Review: The Book of Broken Hearts

THE BOOK OF BROKEN HEARTS
Sarah Ockler
Contemporary Young Adult
352 pages
Simon Pulse
Available May 21st
Source: Received from publisher via Edelweiss

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.

Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?

Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?

Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.

MY THOUGHTS 
Both poignant and funny, with a focus on relationships both familial and romantic, The Book of Broken Hearts pleases on a variety of levels, giving us a taste of reality without any added drama for effect. What we get when we crack the spine of this book is a glimpse at life – a glorious collage of good moments and bad, heartfelt conversations and witty banter, and old doors closing as new ones open wide to beckon Jude through. There's plenty of pain as well as many a scene between her and her father that make us tear up even though we know Jude would despise our sympathy, but never once does Ms. Ockler heighten tensions or toss in layers of drama unnecessary to Jude's journey just to play on our emotions, instead every minute with Jude is one we value, and one that's a vital piece of the Hernandez puzzle we long to see in all its stunning completeness.

Jude delights with her sass from the very first page, an internal monologue in which she questions the intelligence of wearing her current wedgie-causing shorts in an attempt to give off a biker chick vibe immediately causing a grin to paint our faces, something we'll soon learn is a common occurrence throughout. While her ability to make us laugh comes smoothly and easily, her very real fear for her father's worsening condition as his Alzheimer's rapidly progresses echoes in her every smile, and we can't help but long to wrap our arms around her and squeeze tight. She handles her father's less lucid moments beautifully, hating and cursing his disease but loving him through it, and basking in the moments when the Alzheimer's deigns to return her father to her.

One of the highlights of Jude's character is her lack of judgement, the painful past of two of her sisters leading to the vilification of the entire Vargas clan, but despite that history she opens herself up to Emilio and decides to trust him with things she doesn't even share with her own family. She's not one to keep secrets from him or hold on to her anger when they have an argument, and thankfully Emilio is much the same way, both of them communicating to the best of their ability instead of bottling up all their emotions and simply waiting to pop. Their romance is definitely of the slow burn variety, and their sweet, simple moments together are made all the more significant given the seriousness of Jude's father's condition, his episodes bringing clarity to both them and us as to how important it is to accept and appreciate the brevity of life.

Though we don't get to know Emilio quite as well as we might like, this story as a whole is a highly enjoyable one with a strong emphasis on family, something that is all too rare in young adult fiction. Ms. Ockler has a gift for writing quirky, hilarious young women, and Jude is absolutely no exception, making us giggle-snort in a most undignified manner even as we wipe away a tear the chapter after. A dog with what can only be described as a bunny fixation, a Holy Trinity of older sisters, and a sexy, motorycle-building love interest solidify this read as a one-sit wonder, easily devoured in just a few hours.

Rating: 4/5

Find Sarah:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Interview + Giveaway: Molly McAdams + Stealing Harper

I'm hugely excited today to welcome new adult author Molly McAdams back to the blog to celebrate the upcoming release of her new novella, Stealing Harper. For those of you who have read Taking Chances, this novella is written from Chase's point of view. Molly was nice enough to answer a few questions about Chase and the events of Taking Chances and Stealing Harper for me, so I hope you all enjoy! And don't forget to check the bottom of the post for an exclusive excerpt as well as a fantastic giveaway!

For those who have yet to meet Chase, please describe him using only the title or titles of other pieces of fiction.

“More Than Meets the Ink” “Bad Rep” “Passionate Ink” “Bad Boy Secrets” “Torn By Love”

What was the most fun/fascinating/difficult part of being in Chase’s head and writing from his point of view?

I absolutely LOVED getting to know him. I felt like I knew exactly who he was when I wrote Taking Chances, but I really had no clue. He’s very complex, caring, and willing to hurt himself emotionally, if it means that Harper has a better life. So finding out all these things about him absolutely gripped me, and I fell in love with him all over again.

If you were to sit down and interview Chase, what’s the first thing you would ask him?

Before I wrote Stealing Harper, it would have been “Why didn’t you fight for her in the beginning?” but I know that answer now, along with hundreds of others I had. So now, it would probably be something along the lines of, “How are you? I miss you.” Chase will always have a big part of my heart when it comes to my characters.

