Review: Sweet NA read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 9, 2013
Sneaking Candy was a sweet coming of age story about learning to be comfortable in your own skin. I will admit, with the mention of Candice being a secret erotic novelist I was perhaps expecting more steam but nonetheless it was a quirky, enjoyable story.At the beginning, it did take me a while to get my head around the characters. Candice was a 22 yr old teaching assistant and was referred to as a professor. And her own professor was only 26. I have no knowledge of the American academic system but I felt the characters had an older feel to them. Perhaps it was the level of responsibility they had that made the story lose a bit of that fun, fresh feel for me.Candice and her best friend Amanda were fun characters. Where Candice was shy and reserved, Amanda was loud and upfront. Amanda definitely encouraged Candice to unleash ‘Candy’ her naughty writing alter ego.I felt it was low on the romance, for Candice being an erotic writer there was little flirting or intimate moments with James. For the first half of the story she was pushing him away and then for the second half all their sexual encounters were really ‘wham bam thank you ma’am’.  We were told Candice and James were growing closer and needed each other but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t know James well enough to get a handle on who he was or to swoon over him.For Lisa Burstein’s first full length New Adult novel, I think it was a nice introduction. It was on the softer side of New Adult. The focus was on Candice and her learning to be comfortable with both sides of her personality. I like do like my New Adult books a bit grittier and compelling. However, if you are after a sweet read, with some humour and an important message then Sneaking Candy will tick all the right boxes. ~Ava