Faking It by Cora Carmack | Book Review

TITLE: Faking It
AUTHOR: Cora Carmack
PUBLISHER/YEAR: William Morrow & Co. / June 4, 2013
SERIES: Book Two, The Losing It Series
SOURCE: Purchased

Goodreads / Author's Website

Romance novels are so addictive. If I'm in the right mood I can pretty much pick one up and not put it down again until I've flipped the last page. I mean as long as they're well written and don't make me gag. Cora Carmack's Finding It is one of those ones that I just couldn't put down. Finding It is a continuation of of the Losing It series, following Bliss' former best friend, Cade as he moves on in a new city. Carmack has this ability to combine humour and real life awkwardness with romance story worthy swoons which really sets her books apart for me. Basically, I love every minute of them.

Faking It is Cade's story, after being rejected by Bliss he goes into a bit of a funk, goes to grad school, but doesn't really move on. The love interest in this one is Max, she's a rock singer who works in a club and tattoo parlour to pay the bills. She's dating some tattooed drummer named Mace, but when her parents visit unexpectedly she needs to find a suitable boyfriend stand in, somebody who won't scare them off. Enter Cade. These two need to fake the relationship, but when it goes a little too well have to continue it through the holiday season. Of course, feelings develop and problems arise, isn't that where the fun is?

You guys, I really love books that include some awkward fun in with the sexy times. That has got to be one of my favourite things about reading a Carmack novel. She writes enough of real life into her books to make them semi-believable without losing the romance novel veneer. It's like the perfect blend of fantasy and reality. I was a little hesitant to read Faking It if only because I couldn't see how it could ever live up to Losing It, also partly maybe because it takes place after university and makes me mourn for my own university days. Totally normal reaction no? Of course, I devoured the book in like a day so I must not have been too hesitant. I wasn't a huge fan of Cade in Losing It because you know what I can't stand? The "Nice Guy." The "Nice Guy" isn't a genuinely nice guy, he's the best friend who always wants more and is convinced every other guy the girl sees is a jerk. He doesn't really want friendship, but is just angling for something more. That's not genuine and it's not nice. So Cade and I, well we're still on the fence.

Throughout Faking It Cade is half in love with Bliss, but quickly realizes that he might have stronger feelings for Max. Maybe it wasn't love after all. When I say I'm on the fence about him a lot of it has to do with his continued thoughts about Bliss. When he's with Max I can totally get behind him as a romantic lead. Maybe he's just not my type of swoon worthy?

Max on the other hand is kind of dynamite. She's this rocker chic kind of girl, lots of tattoos and a bad attitude. I loved her. She's kind of damaged and has some skeletons in her closet, but they made her a little more human. I could have done without the guy like him would never be with a girl like me kind of thinking, but I could get past that pretty easily. I loved that she was strong and knew what she wanted. I also loved that Carmack wrote two such different female characters, each so strong and so fantastic in their own way.

The romance itself is kind of swoon worthy, but what I liked more than anything else was the set up. Max needs a fake boyfriend to please her parents over Thanksgiving. She picks the nearest clean cut guy she sees and it happens to be Cade who turns out to be kind of perfect for her. I know it's totally unrealistic, but meet cutes like that make me smile. The two also had a great banter thing going on. More than anything though this romance serves to tell the story of two people figuring out who they are and how they're going to get by in the adult world. I think Carmack does such a great job of tackling these true to life issues inside of a romance novel. One part that really stood out for me was Cade remembering his theatre school family and how they're so spread out now; it hurt my heart you guys, it really did. It adds just enough substance to what could be utter fluff. I can't help but love it.

Carmack is hands down my favourite writer of this kind of novel at the moment. I suppose it's new adult since the characters are early to mid twenties, but she just handles it all so well. There are romantic entanglements with some true to life issues mixed in. Rent, exes, poor decisions, jobs they all come into play. Of course, the books are also super steamy and swoon worthy at points; I really can't underplay that. I think it's the blend of the two things that really gets me. Basically, I can't wait to read Finding It and will continue to read pretty much anything that Carmack publishes.

