. He definitely kept the drama flowing.RomanceThere were two romances in this novel: Livie and Ashton and Livie and Connor, Ashton’s best friend. I kind of hate Livie for leading Connor on for the duration of the novel because I honestly believe that he didn’t deserve to have to put up with Livie’s flakiness. Their situation is really the thing that kept me from liking Livie’s character in this book because it was just wrong on so many levels, which she pointed out constantly in the novel. If you are someone who can’t stand people who cheat, then this is definitely not the novel for you because boy, was there a lot of cheating going on in this novel. Which brings us to Ashton and Livie. It was obvious from the first chapter, the attraction between Ashton and Livie. Sure, it was complicated, but Livie went and made a mess out of it by adding Connor into the mix. Ashton and Livie were both coping with crap that went on in their lives and they really gave each other a semblance of peace. I just wish they could have realized it before making such a mess.Other CharactersReagan was Livie’s roommate in this novel. She reminded me a bit of Kacey with her spunky attitude. I really enjoyed reading about her and I wish that we had seem more of her in this novel.Connor was Livie’s boyfriend and Ashton’s best friend. I honest to goodness felt bad for him for the whole novel. He didn’t deserve what he had to go through. It was just sad for me.ConclusionOne Tiny Lie was a pretty good novel. If you don’t mind cheaters, then this would be a great novel for you to pick up. However, if you can’t stand them, don’t bother, because it is a very prominent theme throughout the novel. But overall, it was a good contemporary read and I can’t wait to read the other companion novels in the series.