Review: Beautifully Written But The Story Never Grabbed Me
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 25, 2014
Rating: 2.5 – 3 starsWhen I think of Christina Lee’s books, I think of stories with swoon-worthy heroes and sexual tension that makes my heart race. In a time where sex sells, she is one of the few authors who replaces sex with extended foreplay and focuses on the development of the actual relationship before sex comes into the mix. It is a fresh take on the New Adult genre and this is one of the main things I enjoy about reading her books.Despite how much I enjoy reading her books, I must admit that I didn’t really like this book for a variety of reasons, none of which include the writing (which was top notch). First, I had no connection to the characters. I do believe that, just like in real life, sometimes you just don’t gel with a person’s personality. I think that’s what happened here. I just couldn’t connect to Rachel – a girl who refused to let anyone know who she really is and instead chose to put on an act for both her old friends and new friends. In doing this, I think Rachel alienated the reader as well as her friends.This book actually takes place in a different setting than the previous two books in this series. It is summer break and Rachel goes home for the summer after avoiding it for three years. You see, during her senior year of high school she was in a horrific accident that nearly killed her. In addition, her boyfriend, who was in the accident with her, broke her heart leaving her shattered with a chip on her shoulder.In an effort to shed her past and heart break, she went to college with a new carefree and flirtatious attitude. Her two best friends, Avery and Ella (the main characters from the first two books), know her as the sarcastic girl with a potty mouth who beds jocks and no desire to have a relationship. However, Rachel’s life long best friend from home knows her as this prude, heartbroken girl who is focused on school and doesn’t have time for boys. The problem is I don’t think Rachel knew who she was, despite how hard she tried to be these two people.Maybe this is why I couldn’t connect to her – if Rachel didn’t know who she was, then how was I supposed to relate to her? How do you relate to someone who is unauthentic and focuses on carrying on a charade out of fear that someone may get to know the real her?This may be hypocritical, but I tend to give way more leeway to the hero of the story when it comes to likeability. It’s very hard for me to not like the male character. And it’s not that I didn’t like Kai – he was sweet, caring and hot in is own musician way. However, I think it was his nonchalant and carefree attitude on life that bothered me. He was a guy who never had any ambition, never knew what he wanted to do in life, who smoked pot and just never stood up for himself. He never fought for anything and there was never any passion in him at least not at first. I don’t know there was just something about him that I just never swooned over.As a reader, I completely understand the need for an author to have conflict in her book. I know that characters cannot be perfect and that sometimes conflicts, even if they may seem a bit far-fetched, need to arise. I’d like to think I am a pretty understanding and tolerant reader, especially after reading a vast array of books in many genres. However, despite this understanding, sometimes when a book is based entirely on a conflict that makes no sense and no explanation is really given, I just can’t get on board with it. This is what I feel happened in this book.I mentioned above that Rachel is an entirely different person when she is at college, then when she is in her home town. I was actually glad to hear this because I was never a huge fan of hers while reading the other books. I really did like getting in her head though, it gave me a better understanding of her, despite my lack of connection. However, the one thing that I did not like, especially since it was a big conflict in this book, was that there was never an explanation for why she continued to lie about who she was to Avery and Ella, her college friends, and Dakota, her long time best friend.I get why she lied at first, but there was no explanation given as to why she let the lie fester. She let these lies go on for years and when her two worlds were about to collide, she was deathly afraid of telling them the truth. My question is – why? Weren’t they good enough friends to welcome anything she had to say to them? This whole conflict of her lying to the people who where her best friends made no sense and served no purpose other than to have a conflict. In my opinion, it made Rachel look immature and shallow.To me this is a prime example of how conflict was inserted just for the sake of having conflict. I could actually understand this plot point IF there was a valid explanation for it. The only reason that came remotely close was that she didn’t want them to judge her. My response is if they were truly her friends, they would never judge her or pity her. To me this was a flimsy reason and really didn’t make any sense.And then there was Rachel, Kai and their romance. I just didn’t feel it. It could be because of the problems I mentioned above, so that by the time these two got together, I was over it. I’m not sure. Kai, being the guy that never fought for anything, naturally never fought for Rachel or told her how he felt. At least Rachel did make some effort to be with him, even though she didn’t communicate what she wanted to him either. I don’t know, there was sexual tension but I felt with these two it was a bit forced.All that being said and in the author’s defense, maybe I just didn’t “get” this story or message. Maybe because I didn’t connect with the characters, it made it harder to really grasp the message of the book. I will say that I thought this book was extremely well written. Christina has a way with words that make you live in the scene while you are reading it. I adore her writing style and ways with words.I wasn’t a big fan of this book, but keep in mind it could totally just be me. I welcome you to form your own opinion and you may love it! It just pushed my buttons in all the wrong places.