Publisher Description:
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…
That’s what Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past she wishes could just stay buried.
Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
Thoughts:
I’ve been curious about this “New Adult” genre for some time now. What does that even mean? Apparently it is a book intended for the same kind of readers as Young Adult books but skewing the 17+ range, including usually adult content. I’ve been curious but not had a chance to work it out—as it turns out it wasn’t that bad, and the subject matter (as far as the explicit parts go) was not any more intense than your average romance/chick lit, really. I decided to check this book out because it topped the New York Times Best Sellers list last week, so read on for my thoughts on it.
Before I continue though, I feel it is my duty to offer a CHILD ABUSE AND RAPE TRIGGER WARNING for this book, even though that may be a spoiler for you. Amazon doesn’t do these trigger warnings, but I do. Sorry.
Anyway, the book. In many ways it read like a typical YA romance, and the “adult” aspects of the novel weren’t really that adult (as in, this is pretty soft-core as far as erotica goes, in my opinion–the “sex scenes” were mostly cute and fade to black, unless the plot forward moving scene dictates otherwise). The first half of the novel was a sweet romance, and being right in the target range (17+ through 20s) for this novel, I really did like Holder as the leading man. What’s not to like? He is gorgeous and sensitive and kind and amazing. But it turns out these characters were somewhat more layered than I believed and had some really interesting back stories and secrets (don’t they always?).
The secret is in the execution though—it is not an uncommon plot but it had some uncommon twists and some lovely character building in it. The world was pretty ordinary, but the characters were anything but. I enjoyed Hoover’s characterizations so much I was willing to overlook the clunky and uneven prose. I believed in Sky as a narrator, and I believed in Holder as the leading man.
And in the end, in a teen romance, that’s what really matters. On top of that, this had a moving family story in the second half (which is where the trigger warning is, really), and I really enjoyed navigating all the clues and twists and plottiness.
Overall Rating:
Great characterization, and out of the ordinary plot for the romance genre, but with uneven dialogue and prose.