This Girl by Colleen Hoover | Book Review

TITLE: This Girl
AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover
PUBLISHER/YEAR: Atria Books / April 30, 2013
SERIES: Yes, the final book in the Slammed series
SOURCE: For Review From Publisher via NetGalley

Goodreads / Author's Website

Okay, I'll admit it, I don't really know where to begin with this review. This is the third book in the Slammed series and I've slowly been losing interest with it. It's not the book, it's me. Yup, I went there, using the classic break up cliche. When I first read Slammed I loved it. I was swooning all over the place for Will and Layken and went through like an entire box of tissues I was crying so much. Then I read Point of Retreat and I loved them a little less. I think This Girl finally broke me. While Slammed was something new for me and totally heartbreaking and swoon worthy, I found Point of Retreat a little melodramatic and well This Girl while less melodramatic than it's predecessor didn't win back my original love.

Basically  This Girl tells Will and Layken's story from Will's perspective. It takes place the night of their honeymoon and Will tells Layken exactly what was going on his mind during those first few months, before their relationship fully began. It was interesting, but it really was just a retelling of the first novel. However, I did appreciate a slightly more tempered voice in Will than I found with Layken.

Within the Slammed world, Will has always been one of my favourite characters. There are some really solid supporting characters who hold my heart, but Will is up there. I've always found Layken to be kind of self centered, jumping to conclusions, never actually talking through her problems, instead making rash decisions. Will's sort of the one in my mind to counter balance her. He's older, a little more mature, imperfect, sure, but slightly more reasonable. So I really did enjoy the story from his POV. I liked seeing his reactions to certain situations and his interactions with friend/student Gavin definitely made me laugh.

That's kind of where my love for this particular book ended though. I just don't think it added all that much to the story and the flashback set up just didn't work for me. While I enjoyed the flashbacks, everything that was set in the present was too sappy for words.

This one is going to be a short review since  I feel like everything that I've said in my past ones kind of sums it up. Nothing all that new was added to the story. For fans of the series I think it's definitely worth a read, especially if you're a Will fan like I am, but it's not the first book I would recommend to somebody who's not already totally invested in the relationship. There were enjoyable moments, but overall, there are other Hoover books that I'd recommend first.

Losing It by Cora Carmack | Book Review

TITLE: Losing It
AUTHOR: Cora Carmack
PUBLISHER/YEAR: HarperCollins / 2012
SERIES: Do companion novels count?
SOURCE: Purchased

Goodreads / Author's Website

So I know New Adult doesn't have the best name for itself and for good reason. There's a lot of focus on romance over well anything else, the category seems kind of arbitrary and unnecessary, but I can't help myself, I kind of love it. Losing It by Cora Carmack ticks a lot of those boxes. It's a romance novel (probably the first I've ever purchased from my local bookstore's romance aisle) and the characters are thrust into some pretty interesting situations, but I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Bliss is a twenty-two year old virgin. She's completing her final year of university (theatre school) and is beginning to feel a little self conscious about this fact. What's a girl to do but go out with her friends, get drunk, and sleep with the first guy she sees? But actually. Bliss heads out to the bar and starts chatting with a Shakespeare reading guy who she then brings back to her apartment. Of course, when she leaves him naked in her bed she doesn't realize that he's her new theatre professor.

For me to get really into a book I need to be able to invest in the characters and Bliss was an easy one for me. I found her to be completely relatable and could completely invest in her story. I've had some friends read this book and question the twenty-two year old virgin aspect (or the deciding on a one night stand part), but here's the thing, these are things that happen. There are university students who are still virigins and on certain nights, maybe going out getting drunk and laid seem like the best options. There's stigma, people are embarrassed. Everybody's sexuality is expressed differently and I think Carmack handled this well. Bliss isn't defective or overly moral; she's just a pretty typical university student who happens to be a virgin.

