Review: A sweet, sweet surprise of a book!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 22, 2013
Sweet Nothing by Mia Henry was such a sweet, sweet surprise. I found myself totally engrossed in Elliot’s story as she starts her new life in Miami and tries to forget all the trouble and hurt from her past in New York.When we first meet Elliot, there is obviously something troubling that has happened in her past. At first it was what really grabbed my attention in this book because it was like this big mystery I was constantly trying to figure out. Little snippets would sneak out and I felt like I got a little closer to finding out what pushed her away from her life in New York but it was never quite enough to get the full story. While this is what initially stole my attention, it got a bit old after a while. The other characters we were introduced to and certain things going on with Elliot and the oh-so-swoon-worthy Mr. Luke Poulos, soon stole the limelight and I just wanted to know Elliot’s full story without all of the waiting and guessing. Despite this supersmall irritation, I fell in love with Elliot and just about every character in this book!Elliot is obviously hurt and struggling when we are first introduced to her. Life is not going her way and hasn’t been for a long, long time but she is trying to make it better for herself. After basically dropping her old life at the New York borderline and picking up a new one before she reached Miami, Elliot is virtually unrecognizable. I found her move to be so very brave. She left her sister who happens to be her best friend, she left her safe and comfortable (for the most part) lifestyle and she moved to a place where she didn’t know anyone, had to get a new job, and was faced with some real-life struggles. I loved how she was this sweet, determined person but she was also this closed-off, scared person. She wasn’t totally perfect and she wasn’t totally broken, just somewhere in between and it was so refreshing. I loved that I got to see her at her worse and I also got to see her as she made it to her best.Elliot’s plan is to just coast through her new life in Miami. Don’t get too attached, just make a living, get her act together and move on. She can’t afford for anyone to recognize her let alone find out about just what she left behind in New York. But as the case often goes in stories like this, her plans soon change. Elliot meets the gorgeous Luke at a work party and there is definitely an attraction there. Despite the physical attraction, these two connect on a deeper, very believable level. Luke lost a lot at a young age and Elliot lost a lot just recently. This commonality allows Elliot to connect with him despite her best efforts. She finds that it’s hard to stay away from someone so understanding (and also really hot because let’s face it, that doesn’t hurt!).I LOVED Luke as a character. He was so sweet and attentive and also just there for Elliot whenever she needed him. There were many times during this book that Elliot would catch herself getting too caught up in Luke and would try to push herself away or build a wall between them but Luke knocked them all down. Someone please tell me how you don’t swoon over something like that? Perhaps what I loved even more about Luke was his honesty and humor. He was so believable as a character and these traits made him all the more believable.While Elliot and Luke are obviously the two characters I became the most in love with, Elliot’s roommates were also quite awesome. Waverly and Gwen were hilarious roommates. At first I was kind of leery of both of them but as the story went on, I learned to love and appreciate each of them as they were; sort of flawed, a little bit mysterious, not entirely trustworthy but when it came down to it, they were exceptional new friends to Elliot.This story ended really odd for me. The story was going good, then it was going great, and I was loving the twists and turns, the ups and downs, but then at the end it just stopped. It definitely leaves room for a sequel of some sort but I feel like it could have been rounded out just a bit more at the end of this one. A fan of cliff-hangers, Kate is not. Despite this minor setback at the end, I LOVED everything about this story. There were moments where I giggled and moments that made my heart hurt. There were characters I loved and characters that added a little something special to this story. But above all there was a great love story mixed in with a great real-life story in which Elliot comes to terms with her past and learns to embrace her future. I definitely, definitely recommend this book!