Review: Its a simple but sweet story with great topics
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 7, 2014
The story is simple but sweet. I really liked the story. I'm impressed with Harms' handling of Riley's experiences with abuse because it not only portrays the experience of domestic violence but also the aftermaths. It is natural that Riley is cautious of her boyfriend's behavior. She doesn’t want to repeat her past. I have a soft spot for stories about and characters with crappy family members and can relate with Zander's feelings for his father. But more interesting is Zander's relationship with his best friend. I really liked the storyline with their changing friendship and how they have to adjust when Zander falls in love with Riley. My need for multiple storylines to increase the suspense of the story is satisfied. I appreciate the fact that Harms doesn’t exhaust the dramatic potential of the story in the arc of suspense. Other authors would have use Riley's ex or Zander's family to an extent that it would have been ordinary. Harms' arc of suspense stands out with the subtlety. She doesn’t need the dramatic effect to spice up the story.Unfortunately, Harms' writing style and narration are a little bit too superficial to feel the character's emotions. There is only one scene that got me emotional involved; the rest of the book is just a good read. Harms doesn’t use the potential of emotionality with her descriptions and dialogues. The possibilities are there but serious and important conversations sound too posed and unnatural for me. A more detailed and elaborated writing style would have been better. The story is written in Riley's and Zander's first-person narratives but even the narration can't establish the connection and emotional involvement I need in books to rate them higher. But for all that I enjoyed the book. It wasn’t a waste of my time.6. Juni 2014