Katie Kaleski

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay don't hate me. I really wanted to give this book more then 3 stars! Selective mutism, secret relationship, a love child, yes! This book was so up my alley. And there were a lot of points in its favor, I really liked all the characters and the story line was great, it didn't feel like the same book I've read 50 times with new names and a different cover like so many YA do now a days.

The issue was the writing left a little to be desired. It was ... stilted, for lack of a better word. There where a lot times I had to go back to make sure I didn't miss things because I wasn't sure what I was reading meant (like when her little brother called her Ate, I had no idea it meant big sister in Filipino and it wasn't really introduced till later in the book). There were also times things were repeated in multiple chapters (like one chapter it would say 'her siblings were mean to her and the next said 'her two older siblings were mean') and instead of describing a scene and letting the reader build it in their minds she would just say 'he was embarrassed' 'she was mad' 'they were arguing'. Honestly half way through I was wondering if this was the authors first book.

It wasn't bad by any means and I hope these are the things the author continues to work on and tweak in later books because I really did enjoy the characters and relationships in this one. So while it wasn't great I can definitely see myself picking up Kaleski's next book.… (lisätietoja)

Shelby is getting ready to go off to college and her best friend hands her a package. She is to not open it until she is happy with her life away at college. The omnibus is set up with two perspectives. Shelby is a present day and Tanner in the past. In the package, Tanner is telling Shelby how the past events and their friendship has gotten to where it is now. You become emotionally invested in Tanner and what the future holds for him.

It touches a lot of different topics like bullying, suicide, and depression. These things could be hard to read about. When I was in school, I was bullied. So these things matter to me. It touches so close to home. Eating lunch in the bathroom, crying every day after school, but trying to hide it from everyone because you just know deep down (or think you know) that no matter what nothing will change. If I had talked to the right person, I might have learned what I know now about those miserable days. Now I know how much those times shaped me to understand others better, but also how to be true to myself and my feelings. Let's be honest here, I am over 30 now and some of my high school situations still pop up in my head and haunt me. That's why bullying is such an important topic. So I think this book really helps you feel for Tanner and what he goes through. I think this book did a good job with that.

I did have some problems with the book. I feel like scene transitions were rough, especially for Shelby scenes. It felt like there was no transition at all. It was better when you were reading Tanner's well thought out letter to Shelby. The best way I can explain it is sometimes when reading through a chain of scenes for Shelby, I couldn't visualize what was going on right. It ended up feeling a little like reading stick figures. This really brought the story down for me. It may have even come out better without those scenes altogether. I don't know. I'm not the best writer myself. Or maybe with a younger generation, those scenes for Shelby were just right.

If you have Kindle Unlimited this is a Freebie that you can pick up. It's only $1.99 if you don't have Kindle Unlimited and wanted to give it a try. I think that this is a very moving story. I personally just thought it was ok and that it may appeal to a much younger generation who is fine just the base story meaning.… (lisätietoja)

Simply put: This book wasn't for me. There was too much drama, barely any likeable characters (really stuck to the whole “it's us against the world” thing), and I had a totally different set of expectations for this book so I was utterly disappointed.

Lexie and Dalton were okay characters. Interesting, but okay characters.

Lexie is what you'll call, a serial liar. She spins lies about almost everything and anything ― from her family tree, to what she does in her free time and where her clothes come from. However, she came off as a really shallow character to me (not that she's shallow, I mean that her characterisation was weak). I expected there to be more to her, maybe something mysterious and dark lying under that facade, but nope, once I understood her reason for lying, there was really nothing else bout her worth learning about.

Enter Dalton. He's Flilipino and Polish. He's hot. He plays the guitar. He sings. He once went over to Lexie's house, got shot by a stray bullet, never saw her again for five years, but he loves her. Somehow. Childhood crushes are cute and all but this one DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME. It's not even about the fact that how him getting shot in Lexie's house should make him want to avoid Lexie because she ‘ruined his life’. It's just, what is so special about Lexie that draws Dalton to her? I'm just not feeling the chemistry here.

Meanwhile, everyone else was a total b*tch till they all reconciled and came to an understanding. Feeling the Romeo and Juliet vibes yet? (but then it gradually does a U-turn and goes down The Fault in our Stars route and everything went downhill)

...And that's it really. The story is honestly not worth reading. It had an okay beginning but once Lexie and Dalton started exchanging stories bout 30% in, poof, all my motivation for reading this book, gone. Then it started dragging and... continued dragging. Unfortunately, the climax, resolution, and ending did not manage to redeem itself.

Also, I have problems with this quote said by Lexie:
“Thanks. I never thought dating a boy would be good for me. I've been going for the whole strong, independent woman thing.”

What is this book trying to tell us????… (lisätietoja)