Erica Kiefer

Received from NetGalley.

I almost gave up on this book a couple of times because it was a) slow and b) my interest kept fading in and out. Between the unnecessary love squares (it was way more than a triangle) and the 50 cent words where they weren't needed, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. Everyone was moody and whiny (more than typical teenagers) and at the same time I felt like the characters were underdeveloped. I think the author had a great idea and when I read at the end that it was a short story first, I think that I would have enjoyed it much more had it stayed in that form.… (lisätietoja)

This book was just okay for me. I have had a review copy of this book for over 4 years but never felt compelled to actually read the book until now. I must say that I am happy to finally be able to mark this book off of my list of books to read. I found this to be a pretty quick read that held my attention but it was never the kind of book that totally grabbed me.

My feelings are pretty mixed about this book. I think one of the main things that I didn't care for in this book was the fact that it was another teen romance featuring a love triangle. I am not usually a fan of love triangles. In the case of this book, Allie has two boys falling for her. Aaron is always there to support her and gets her through a lot of tough times. Damien is the dangerous older guy that drives a motorcycle and has a few stalkerish behaviors. Guess who she picks?

I think that Allie's behavior was another major hurdle for me to overcome with this book. I am the mother of a teenager and not a teen so I do realize that I am probably not the target audience for this story but Allie was too much at times. She kept telling everyone that she was going off to college soon so she could make her own choices. Of course her father was telling her what she needed to do because on her own she wasn't doing too great.

I had a few other issues with the story. I thought that Damien's past was way to easy to figure out. We do eventually get more details but even then I thought everything seemed a little too perfect. Allie has a moment towards the end of the book where she suddenly remembers something that she had forgotten for the past year and it just felt really odd. I also could not believe that Allie's father and step-mother never addressed her step-brother's behavior towards her. He was terrible to Allie and then suddenly they started getting along.

There were some things that I did like about the story. Allie had a lot of grief and guilt to deal with from an event in the past. It has obviously had a great impact on her life and I did like seeing her work through those emotions. Allie and Aaron's friendship was a high point of the book. Aaron was probably my favorite character in the story and I liked his connection with Allie. While the big action scene at the end of the book seemed far-fetched, I still found it to be rather exciting.

I do think that a lot of readers will like this one a lot more than I did. I was entertained by the story even when I was questioning a character's behavior. I am glad that I read this book even though I feel like it was a pretty forgettable read.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Clean Teen Publishing via NetGalley.… (lisätietoja)

I have mixed feelings about this book. I don't understand why so many people love it. It needs a lot of work.

It started to get interesting around chapter 5. The first few chapters were jumpy and never explained anything.Where are they? Why are they doing that? Who are these people? I was lost for a long while. What was the point, seriously.

Also, why did it take ten more chapters to bring up the burning house again. If this is going to be a regular fixture in your book, one of the characters needs to mention it here or there. If I knew this Allie, I would assume she had no interest in abandoned buildings, computers, or looking up history. So why is it all of a sudden, 15 chapters in, her life's purpose?

My hazel eyes.... Over and over and over. I get it. I got it. What is this obsession with eyes? I don't need to know everyone's eye colour. God. Harry Potter's eyes are the only ones I care about. It wasn't repeated every 30 seconds and I still know they're green. This is probably the part of the book that bugs me the most. I don't care about every characters eyeballs. Who cares? It was more then likely just filler to get to a specific word count.

The house should have been repeated more, not the goddamn eyes.

I also wish the scene with the canoe had gone a different route. Would have made the whole story a wee bit more interesting.


I feel bad for Aaron. Nick is a dick. The story is okay. Nothing amazing.… (lisätietoja)