You don’t pull any punches emotionally when it comes to your stories, and your characters (and readers!) are always put through the wringer. What’s the last book you read that tied you up in all sorts of emotional knots?

When We Collide by A.L. Jackson. All her books bring me to my knees with the emotions in them, I love what she evokes in her readers!

What’s one question you wish someone would ask you in an interview? How would you answer?

“How ninja are you?” I’d probably say something along the lines of… “I’m the lamest they come, unless there’s a spider, or other bug, or a random floaty object in front of me. Then I become so ninja it’s insane. I karate chop at whatever it is, then disappear before it can find me again.”

*Jenny dies laughing*

If you were to channel Chase and get a tattoo that represented the events of Taking Chances and Stealing Harper, what might it look like or say?

I’m not sure if I can think of something that represents what happened in the books. But, to be honest, I love the lilies Chase gave Harper. I wouldn’t get exactly that, but I am getting something from it. I’m getting one orange lily with the word “Princess” hidden in one of the petals. Those lilies are a way of Chase, and his love, to forever be with Harper. No matter what happens, it won’t go away. And I love that.

What’s one line from Stealing Harper that brought a smile to your face the minute you wrote it?

“Swear, bro, you should have started with that, because I thought you were going to start batting for the other team.” –Brian. I just love anything Brian says, really. haha

• • • • • • • • • •

MOLLY MCADAMS

Molly grew up in California but now lives in the oh-so-amazing state of Texas with her husband and furry four-legged daughter. Some of her hobbies include hiking, snowboarding, traveling and long walks on the beach…which roughly translates to being a homebody with her hubby and dishing out movie quotes. When she’s not diving into the world of her characters, she can be found hiding out in her bedroom surrounded by her laptop, cell, Kindle and fighting over the TV remote. She has a weakness for crude-humored movies, fried pickles and loves curling up in a fluffy comforter during a thunderstorm...or under one in a bathtub if there are tornados. That way she can pretend they aren't really happening.

Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon

• • • • • • • • • •

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT FROM STEALING HARPER

And no, the fact that I hid the word “princess” within the design I wanted to complete my right sleeve had nothing to do with her or the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. At all. Fuck. I slammed my sketchpad shut and shoved it into my desk.

I stretched my arms and back before leaving my room and locking the door behind me. I’d almost gotten to the end of the hallway when I heard Drew’s loud slur.

“YYYEEEAAAH Bree and fresh meat are sleeping over tonight!”

I figured “fresh meat” was Bree’s new roommate and felt bad for once again forgetting to meet her. I needed to make sure my sister wasn’t going to be rooming with some crazy person. When I got into the living room, Bree was over taking shots with Drew and Zach, and there standing near the doors to the backyard was my gray-eyed princess. This better be a fucking mistake.

Plastering a smile on my face, I couldn’t help but embrace the images that were now burned into my mind, “Well, well. If it isn't the princess.”

She froze when she heard me, and as she turned to look at me her eyes narrowed and the fakest smile I’ve ever seen crossed her face, “I almost didn't recognize you without a tramp attached to you.”

Be sure and check out both yesterday's excerpt over at Flirty and Dirty Book Blog as well as today's additional excerpt at Confessions of a Bookaholic!

Stealing Harper: 

Goodreads • Amazon

• • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

Win a Molly McAdams prize pack! Prizes include all of Molly's books as well as a beautiful lily pendant, just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• • • • • • • • • •

PRE-ORDER STEALING HARPER

HarperCollins has been running a fabulous promotion wherein if the pre-orders for Stealing Harper reached a certain number, the novella would be released a full two weeks early. WIN! That goal has since been achieved, ensuring Stealing Harper will be released on May 21st, so mark your calendars, and be sure to pre-order your copy!

 

Review: The Last Academy

THE LAST ACADEMY
Anne Applegate
Paranormal Young Adult
320 pages
Scholastic Point
Available now
Disclosure: Received from publisher for the purpose of a review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
What is this prep school preparing them for?

