Review: Beautiful Story But...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2013
"I'm in love with you. I have been for months now. I was just waiting for you to catch up. I would do anything for you Tab." - Noah***Mild spoilers***THE GOOD:The story:This was a short and sweet story, following Tabitha's recovery after a sexual assault. When she moves colleges to be closer to her family & to escape the fallout and judgement from her old schoolmates. We see her grow throughout the story with the help of Noah, her family and her new friends at a support group. It was heartbreaking what Tabitha had to go through, and it was great to see her overcome her fears.The romance:After trying to pick up Noah at a bar to have a one night stand, hoping to get over her intimacy issues, she has a flashback and can't go through with it - thinking she'll never see him again. But fate steps in and it turns out he's a student & TA at her new college. As they get to know one another better though class and working on the paper together their relationship builds. He works with her to help build her trust in him which was beautiful to watch.THE BAD:The Length & Pacing:The pacing in this novel was just a little off for me. I felt there were large gaps of time that were just glossed over with phrases like:"Noah and I have spent almost every free moment together over the past two weeks." - TabithaI would have preferred to of actually seen some the things that they did together to get close - did they go to the movies, dinner, study etc. It would have made their relationship so much stronger & believable.I also felt the ending was a bit rushed, with the climax occurring in the last couple of pages. The scene where everything was revealed was really powerful and quite unique too. There was so much emotion that could have been drawn out of that moment, but it was over so quickly that it all felt a little anti-climactic.FINAL WORD:Although it felt slightly rushed it was still a really beautiful story. If some of the scenes were to be developed a little further to allow the reader more time with the characters, it could be even better.CONTENT:Sexuality: medium-strong / sex scenesViolence: medium / flashbacks of sexual assaultLanguage: medium / several f wordDrugs & alcohol: medium / flashbacks of drink being spikedMore reviews at The Reading Realm Blog