Review: My thoughts on Before You Break
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 23, 2014
My review of “Before You Break” by Christina LeeAs soon as I began reading “Before You Break” I knew I’d like the book. I love Christina’s writing style. It drew me into the story from the first page and didn’t let go. My one gripe is, this was the second book in a three (so far) book series. Ugh! I hate—hate!—reading books out of order. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the book. In fact, I didn’t know it was the second book in a series until I’d finished reading it and then read the excerpt of another book in the same series at the end. So it is definitely a book a reader can pick up and read without reading the entire series. I did and I still really enjoyed the book.Okay, you know the deets, my peeps. If you’re reading this review looking for me to give you and down and dirty version of the book, stop reading—‘cuz it ain’t gonna happen. Books are made to be read and experienced firsthand by the reader. That’s the only way to truly feel the emotions of the characters. It’s not fair to the reader, and it’s not fair to the author, for me to give you a watered down version of what happened. But I am going to tell you what is great about the book.Christina wrote her characters well.  Ella (AKA Gabby/Gabriella) was lovable. She was sweet and kind, but not the kind of sweet that gives you cavities every time you’re near her. She has a past that drives her. I think that was written well and it was nice to see that it wasn’t the same “secret” that most female leads are running from in new adult novels. It was a painful event in her life, but she turned it around and found a way to use it to help others. And by doing so, she helped herself. I liked that and I think it was extremely well done.Quinn (AKA Daniel) was another character that I fell in love with. Yes, he was the “typical jock” that we see in half the new adult books. It’s either a jock or a bad boy—pick your poison. But Quinn had more to him than his—jockiness. (Is that a word? The red squiggly line says no, but I’m a rebel. I’m going with it.) Back to Quinn, yes he’s a jock. But there’s a whole lot of story that goes with that and it’s a GREAT story. And, oh man, did it make my heart beat faster for Quinn. Because he is a nice guy. The jacket copy for the book says he’s a “bad-boy,” but I just didn’t get that in his character. I think they put that there to draw in a certain class of readers because Quinn is just an all-around Good Guy. And that makes my heart pitter-patter. Quinn’s story was deep, dark, and emotional, and Christina did an exceptional job bringing it to life. It was very well written.Secondary characters, um, there was room for more. Not only characters, but more meat. More meaningful interaction between the two main characters. Ella’s job at the hotline gave a perfect place for this. I love secondary characters and would have liked them to be more developed.The pacing of the story was good. I wasn’t bored. I didn’t skim (yes, I’ll admit it. I’m a skimmer if I start to get bored). The writing style was one I liked and felt comfortable reading so I was easily pulled into the story. The story was well thought out and original and, oh, so emotional.Bottom Line: Probably one of the best new adult contemporary romances I’ve read so far this year. Loved it.