Camden Fisher arrives at boarding school haunted by a falling-out with her best friend back home. But the manicured grounds of Lethe Academy are like nothing Cam has ever known. There are gorgeous, preppy boys wielding tennis rackets, and circles of girls with secrets to spare. Only . . . something is not quite right. One of Cam's new friends mysteriously disappears, but the teachers don't seem too concerned. Cam wakes up to strangers in her room, who then melt into the night. She is suddenly plagued by odd memories, and senses there might be something dark and terrible brewing. But what? The answer will leave Cam—and readers—stunned and breathless, in this thrilling debut novel.

MY THOUGHTS
The synopsis for The Last Academy is one that has us entering into this debut full of greedy anticipation, wondering what secrets lurk beneath the mask of polite society perfection, but what it doesn’t prepare us for is the youthfulness of its heroine. Camden, while only fourteen, reads as a very young fourteen, making it difficult for older readers of YA fiction (like myself) to connect to her and her peers. Without that connection we find ourselves a bit antsy and fidgety, unable to settle in as neither characters nor mystery create that desirable pull that keeps us up late reading even though we know our bodies will stage a revolt in the morning for doing so.

Camden isn’t an unlikable young woman, she just fully embodies her young age, some of her internal commentary making us laugh but also just as often reminding us of how many years separate us. Her relationships with a handful of girls at the academy are extraordinarily strange, moments of friendship between them suddenly and jarringly deteriorating into petty teenage vitriol before coming back around to wary friendship once again. The other girls themselves are difficult to tell apart, their personalities superficial and so similar that we often lose track of which of the young women Camden’s actually speaking to at the time, leaving us just as confused character-wise as we are unsure about what is happening with the disappearances at Lethe.

There is a romance in the The Last Academy, but like Camden’s relationships with the girls, it lacks depth, our lips barely twitching when she and Mark are together instead of creasing our faces with the full-wattage grin we so desire. The age difference between she and Mark, while technically a rather insignificant four years (he’s a senior to her freshman), feels far greater given Camden’s aforementioned youthful countenance and the fact that a great deal of personal growth typically happens during those four years, thereby making their "love" a bit off-putting rather than sweet. Mark himself is cute and an all-around good guy, but it’s hard to believe in his feelings for Camden both due in part to the age difference as well as the fact that he pops up randomly and simply isn’t on page long enough for us to learn anything real about him.

The highlight and saving grace for this read is the concluding thirty or so pages where all the loose threads that had been floating aimlessly throughout are nicely tied together with a surprising twist, one we begin to guess based on the hints we’re given, but don’t understand in full until Ms. Applegate reveals all. While much of the story is a struggle, we do leave it on a high note, able to forgive and forget some of the flaws we spent the first 250 pages frustrated with as we find a bit of contentment in an ending that brings everything full circle.

Rating: 2.5/5
 

Find Anne:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review, but my thoughts are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Things of Awesome: May Edition

Okay. I think I just need to admit defeat with this feature and demote it to a every-once-in-a-while-when-I'm-not-too-lazy-on-the-weekends-to-do-it post, because the sporadic nature of it really prevents it from deserving the title of "feature". There are handful of fun things I want to share with you this month though, complete with a new conversational snippet between me and Kevin. I hope it makes you guys smile, and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

1. LOSING IT EXTRA SCENES

I read Losing It by Cora Carmack a little while back and loved it to pieces, so I'm thrilled to share the news that Cora is going to be releasing several scenes from Garrick's point of view! *flails* Please excuse me while I die of excitement. She's planning on releasing the below four scenes periodically as pre-orders for her new release Faking It (which is also completely amazing, I highly recommend - comes out June 4th) reach certain numbers.

Scenes:
•       The One Where They Meet
•       The One Where They Meet…Again
•       The One Where He Changes His Mind
•       The One Where Bliss Gets Her Way

Um. Yes please! I need inside Garrick's head as soon as possible. The below widget will keep you all updated as to where the pre-orders stand and which of the above scenes will be released next. I hope you guys add Faking It to your lists!

2. HARPER IMPULSE

HarperTeen's new Impulse imprint might be one of my favorite things ever. Novellas don't always interest me, but I love that Harper and their various authors are releasing these little shorts that give us a look at a familiar world through a different character's eyes. Some of the novellas and short stories, of course, are new and completely unrelated to any full-length series, but I've found I've even enjoyed those as well. Below are the newest Impulse titles for May!

