Review: One Of The Best Romances Of The Year!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 22, 2013
"He looks at you like you're the only person in the room. Like he's trapped underwater and you're an oxygen tank. Like he's in anaphylactic shock and you're an EpiPen." - Ben***Mild spoilers***THE GOOD:The story:This story basically flows Ellie's journey of self discovery and about embracing who you truly are not who you think you should be. Ben, her love interest, enters her life & shows her that it's okay to let go & stop trying to control every aspect of her life. Their romance shows Ellie that her life plan isn't as perfect as she once thought. It's a sweet romantic story with just enough angst created by the fact that their romance is somewhat 'forbidden', because of a pact that Ellie makes a pact with her roommates not to date Ben when he moves in with them and they hide their relationship for a while.The characters:Ben...well what can I say, I love him. My favourite heroes in books are usually the creative & more emotional types (bad boys are just not my thing), and Ben is oh so yummy. He's not the not a tattooed rock musician, but more of alt music guy who also plays classical music. And he is sooooo sweet - a guy who is able to show his emotions is so much sexier to me than some overprotective manwhore with anger issues (which seems to be the popular type of hero lately)."Ellie, I came back early because I was driving everyone around me crazy. When I wasn't texting you or talking to you, I was talking about you, and thinking about you, and wondering about you...you get the idea." - BenDon't get me wrong though, he's no pansy - *spoiler*  when his ex best friend that cheated with his ex girlfriend shows up at their party & starts flirting with Ellie, he does tell him where to go.As for Ellie, well at first I was a little worried that she was going to be a bit of a stuck up kind of character. But she wasn't, however she does like to have control of her life & could loosen up a little - enter Ben. He shows her that their is more to life than 20 year plans, and throughout the story Ellie starts to relaxThe romance:Ellie & Ben are very different characters & complement each other really well. Ben brings out Ellie's true self & shows her how to really be happy. Because Ben is a relatively sensitive character I felt the romance was very sweet & believable. It's not sappy, but Ben showed that he really knew Ellie - the real Ellie, not the 'perfect' image she's trying to be. I loved their first date, how he gave her the gummy bears instead of flowers (because he sees she has them with her all the time) it's only a small thing but it really showed that he listened & knew her.The Writing:It was really refreshing to read about a sweet & healthy relationship without too much teen angst. There is of course some drama (but the good kind that keeps the story moving). Doughton has written a very realistic romance - one that you could actually see happening in real life. The story flowed very naturally & I was completely caught up in their romance. Her writing style is very natural & fluid, making it a very quick & easy read.THE BAD:I really can't think of anything I didn't like about this book.FINAL WORD:This was a fun and sweet romance, that shows that just going with the flow is what makes life so amazing. The romance is incredibly beautiful - I didn't want Ellie & Ben's story to end. There was even an epilogue that made the story complete. I'm not sure if there will be a sequel or any spin off stories about the other characters - perhaps about Payton & Nick the drummer *fingers crossed*CONTENT:Sexuality: medium-strong / sex scenes (not overly descriptive)Violence: noneLanguage: medium / occasional s*** and f wordDrugs & alcohol: mild-medium / drinking at partiesMore reviews at The Reading Realm Blog