Review: Main couple is dense and immature; story is predictable and lacks substance.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 12 23, 2013
1.5 Stars*(May contain spoilers)*When you're reading a book before going to bed and you end up dreaming about skimming through the book rather than the plot or the actual characters, it probably tells you something.So much of the plot is simply the characters dwelling on their feelings for the other person and their "big split" from the past. A once over by a good editor might be able to remove much of the repetition, but then there wouldn't be a whole lot left to the plot.  The author tries to create some mystery about what happened by holding off the reveal but there are enough references to get the gist of what happened. And then once it seems fairly self explanatory, the story jumps four and a half years in the past for several chapters to detail how everything went down. Plus, the characters sit around and tell the final missing pieces (which can also be surmised by the reader) at the end. If what happened was more earth shattering, that might not be so bad, but it's not really all that interesting, perhaps because we've already deduced it anyways.  But the biggest flaw is the fact that Sam and Amy aren't developed (as a couple, not necessary as individual character) in the present to care what happened in the past. It's 20-30% into the book and they haven't uttered more than two words to each other. When they do finally face each other, they immediately jump to kissing and then making out with an attempt by Sam to tell her what happened back in high school.  But even that isn't conveyed well since it is intermingled through their first (of 2) love scenes.The couple while roughly 22 years old in the present, don't seem like they've matured all that much since they were 17.  I really didn't see what happened between them (not with his dad) as much more than teen drama (typical teen avoidance behavior). And when given a second chance at 22 and both college graduates you would think they would have just gotten it out in the open and moved past it from the start. But then there would be no story because that is all the relationship (the way it's conveyed) is based on.  We are basically left to believe that they love each other because they loved each other from their brief high school infatuation during debate club four years prior. They never manage to go on a date then or even one now, but hey they know they are the one for each other! What the ?????  Very immature.  A middle or high schooler without much life experience might buy into this but no adult should.The dialogue is lacking and when it does occur (usually between several paragraphs of either description or what's going on in the character's head) is really bland.  The phone scene that many reviewers mentioned is just slap stick comedy. There were a couple of humorous lines but for the most part the scene was unbelievable and made the main character seem more immature than she already was.Sam's job--saw that coming. Can't believe a 22 year old guy who plays in a band couldn't have guessed the nature of the job either. Again--more predictable plot.There is some meat to the story/back-story with both Amy and Sam's parents, but it's dropped and the ending quickly rushed. There is no cliff-hanger, and the story ends with an assumed HEA.Liam, the subject of the next book, actually seemed the most interesting; however, if his story is written like this one, with excessive exposition and little substantive dialogue, I don't think I could put my time into it.Price note:  I purchased this book at 99 cents, and while it's over 200 pages, I wouldn't recommend it at the normal digital price of $3.99.