Review: The Ending Is Worth Finishing This Book
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 20, 2013
This review was originally posted on Book Reader ChroniclesRating: 3.5 starsI had to think about this book for a bit before I sat down to write this review. I'm going to be completely honest, I still don't know if I liked this book or not. The story is about a senior in college, Cara Pinkston, who meets hottie Texan (southern accent and all), Jason Bradley, and jumps head first into a relationship with him. He may be hot, but Jason is controlling, possessive and jealous in the least flattering way. In fact, I may go as far as saying I dislike him so much it's close to hate (but not quite at hate).The book details Cara & Jason's tumultuous relationship which is filled with lust, secrets, lies, a back-stabbing roommate, an ex who won't let go, and a best friend who no one likes. This is not a typical romance where you fall in love with the guy and girl. Instead, you are left yelling at Cara to run far, far away from Jason. However, I will say that by finishing this book, you are rewarded with one heck of an ending where all the secrets Jason has been harboring throughout the book is revealed. TOTALLY WORTH IT!So I know some people had a hard time with how Cara and Jason's relationship started. I think you need to remember when starting this book that 1) these are two good looking people that are in college and I emphasize the IN COLLEGE part. Their first time hanging out isn't so far off base from what actually happens and 2) the book is called RED FLAGS so obviously there needs to be things about Jason that raises these "red flags". If Ms. Brown's goal was to take me on a roller coaster ride of emotions, then she definitely succeeded. There were times where I thought what Jason and Cara had was real, then there were times where I thought Jason was a two-timing f**kface, and then there were times where I want to punch Cara's roommate (I won't tell you which one) in the face. Yes I thought violent thoughts while reading.With that being said, I sometimes thought that Ms. Brown took these characters beyond points of redemption for me. Jason's blatant disregard for Cara's feelings and lack of communication annoyed the crap at of me. The only thing that annoyed me more was the fact that Cara put up with it and kept going back to him. And then don't even get me started with Cara's roommate, once you read it you'll know who I'm talking about.There were times where I thought I really didn't like this book and wanted to stop reading, but I kept reading and I was so glad that I did. As I mentioned before, the ending was worth ever bit of emotion I felt while reading this book. The ending - the big reveal of Jason's secrets - was fantastic and made me want to pick up and read the sequel immediately! I thought I had figured everything out, and even though I did guess one thing correctly, everything else caught me completely off guard. The amount of endless lies and secrets that unfolded explained most of Jason's odd behavior throughout the book. I honestly do not know how Jason can profess his love for Cara after all the secrets come out. This "revelation" is not something small - it's huge. I have no idea how Cara and Jason's relationship will survive, but I can't wait to see what Ms. Brown has in store for us!So after writing this review, I give this book 3.5 stars. It was a solid 3 stars for me throughout the book. I couldn't relate to any of the characters - except maybe Chelsea, but even she did things that annoyed me - and still couldn't understand why everyone hated Chase! However, the revelation of all the secrets and the ending pushed the book up to 3.5 stars for me. I am starting the sequel, Enlightened, as soon as I post this review!