Review: Disappointed by the beginning and the end
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2012
I won't go into a lot of detail about the plot because others have already covered that. Here's what I liked about this book:The characters. Megan (for the most part) was believable. There were times when she said things (the book was written first-person, in her point of view) that sounded more like what an older adult would say, not an eighteen-year-old girl. Tony was great--very down-to-earth and very much the type of guy that any girl would be lucky to have as a friend or a love interest. Oh, and I also loved the names of these characters because my own novel has two main characters named Megan and Tony! Adam served his purpose as the "bad guy" very well, and Delaine's characterization of him was excellent.The story. It was interesting, and it flowed logically from one scene to the next, from one conflict to the next, and everything was resolved at the end. And I really loved Delaine's descriptions of the scenes where Megan was painting. So real! And beautiful! Delaine is, herself, an art lover, so it's not that surprising that she would devote a lot of attention to this aspect of Megan's character.Here's what I didn't like about it:Megan's parents. They were absolutely clueless--about her life, about her pregnancy, about everything. And they were just fine with the events at the end (I don't want to give away too much of the story). And yet, throughout the story, Megan is always worried that her mom "will kill her" for various things, when her mother doesn't seem that involved in her life at all. It just seemed a little incongruent.The beginning. I thought this started out a little slow, and I didn't like Megan much at first. I thought she was way too whiny, but I decided to keep reading. She soon grew on me, and the action really picked up!The ending. Someone else commented about this, but I just thought I'd echo it because it really was a disappointment. It all just seemed way too rushed--and way too easy. I know this is fiction, not real life. But, even in fiction, things don't right themselves that easily. I really expected something a little more involved. That's what Delaine led us to expect with her masterful use of conflict all the way up until that point.This book could have benefited from some good editing, too, but so many books suffer from typos and other errors (mine included), that this isn't a valid reason not to give this book a chance. Is this book one of my favorites? No. But reading it wasn't a complete waste of time, either. A nice way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. It's a good story, with interesting characters, and overall a very good offering from a first-time author.