Allies: An Insignia Novella

In S. J. Kincaid’s fast-paced and humorous sci-fi Insignia trilogy, the earth is in the middle of World War III when teen gamer Tom Raines is recruited to train with other young cadets as a pivotal member of the elite combat corps, the Intrasolar Forces. At the Pentagonal Spire’s training academy, he makes the best friends of his life—fellow government weapons-in-training Wyatt Enslow, Vik Ashwan, and Yuri Sysevich.

In this 47-page prequel novella to the series, budding genius Wyatt Enslow—intensely loyal and hyperintelligent if occasionally, hilariously, socially awkward—takes center stage as S. J. Kincaid reveals Wyatt’s life before she found her place, and her own inner strength, among her devoted band of friends at the Spire.

Playing Keira

From a breakthrough voice in YA fiction comes a captivating digital-original 50-page short story starring a supporting character from the novel You Look Different in Real Life.

The premise was simple: Five kids living their real lives, with a new movie about them every five years. But that was before Keira's mother walked out and the cameras captured every heartbreaking detail for the world to see. Now Keira doesn't even know what "real life" means—she only knows how to pretend to be herself.

Then she meets Garrett on a bus to New York City. At first, Keira creates a fictional identity and enjoys the freedom of being someone totally different. But as their brief connection turns into something more, Keira starts to see what life could be like if she just stopped pretending and accepted the person she really is.

Jennifer Castle's pitch-perfect teen voices and sharp insights—together with a teaser to You Look Different in Real Life—make this story a must-read, especially for fans of Sarah Dessen.

You fan find the full list of available Impulse titles HERE.

3. THE QUILL AWARDS

Fashioned after The Oscars, The Quill Awards is an awards show for young adult books put together by a couple bloggers, with various categories and nominees as well as a coterie of twenty-one bloggers acting as The Academy and voting for the winners.

From the website:

A new type of award show exclusively to celebrate the last year in Young Adult fiction. It will boast all aspects of a traditional award show: awkward banter, fancy clothes, signature statuettes, and all other attributes we both love and mock. What makes this "new" is that this award show will not take place at some fancy venue, but rather it will be filmed at multiple dates in multiple locations, and then edited to form one cohesive show.

You can expect appearances from many of your favorite bloggers and authors, as well as industry professionals and maybe even some special guest entertainers. It will truly be a time to honor all aspects of the YA community. It will be quirky and homey, but hopefully also interesting and well done. The show will air late June/ early July at a date to be determined. The final list of nominees will be posted on April 26th. 
 
You fan find the full list of nominees and place your vote for the Countdown Award here.

Website • Twitter • YouTube

4. BEA

In a couple weeks I will be in NYC attending BookExpo America for the third time. I will be there with a ridiculous smile plastered on my face and my mom and mother-in-law in tow to help me master the BEA monster with our now finely-tuned divide and conquer technique. I cannot wait.

Danny and Pushy of Bewitched Bookworms and Hannah of The Irish Banana have put together some fantastic posts about what to expect if you're attending for the first time, so instead of a long rambling post of my own, I'm just going to link to their sites because they've got everything covered.

I hope to see many of you there!

5. LIFE WITH KEVIN

For the full story behind these little conversational snippets go HERE.

Kevin: I know what's going on.

Me: What, now?

Kevin: I know what's going on with the movies.

Me: I haven't the slightest inkling what you could be referring to.

Kevin: You think I haven't figured out that all three of the movies we've watched in the past couple days have had Jeremy Renner in them?

Me: Coincidence.

Kevin: Really. That's what you're going with?

Me: Yes. Maybe I just had an intense desire to watch movies about a SWAT team, a genetically enhanced badass specializing in badassery, and a sexy, leather-clad superhero who rocks a bow and arrow. You ever think of that?

Kevin: No. Want to know what I think?

Me: I'm not sure I do. I don't think I like where this is headed.

Kevin: What I think is that you've chosen Jeremy Renner as a real life version of one of your fictional men and now you're obsessing.

Me: LIES!

Kevin: We both know I'm right.

Me: Huh. I'm not sure if I love that you know me so well or if I find it irritating that there's absolutely no mystery left in our relationship.

Kevin: It wasn't exactly difficult to figure out. Nearly ninety percent of the time you don't have a clue what we're watching because you're reading, and then all of a sudden you want to watch three very specific movies all in one weekend. Kind of a tip-off.

