J.P. Grider

I admit that I was disappointed with A Touch of Honor. When I found it one Goodreads, I was really excited because it had such an interesting premise. I don't think I have ever read a book with an empath as a main character before, so that really appealed to me. When I finally got it and had time to read it, I knew it wasn't going to be a book that I loved. First of all, the writing style was not for me. The way the author tried to imitate the way teenagers talk was completely unrealistic. Being a teenager myself, I know that we sometimes talk in weird slang but no one talks in the way the author portrayed it. I like how J.P Grider tried to incorporate that in order to make it more realistic and capture young readers' attention but it had a negative effect for me. Secondly, I really didn't connect to any of the characters. If they died I would have felt sad, but there wouldn't have been any onslaught of tears and anger. This also brings me to the romance of this novel. While the romance between Ethan and Honor wasn't horrible, I did not like the love triangle between them and Storm (Ethan's brother). I am still debating whether or not to read the second one since I was sorely let down by this one.… (lisätietoja)

One of my favorite Disney movies of all times is Beauty and the Beast, so it comes as no surprise that when I heard Don’t Look At Me is a reverse retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I knew I had to read it.

Haven Quinn is a newscaster in Stratford. Although it is the career she wanted, the timing of it is less than ideal especially when she gets out of work at 3AM. Recently, there has been a string of slashings in the area. Women are being attacked and left horribly scarred. One night while leaving work and walking to her car alone, Haven becomes the slasher’s next victim. Only this time, she got the worst of his brutality. Left with many scars all over her face, including a deep puncture wound has left Haven terribly wounded and feeling like she looks like a beast. She becomes a hermit in her own home afraid to be among people because of her hideous looks.

Quest Vescovi is back in town after the death of his grandfather. A grandfather whom he has not seen or spoken to since he was a young boy because Quest’s father and him had a falling out. His grandfather left his bookstore to Quest and a will which states he needed to keep the bookstore open for five years in order to get his inheritance. Quest is also going through his own turmoil after being less than honorably discharged from the army. Like Haven, he has his own scars he is dealing with only his scars are in the inside.

Haven and Quest are both scarred in their own way. Can they both be what each other needs to open up and learn how to accept themselves for who they actually are?

There are no words to express how much I loved this story. It was heartfelt and often times, emotional. Haven is a survivor. Imagine being brutally attacked and disfigured just walking to your car. The emotions that you would go through knowing you will never look the same way again. The media puts so much emphasis on beauty and what women should look like that it comes as no surprise that Haven feels ugly, like a beast, afraid to show herself to people in fear of what they may think of her. In a lot of ways, I am sure most women can relate to Haven and the inner turmoil she goes through when it comes to looks/beauty. Also, unlike the Disney classic, Haven is not so much a beast in action and mannerisms. She is very sweet and down to earth, kind and loving. She is such a well thought out character that you can’t help but to root for her and want her to be happy.

Quest is battling his own demons, but he can’t help feeling an attraction to Haven. He sees beneath her scars to the beautiful woman she truly is. Little by little he gets her to open up to him and they start to fall in love. Quest, I sometimes felt, acted older than his 25 years. I guess in part that is due to being in the military and overseas and also because of what he went through while being overseas. In a way, the military forces you to grow up. What can I say about Quest? He is every girls dream guy. He is sweet and kind. He does have a bit of a dark side to him, but that just makes him all the more endearing. He is a man’s man with a lot of heart. He doesn’t find it easy to open up about his past, but with Haven it is different. He can be himself and in the process he slowly begins to heal.

The mystery of the slasher does come out eventually. I did have my own thought on who it could be and he was quite creepy.

One other aspect I loved about the story is it takes place in NJ and PA. I live in NJ so it was nice hearing about the towns and also the Poconos area of PA. I also got a huge thrill about the mentioning of classic novels and then out of nowhere one of my all time favorite romance books was mentioned in the story. I was like “Yes! J.P. Grider you have fantastic taste in books!”

All in all, Don’t Look At Me is such a wonderful modern day tale of Beauty and The Beast that should not be missed. For me it was a 5 star read. The story broke my heart shattering it to a million pieces, only to be pieced back together again little by little. If you love emotional stories with a sweet and tender romance that slowly builds as the main characters get to know one another, then you will fall in love with this story just like I did.… (lisätietoja)

If I were to choose a story that marked my love for reading or if I were to mention the title of the story from which I took my first lesson that would be “Beauty and the Beast”. So how can I not like “Don’t Look at Me”? Yes, I had very high expectations and yes, I wanted to experience that lesson in the most beautiful way possible, adapted to our modern times. And I had my expectations met.

The blurb describes perfectly the condition each character is in when they meet. They don’t expect too much from people. They don’t expect to be understood, but they both recognize a scarred soul. What I mostly liked about this book is how the author presented their problems. If Quest has army scars, that marked his soul, that made him angry, Haven has her scares out in the open. So now the question is: what’s worse: having visible or hidden marks? J. P. Grider does not say that one character is in a worse state than the other, or at least I do not perceive this book like that. They meet, they are scared and don’t trust each other, but soon discover the beauty in one another.

The amount of emotion, the feelings are so well captured. I was right there feeling angry and lost and happy and beautiful with our main characters. The author has an excellent way with words and I am so happy to have been introduced to her work! The action is not boring at all, even if the story is more focused on the characters.

So I do advise you to read it and I hope you’ll like it as much as I did. All my 5 stars and my appreciation for a great story go to “Don’s Look at Me” by J. P. Grider.… (lisätietoja)