I also loved that Carmack gives Bliss a group of supportive friends. I find in a lot of books characters are just sort of out there on their own, but Bliss' friends are there. They're not perfect, but they have interactions that focus on more than their romantic exploits. They have mutual interests and respect for one another. They're all from the theatre department and they all behave well in a pretty believable way. One of the things I enjoyed most was relating to these people who were just about to graduate theatre school. They're loud, they're boisterous, they're insecure, they're pretty much everything I remember about theatre school. They go out to the bars and drink too much or play some really stupid alcohol based truth telling games, but they're also incredibly focused on their careers. I have to admit that part of the reason I liked this book so much was because Bliss' theatre school experience reminded me so much of mine. We're a special group of freaks who willingly subject ourselves to theatre life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Minor problem I had with this book (that well nobody else will have I'm sure) comes down to one line. Bliss has to choose between acting and stage management once she graduates. I can believe that some schools don't make you choose before you declare your major (mine did, actors auditioned, designers and technicians submitted portfolios), but to be both auditioning for and contemplating stage managing the last show of the season is a little much. Even that I can forgive, but at one point it's implied that stage management is the easy way out. For Bliss maybe it was; she's a control freak and stage management is all about schedules, organization and control, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. Nothing in the theatre world is easy and everybody has to work just as hard to make a go of it. Every stage manager or technician I know does it for the love of theatre because after we've spent fourteen hours straight preparing for cast to arrive and go home smelling like dust and sweat, well something has to keep us going.

Stage management rants aside, I enjoyed nearly every aspect of Losing It. The romance brought a lot of heat and the characters cared about each other. I got the sense that there was more to them than hormones; basically when characters in novels treat each other with mutual respect it makes me happy. They also had problems they had to overcome, both in the whole no dating professors kind of way, but also in terms of larger personal issues. There was nothing melodramatic, but Bliss for example had issues trusting and letting go which weren't magically solved even though she really liked Garrick (the professor). It was a nice balance. There was a love triangle at one point; it did nothing for me and I'm trying to gloss over it in my mind although it does set up Carmack's next book nicely.

I can't not recommend a book that takes place in theatre school and actually mentions people other than actors. I'm still looking for my perfect romance novel that involves like a stage manager and a lighting technician for example, but I may be setting my sights a little too high with that one. Carmack did a wonderful job creating characters who I could relate to and putting them in realistic albeit heightened situations. And seriously, the cover does not lie, it's pretty steamy.

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover | Book Review

TITLE: Point of Retreat
AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover
PUBLISHER/YEAR: Atria/2012
SERIES: Companion Book to Slammed
SOURCE: For Review from Publisher via NetGalley

Goodreads / Author's Website

I want to love these books you guys, I really really do. That's why I keep reading them. I keep hoping that I'll just pick up the right one and suddenly understand the major love the Slammed books get, but so far I don't. It's not that I don't like them. Every time I pick one up I get totally sucked into the story, but there's something that always feels a little off for me as a reader, taking me out of the story. Be warned, this review will definitely have spoilers for Slammed and possible a few for Point of Retreat as well so stop reading here if you want.

Point of Retreat is the companion book to Slammed. Set a few months after the first book ends, Point of Retreat is Will's point of view on his relationship with Layken. Layken's mother has died and the couple is now raising both their younger brothers while going to college and trying to keep their relationship going.

Point of Retreat read a bit like a soap opera for me. It just felt contrived. There are now two college students living on the same block raising much younger siblings who are the same age? Okay fine, that might not be the most realistic scenario in the world, but I can get past it. It is fiction after all and we all need to willingly suspend disbelief every once in awhile. But here's the thing, it didn't stop there. There was just so much contrived drama that it had me feeling like I was reading some sort of what romance should be fantasy.

Basically, Will and Lake are in a pretty good place. They've kind of gotten into a relationship stride and then out of nowhere Will's ex shows up. Okay, some jealousy sure, they were together for awhile, but these characters always have such over the top reactions that it takes me right out of it. Lake doesn't just argue, she basically bails on the relationship. Seriously, you throw away a year long relationship because your boyfriend's ex wants him back? Shouldn't you, I don't know, stop and hear his side of the story first. Like it's that kind of contrived drama that has me rolling my eyes while reading.

Plus once drama number one is sorted out, drama number two pops up. It wasn't a surprise because there were quite a few pages left so obviously there had to be more drama before the book could be resolved, but seriously? There's only so many OH MY GOD moments I can take while reading, especially when I'm not invested in any of the scenarios.