Me: I think you're mistaken. Subtlety is one of my strong suits. I excel at it. EXCEL.

Kevin: Clearly. You've probably already gone to IMDB to cyber-stalk him and are currently considering going and buying any of his movies we don't already own.

Me: Dammit Kevin! That's it. I want a divorce. I need to be with someone less observant who doesn't call me out on my romantic fixations. I'm going to go and make a profile on Match.com immediately.

Kevin: Sounds good. Let me know what kind of interest you get.

Me: I suffer you to live.

Eyes of E'veria Blog Tour: Guest Post + Giveaway

I'm pleased today to welcome author Serena Chase to the blog as part of the promotional tour for her romantic young adult fantasy series, Eyes of E'veria. Serena is going to give us a bit of insight into the naming of her characters–something that always interests me–and is offering up a generous giveaway so be sure and check the bottom of the post for full details!

BEHIND THE SCENES: NAMING CHARACTERS IN FANTASY

Authors have many different processes for naming their characters and my own methods vary from book to book, but I have found that naming characters in a fantasy novel (versus a contemporary work) is so much easier. If you regularly read fantasy, you might find that surprising. After all, many fantasy novels have characters with really weird names. If we look at some throughout the last twenty or so years, it’s quite an interesting list.

Think of Angharad Crewe (aka: Harry Crewe & Hari-mad Sol) from Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword. David Eddings provided us with Polgara, Belgarath, Garion, and Ce’Nedra in his Belgariad series and C.S. Lewis gave us Ramandu and Reepicheep in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. More recently, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series gave us Dobby, Bellatrix LeStrange, and Voldemort, and in Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass we met an assassin-Cinderella named Celaena Sardothien. You have to wonder . . . what made those names seem the “right fit” for the characters? And yet . . . once you’ve read the books, you can’t imagine them being named anything else!

For The Ryn and The Remedy, I employed several different methods of naming characters. For a few, a name simply popped into my head and seemed to fit (this was the case for the hero, Julien, as well as the knights, Gladiel, Drinius, and Gerrias) The name “Rose’ was a bit of a no-brainer for the beginning of The Ryn, since I found my inspiration for the books in the Grimm fairy tale, Snow White & Rose Red, but I couldn’t name a character “Snow White” and not feel like a total hack, so I kept with the flower theme and named that minor character “Lily”. Another minor character, who is turning out to be a reader favorite, is my pirate, Cazien. His name was derived from the name “Caz” meaning “vain”—and I discovered it via my very favorite naming source, Yvonne Navarro’s insanely comprehensive reference book, First Name Reverse Dictionary: Given Names Listed by Meaning, 2nd Edition.

But there are a few characters in these first two books of the Eyes of E’veria series whose names have a little more meaning—and most of those characters are from the province of Veetri: land of the Storytellers. Lord Whittier was so named because in the original draft he had a few more lines and I found him to be quite the clever one (aka: witty), whereas his Capricia, his wife, is a musician and, thus, her name was derived from a musical term that fit her personality. But when it came to the couple’s three sons, who each play such an important role in the lead character’s life, I had to approach naming with especial care. Therefore, though only one of them is a Storyteller (the other two are knights), I named Kinley, Lewys, and Rowlen after a few of my favorite storytellers. I’ll give you a moment to consider which authors I might be referring to . . . (hint: see the second paragraph of this post!)

So what did you come up with?

If you said: Robin McKinley, C.S. Lewis, and J.K. Rowling… congratulations! You’re almost as big a nerd as I am! Indeed, those three authors are among those I hold in highest esteem and, thus, named my boys from Veetri in their honor.

Over the seven years it took to refine books 1 and 2, some of the characters’ names changed, even if just to make the spelling a little easier to digest (a frequent complaint of fantasy readers is: “How do I pronounce this name?” I wanted to avoid that issue for my readers as much as possible.) Imagine my surprise, then, each time my mother pronounces the title of book 1 as “The Rhine”—for it was meant to be pronounced with a short “i” sound, as in ryn=tin! I’ve also come across many different pronunciations for Rynnaia’s name—but to me… that’s okay—because as long as she’s alive in your head, I’m cool with whatever her name is supposed to sound like to you.

