Review: HLB Reviews Put Me Back Together
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 4, 2014
I really like the new adult genre, I think it's because it's a coming of age story that I tend to be able to identify with. This book really appealed to me because it was clear from the very beginning that Katie had a dark secret in her past and I really wanted to know what it was. From the very beginning of the book, Rooney starts giving you little tid bits of information about Katie's past and her secrets, and the more the book continues the more you want to know about what happened.So as much as I want to talk about the full truth of what happened in Katie's past, I totally don't want to run the whole experience for you, so I am going to just outline the finer points. When Katie was younger, a murder occurred that she was present for, it was horrific in every possible way imaginable, because the murder involved a young child. It was a media spectacle at the time, and the whole experience has left Katie closed off, depressed, and full of a lot of guilt and shame about everything that happened. So it makes sense that when it was time to go to college she went as far away from what happened as possible. I really felt for Katie throughout the book, she isolates herself so much, even from her twin sister, and she's been doing it so long she really has no idea how to let people in. More than that she literally has no self-worth at all, she has so much to work through when the novel starts, that you just can't help but to pull for her to have some kind of break through. And then of course the past shows up to haunt her, and that only makes things harder.Lucas, is a great character, he's the typical jock, or rather he used to be before his life to a dramatic turn and suddenly his priorities shifted. He is just such a good guy, and more than that he's so patient with Katie. He is there for her no matter what, no matter how much she pushes him away, he never backs down, willing to do anything to help her in any way her can. I really liked reading him, he was just so authentically a kind person, but never overly pushy, it was easy to see why Katie would fall for him.I don't want to give too much of the story away, so I am just going to say a couple of generalities. The book for me is 50% mystery/suspense and 50% romance. The author did a great job of slowly revealing things at the perfect rate to keep you interested and turning the page. I think anyone who enjoys the new adult genre is going to like this book, especially if you like a little suspense thrown in as well. If you are looking for a book that is super hot and heavy the whole time, this probably isn't the book for you, but the character development within it is fantastic so it makes the more "steamy" scenes all the better. So if you like new adult, go check out this book now!