What I liked about Slammed was that it was a totally engaging read and yes, it had its eye rolling moments, but I also felt like there were times when I really got to know the characters, outside of the drama, outside of their relationships. Lake was a girl who was missing her dad and struggling with feelings for the boy next door who happened to be her teacher. She had friends, she had other people she cared about. She was pretty selfish and their were times I hated her, but I could also forgive her for being a teenager in mourning. I felt like she existed outside of her current drama. That was kind of lost with Point of Retreat. I didn't get a feel for who Will was. He really loves Lake, he really loves his brother, and then it's drama, drama, drama. I didn't see what was keeping them together, what the still loved about each other after a year or how their lives had changed. Not really. It just felt like we jumped from one dramatic situation to the next without giving enough thought for depth of character or growth.

I realize this is a pretty negative review; I had some serious issues while reading this one. However, that's not to say I don't enjoy Hoover's book as a whole or that I hated every moment reading this one. I did get sucked in by the drama and finished this book relatively quickly; I just didn't love it and have enjoyed some of Hoover's other books more in the past. I will  be reading This Girl the final novel in the Slammed series because I feel pretty invested in the characters even if the second book was a bit of a letdown for me.

Dare You To by Katie McGarry | Book Review

TITLE: Dare You To
AUTHOR: Katie McGarry
PUBLISHER/YEAR: Harlequin Teen / May 28, 2013
SERIES: Companion to Pushing the Limits
SOURCE: For Review from Publisher via Netgalley

Goodreads / Author's Website

Dare You To is one of the books that I was really looking forward to this year. I know I've said that Pushing the Limits wasn't everything I'd hoped it would be, but I still really enjoyed it and was generally totally engaged with the story. I enjoy McGarry's writing and knew a little more about what to expect going into this one if only from reading her first novel. I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed by Dare You To and without RIDICULOUSLY high expectations going in (that really no book could live up to) I enjoyed it even more than its predecessor.

Dare You To follows Beth Risk and Ryan Stone. Readers will remember Beth from Pushing The Limits, she's the girl with the absolutely awful home life who hides her pain behind alcohol, drugs and the enormous walls she's put up around herself. Ryan is the classic all American jock. Well Beth is still living her pretty horrible life when she gets arrested for something her mother did at which point her retired baseball player uncle takes her away to Groveton to hopefully give her a better life. Ryan is dealing with an unraveling family life after his brother came out as gay, but from the outside everything seems perfect. Obviously these two find themselves attracted to each other; it is a contemporary romance after all. But really, isn't it more about the how than the what with this kind of book?

The one thing that really stopped me from getting into this book from the very beginning was how horrible the two lead characters were. Because seriously, terrible. Beth continuously makes terrible life choices and pushes everybody away who's trying to help her. I could forgive that given her background; she's angry and lacks trust for some very good reasons. Also, she's just been dragged away and banned from seeing the only people she's known and trusted for year. Ryan on the other hand, just acted like a jerk for the first half of the book. He's not terrible. He has honourable intentions and has a pretty decent attitude towards women, so yay. However, it just really bothered me that he blamed his brother for leaving the family when his parents kicked the brother out due to his sexuality. However, there's character growth. Things get better. I promise. And sadly, that initial reaction, probably not unrealistic.

What I really loved was watching Beth gain trust and let her walls come down a little. She's tough and knows how to protect herself, but her development was touching. I wanted good things for her. Watching her work through her abusive past and learn to trust not only Ryan, but Scott as well was touching as was watching both relationships develop. Because even in romance it's nice to have something other than all romance all the time you know. Ryan too developed nicely. I enjoyed his arc and his growth although maybe not as much as I did Beth's.

If you're a fan of contemporary romances as I am you'll definitely like Dare You To (even if like me you're a little heartbroken things didn't work out for Isahia). I wish I had more to say about this because it's a story that I needed to read at the time I read it. It was a pick it up and don't put it back down kind of read and I'm now eagerly anticipating the next novel of this pseudo series, Crash Into You.

