Review: Realistic yet romantic, poignant and sweet
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 16, 2014
A handsome young stranger...with Tourette's. There's an unusual twist for a YA romance.A budding romance, a road trip, a shared hotel room, but no premarital sex--and not because the teens are religious, but just because they have some prudence? That alone is worth five stars.Ruby's voice is engaging and authentic. I love her from page one. However, my first reaction on reaching the end of this novel was disappointment and anger. You call this happily ever after? Well, nothing went the way it was supposed to! All my hopes expectations were thwarted.But Ruby doesn't see it that way. After taking us through a long road trip that any adult would know is foolish and unnecessary, and coming home empty handed, she doesn't see her mistakes as mistakes at all. Learning experiences, yes.I read every page of this story, which is something, because at my age, I've seen it all, and I end up skipping whole chapters sometimes or jumping to the ending. This time, I did not peek at the end because I had no doubt the story was engaging and worth reading. Too many books leave me wishing I had all those hours of my life back.For a while there, I was wincing at the cliche of the fortune teller, but the way it all panned out, that one too deserves five stars just for the way it thwarts expectations.I'm trying to avoid plot spoilers. Let me just say Josh is a dream, and Ruby is the kind of girl any mom would wish for, but darn it, why are teenage girls so stubborn and determined to do it THEIR way instead of the logical way? (Yes. I am a mother of three. Our son can be as maddening as his younger sisters.)The musical part of the title seemed misleading, along with the playlist at the end. If I'd recognized the songs or found an easy link to the music online, they might have added a lot to the story. Maybe younger readers with their gadgets would have the soundtrack playing along as they read.Lots of quotable quotes in this story -- if my wi-fi was enabled on my Kindle, I probably highlighted dozens of them.In all, a charming and engaging story, a little slow moving and somewhat anti-climactic, which to me is actually very refreshing. I love character-driven versus plot driven. And the reason Josh doesn't like stars? Wow. Just, wow!