What are some of the most memorable or unusual names from books you’ve read? I’d love to know! 

Thanks so much for stopping by Serena! More information on Serena and her books can be found here:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Pinterest • Goodreads • Amazon

• • • • • • • • • • 

SERENA CHASE

A life-long lover of fairy tales, Serena Chase is the author of THE RYN (3/26/13) and THE REMEDY (April 2013) Together, these two novels comprise an expanded re-imagining of the classic Grimm fairy tale, Snow White & Rose Red and are the first two books in the Eyes of E’veria series.

A frequent contributor to USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog and  Edgy Inspirational Romance, Serena lives in Iowa with her husband, two daughters, and a white goldendoodle named Albus. She has been known to live vicariously through her hair, however, so don’t be too surprised if she looks a tad different from one day to the next. We all have our vices.

• • • • • • • • • • 

THE REMEDY

PURPOSED by birth. DESTINED by prophecy. REVEALED by Truth.

Now, her time has come.

Having come to terms with her long-hidden identity, Princess Rynnaia E’veri is ready to take her rightful place. But before she can join her father at Castle Rynwyk, she must endeavor to fulfill a 200-year-old prophecy and defeat the Kingdom’s ancient enemy, the Cobelds. Joined by her faithful knight, Sir Julien de Gladiel, and a gifted group of friends, Rynnaia must trek a dangerous path through canyons, forests, and into the very depths of a mountain where, if the prophetic scrolls prove correct, she will face an unknown foe, alone. Treacheries will be discovered, sacrifices will be made, friends will be lost, and love will be tested, but if even one line of the riddled prophecy is misinterpreted, Rynnaia will fail . . . and the Kingdom will fall.

Beginning at the point THE RYN ended, THE REMEDY concludes an epic re-imagining of the classic Grimm fairy tale, SNOW WHITE & ROSE RED, but the Eyes of E’veria series is only beginning . . .

• • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

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Review: True

TRUE
Erin McCarthy
Contemporary New Adult
238 pages
InterMix/Penguin
Available Now
Received from publisher via NetGalley

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.

Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…

Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…

MY THOUGHTS
True is an utter delight to read, giving us characters rich in personality and charm who live lives full of a gritty realism we can't help but appreciate. Family plays a huge role in this story, with Rory and Tyler's families shaping them into the people they are and influencing their lives in both healthy and unhealthy ways, adding light and shadow to their worlds and creating a heartbreaking beauty through the contrast. While Rory and Tyler's romance does follow a predictable path to its conclusion (would we really want to read a romance that didn't end happily for the couple though?), at every crossroads in their relationship–both minor and major–Rory chooses the road so often less traveled in young adult and new adult fiction, opting to save herself and Tyler from unnecessary drama and in doing so completely winning us over.

Though typically in a romance like this the tattooed, sexually-experienced boy with a troubled past would be the swoon-worthy standout, the character who occupies 90% of our hearts and leaves only a measly 10% for the heroine and secondary characters, it's Rory who is the highlight. Normally a young woman who is exceedingly honest and often blunt can cross the line from endearing to abrasive, coming across as cool and indifferent and thereby keeping both those around them as well as readers at arm's length. Rory never once crosses that line, her honest approach to all situations with Tyler something we want to wrap around our shoulders and snuggle into because we find it so blissfully comforting.

When Rory is unsure where she stands with Tyler, she simply asks him. When they have an argument and he tries to leave without a resolution in place, she goes after him, explains how his actions made her feel and coaxes him to do the same. She never demands a certain reaction from him or throws the weight of her anger or embarrassment around, instead she puts herself out there first and asks through word or deed that he help her to balance on the fragile tightrope they're walking with their relationship, and in response he's able to open up to her in a way he never has with anyone else. The two of them together feel solid and genuine, and just as they trust the other with their hearts, we know we can trust them with ours, free to fall madly in love with them without worrying it will all blow up in our faces with cruel games, revenge antics, or monstrous miscommunications.

Overall, True is everything we could wish for when we crack the spine, love, laughter, and life splashed on the pages in all their glory and their pain, sweeping us of our feet with a bit of realistic escapism and then returning us firmly to the ground with a grin of supreme satisfaction when it's all over.

Rating: 4.5/5 

Find Erin:

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