As a side note, I'm definitely going back to reread Pushing The Limits now because I need some more Noah and Echo in my life.

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

TITLE: Hopeless
AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover
PUBLISHER/YEAR: Atria/May 7, 2013 (originally published as an ebook December 2012)
SOURCE: For Review from Publishers via NetGalley
SERIES: A companion novel will be published July 2013

Goodreads / Author's Website

Colleen Hoover is a tricky author for me. Her books are loved by so many bloggers and I like them, to a point, but there's also a small part of me that has to keep putting the book down for a variety of reasons. At least, that was my experience with Slammed and it kind of jumped over to Hopeless as well. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Hopeless and will probably be reading Losing Hope when it comes out this summer. I just don't know if I'm reading to go shouting from the rooftops and proclaiming my love for this novel.

Sky meets Dean Holder in a grocery store one and they have some sort of immediate connection. He's crazy intense and has a reputation that well nobody but Sky can match.Sky holds him at a distance because he's unpredictable and no matter how good she feels when she's with him she never knows where his mood will turn next. However, when they finally do work out their differences secrets are revealed that hurt both of them more than anybody could have expected.

Hoover writes incredibly engrossing novels. From the beginning I was totally caught up in Sky's story. She's been home schooled her entire life by her adoptive mother, but for her senior year she wants to experience a public high school. Sky's actually a pretty great character who had a lot more going on for her than being that girl who likes that guy. She's close to her mother. I actually understood why she was friends with her best friend and although it wasn't the focus of the book it was nice. They cared about each other because they were both kind of outcasts and they were so supportive of each other, which was so nice to see in a book.

Sky also showed a lot of strength within her relationship. She had her limits and when those limits were crossed she let it be known. There weren't free passes. When Dean did something unacceptable, well she still cared for him but, he wasn't immediately forgiven. She knew that his behavior wasn't okay if he wanted to be with her. So often you see a girl who just kind of falls over for the first guy she meets, no matter what he does, no matter his past, but Sky actually thinks things through. So refreshing.

Of course, there are deeper issues in this novel. Hoover's novels like to take on the extremely difficult and Hopeless was no different. I won't say what it is because it will ruin the big reveal, but there are some very hurtful secrets as the back cover states. I think the issues are dealt with relatively sensitively, although perhaps not the most realistically? Although I really can't speak to that as it's not my area of expertise. I do think compared to a lot of novels Hoover shows restraint and sensitivity when dealing with these topics.

My main problem with the book is that I found some of the situations and dialogue to be overwrought. There are also certain situations that I just think are kind of sappy. Example, during the relationship with Sky and Holder are discussing where their relationships stands and they're not ready for love but they're beyond like, they decide on "I live you." I just. No. It's too much. I know some people would totally swoon over that kind of thing, but I'm just not one of them. It's at that part of the book I need to put it down for a minute in order to roll my eyes.

While I don't think Hopeless is the perfect book I did really enjoy it. I really was sucked into the story and didn't want to put it down to sleep. I was engaged the entire time and I do think it's worth a read if you're looking for a more mature YA novel. Basically, if you liked Slammed you'll like this book.

True by Erin McCarthy

TITLE: True
AUTHOR: Erin McCarthey
PUBLISHER/YEAR: Intermix/May 7, 2013
SOURCE: For Review from Publisher via Netgalley
SERIES: A companion book is due out

Goodreads / Author's Website

New adult is a new genre and it really doesn't have a great reputation. Basically the stereotype is YA but with more tropes and sex. Now I think that this is an unfortunate reputation because I've enjoyed a few of the new adult books I've read; they've been edgy and have dealt with real issues that people in that age group faced. However, they can't all be great and unfortunately Erin McCarthy's True fell short for me.

Rory Macintosh is kind of an all round good girl. She's in university studying to be a mortician; she actually likes to study and she's a virgin. When her roommates find out that she's a virgin they pay off Tyler Mann, the school's bad boy, to sleep with her to boost her confidence. Tyler's constantly aware that he's not up to Rory's standards, but he can't help but fall for her. They get caught up in a relationship. However, Tyler's super dysfunctional past threatens to break them apart.

I know my summary for this book sounds kind of generic, but that's kind of what I thought about the book. Generic. Like it hit all the major new adult topics, but didn't do anything new or unique with them. I'm okay with tropes as long as it's a well done trope. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies, but hate it when they go wrong. True kind of felt like one gone wrong. Everything I enjoy in a book was there, but it felt like I had read it all before.

Let's start off with the whole good girl/bad boy thing. It's been done time and time again. Sometimes an author brings something new to the story, creates a character who is so entirely believable or intriguing that it doesn't matter, but both Rory and Tyler felt like a shadow of the very best star crossed lovers.

The writing was also a little off putting. The best books have me forgetting that I'm reading a book and I can be thoroughly engaged with the characters, but True had moments that just pulled me out of the experience. The dialogue especially felt stilted. It sounded like a sitcom version of how university students talk, slang that just didn't quite sit right and reactions that were just a little too much (or at times not enough). It was just all a little off.

And okay, moving onto other things that are a little off about this book. The female friendships. All they ever talk about is guys. Yes, this is a romance. Yes, it makes sense to talk about guys, but how is that all they talk about. These three roommates are supposed to be best friends, but they never really talk about anything real. Their families aren't discussed, their morals, the fact that two paid off a guy to sleep with the third, like nothing. I didn't get the sense that they were really friends which was disappointing.

Also, I have a gripe with this genre in general and it may include a brief spoiler for the very beginning of the book. You've been warned. Like so many other books that I've read, True begins with an attempted rape. I appreciate that rape/date rape is being addressed because it's an issue close to my heart, but I feel like it's starting to be used as a shortcut. The girl is in grave danger, the boy saves her from grave danger, they fall in love. There are absolutely books where sexual assault is treated seriously and I really appreciate that those books are being written; I just don't like to see the issue almost glossed over after the incident is over.

Okay, I know this review reads as a bit of a rant (well for me at least), but I didn't hate this book. I enjoyed the romance and even some of the things that bothered me (the good girl/bad boy thing) didn't totally ruin this book for me. It was a fun book to read and a good way to pass a few hours. I think it had potential to be more though. It's not going to turn me off of "new adult," but it's not my favourite of the genre either.

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

TITLE: Slammed
AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover
PUBLISHER/YEAR: Atria Books/September 2012 (originally January 2012)
SERIES: Yes, the sequel Point of Retreat is out already
SOURCE: Purchased

Goodreads / Author's Website

My God! What can I Even say about Slammed! Like I'm still reeling. I heard some good things about this one going in, but gah. Words. They're failing me. Okay, I've stepped away, I've calmed down and I'm back. There were parts of Slammed that I really loved and some parts that just really put me off the book. I'll go into more detail, but this is a tricky one for me to sort through. There's just so much going on in my mind; I will say this is a book that really stuck with me. 

So Layken is 18 year olds, recent Michigan transplant and her dad has unexpectedly died. As she's moving into her family's new house, she meets Will Cooper, the hot, older boy next door. He's also faced some tragedy, he's 21 and raising his little brother; their parents are dead. These two have an immediate connection, but fate keeps tearing them apart. I can't say much more without giving away some major spoilers. 

Overall, I really enjoyed these two. I liked their story. I wanted to see them happy. Will wasn't a total controlling douche! Layken got on my nerves. She seemed pretty immature, always pushing, always slamming doors. But you know what? I could forgive that. Her dad died. She had to move across the country. She was angry. Will was generally a pretty great character, always striving to do the right thing. 

I liked how Hoover incorporated slam poetry into the mix, although some of the poems were a little eh. You all know how much I love the arts. That extends to poetry in performance. It's a subculture you don't get to read a lot about. So that was pretty great. The secondary characters were super supportive and added some fun into the plot. And I love to read about supportive friends and family and this book was chock full of them.

The writing also totally sucked me in. Like I felt all the emotions. I was happy, I was heartbroken, I was bawling my eyes out and had to put the book down because I physically couldn't see the letters on the page. Totally engaging story. I didn't want to stop reading. Emotionally I was hooked and if I could just write this review as a bunch of keyboard mashing and yelling EMOTIONS over and over I would. But I did have some issues with the plot. 

A lot of it relied on emotional manipulation and big (sometimes tragic) reveals. It was a little much and kind of unnecessary, you know? These were knee jerk tears, not tears that last through close analysis of the actual story. Another thing, there's a point in the story where I'm like wait, hold it, what did you do to a really great, kind male character? Like irrational jealousy is not cool, it's controlling. I'm kind of not okay with seeing that. 

Also, there is some serious insta-love. These two crazy kids fall madly, hopelessly, can't get over each other in love after one date. Sure it takes awhile for them to say love. But it's there. Nothing ruins a good romance like unrealistic clicking. There's just no way. I like seeing a relationship grow and there was no opportunity for that here. There's plenty of DRAMA to make up for it, but I missed the slow burn. 

I can't go into detail about all of my issues with this book without ruining major plot points and I do think this book deserves a read. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. I'm going to read the sequel as soon as I can because I'm kind of hooked on this story now. Like, I wanted to go out and buy it as soon as I finished the first book. Now that I've had some time and space from the my initial reading the issues are coming into focus, but it is a gripping story. It's this kind of book that makes me hate starred reviews because on the one hand I want to give it a 5 for making me feel SO MUCH, but on the other, some weak plot points, cheap tears and some unlikable character turns make me think can I also give it like a 2? 

Go, read Slammed, enjoy it for what it is. It's a fantasy, it's a tearjerker. It's enjoyable. And seriously, invest in Kleenex before opening this one. If you're anything like me you'll need it. 

Easy by Tammara Webber

TITLE: Easy
AUTHOR: Tammara Webber
PUBLISHER/YEAR: Berkley Trade/2012
SERIES: No
SOURCE: Purchased 

Goodreads / Author's Website

Oh My God you guys. Why can't every book just be this book? Like seriously, it was fantastic. I'm just, not even writing a coherent review right now, that's how good it was. It was a stay up until 5 AM even though I KNOW I'm going to regret it in the morning, but I just can't put it down because of the ALL THE FEELINGS. Basically, Easy had everything that I wanted in book set at college and more. Okay, let's see if I can gather my thoughts and continue.

I think I liked Easy so much because it reminded me of the actual university experience, not something that can be said for a lot of New Adult novels (God, don't you just hate that term). That's not to say situations weren't heightened for the sake of the novel, there is drama galore. 

Jacqueline is the protagonist in this one. An accomplished musician, she followed her wannabe politician boyfriend to a state school instead of pursuing a conservatory education. Then he dumps her. So she's sad, super mopey, can barely get out of bed; on the one hand I want to slap her on the other, break ups suck. Heightened emotion. Close proximity to the ex. I've seen this one play out in the dorms. So Jacqueline's not in a great place and then she's attacked. 

Easy deals with one very difficult topic, rape. When I first started reading the book I cringed. Even in my house with the doors locked it had my heart racing. It's one of the worst things that can happen and it is still so prevalent, it really is sickening. The book starts out as the protagonist, Jacqueline, is leaving a party and is attacked by a guy she though she knew. Luckily, a stranger jumps in and saves her before she's raped, but sexual assault in any form is pretty damn traumatic. Webber did a really great job dealing with this topic. There's the super supportive best friend, but there's also a lot of slut shaming and blaming going on which sadly too realistic. It was just really well done. 

What else did I like in this novel asides from everything? Lucas, the love interest, was pretty great. He's not the MOST realistic guy, but i loved him so much. Tattoos, bad boy demeanor, heart of gold, secrets, hero saver guy. GAH. I want him to be real. Their relationship was also fantastic. Steamy in parts, but not gratuitously so and it was also pretty damn caring. Erin, the best friend, best roommate I could imagine. Great, supportive friend. I loved their relationship too. Like they were girlfriends who cared about each other, helped each other out, showed support, went to classes. I'm rambling again and I don't even care. 

Basically just GO. Read this book like NOW if you haven't already. Best book I've read so far this year, hands down.