Ah yes. The epitome of a trademark Kasie West™ romance.
For those who've read her works before and know what to expect, we get exactly what we're here Ah yes. The epitome of a trademark Kasie West™ romance.
For those who've read her works before and know what to expect, we get exactly what we're here for.
For those who haven't, it's the perfect dose of fluff but-not-too-fluff, whimsical but-kinda-too-whimsical and drama that's only borderline nerve-grating.
West has quickly and swiftly become my go-to romcom source what with the crazy rate she churns these books, but I still have high hopes for the day she breaks past those fixed three stars.
P.S. Is it weird that I adored Jeff the most out of them all? Need me a Jeff in my life too. Preferably one not named Jeff. And happens to look like Channing Tatum.
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Book song: D'vocean by Eastghost _________________________...more
And the award for my most vanilla book of 2016 goes to...
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I think I get it now. The whole appeal with Sarah Dessen and the million or so romanceAnd the award for my most vanilla book of 2016 goes to...
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I think I get it now. The whole appeal with Sarah Dessen and the million or so romance books she's churned; she's no Stephanie Perkins but reading her work is just so easy. Or at least this one was, my first one yet.
But more than easy, it was boring. Mundane. Unexciting. VANILLA.
Just like vanilla ice cream, it's enough to have me gobbling it up in one go, but doesn't quite manage to leave a satisfied mark like chocolate would. (Of course, this analogy is entirely redundant if vanilla happens to be your favourite flavour and you hate chocolate.) (In which case, WHAT ARE YOU?)
In fact, let me add to that comparison: with Along For The Ride, I thought I ordered a nice, rich scoop of caramel, drizzled with hot fudge and whipped cream abound, but what I got instead was a $1 cone from McDonalds.
I feel like this story held so much potential. Auden's personal problems dealing with family issues, social situations, insomnia, even as far as cycling (yes, I am 18 and only just learned how *insert gasp*)— they were all things I could directly relate to within some depth. And so I went into this hoping I could take away something profound, and if not, then learning things from a different perspective at the very least. No good book is a "good book" unless it leaves an impact on its readers some way or the other.
But this? It did nothing for me. Absolutely nada, zero, zilch. Unless you count feelings of frustration over a wasted 6 hours and lost sleep as anything. The entire storyline boils down to having no important point to it at all and if it's meant to be a semi-inspiring "coming of age" novel, then it's done a gosh damn shoddy job of it. The one tiny aspect that I did appreciate was the concept of how teenagers should be given the freedom to find their own niche, figure their own life out without the pressure from parents –or anyone else at all– to follow a certain path. Also, how appearances and gender stereotypes are a complete and total sham.
Buuuut.
While well-written, that message was lost amidst poor execution with a yawn-worthy plot and a ridiculously detached romance (seriously, I have more chemistry with the subject chemistry than these two do with each other and that's saying something).
You're better off going to Ikea and shopping for furniture (something I missed in favour of reading this) than hopping along for this ride; that'd be more adventurous than Eli and Auden's late night adventures ever will be.
Final rating: 1.5 stars _________________________
Book song: Flume - Quirk _________________________...more
Where my expectations were sorely let down by Hopeless, Colleen Hoover sure as hell makes up for it with this one!
The idea of slam poetry intrigued meWhere my expectations were sorely let down by Hopeless, Colleen Hoover sure as hell makes up for it with this one!
The idea of slam poetry intrigued me from the blurb itself, but when I did get to read the first one in the book- WOW. Just brilliant. Reminded me quite a lot of La Dispute, the perfect band that they are.
My initial reaction nearly halfway into the book was: Aw crap. Just blew away my money on the lamest romance ever. Fuck you, insta-love.
And then of course, the internal rants: Honestly, you've just moved to a new town you've been dreading and not two days have passed since you've met this guy but you're already out on dates and making out? Seriously. GETTING ON MY NERVES HERE. And then they always have to spiral into the everlasting drama feud too obviously, just HOW could I have forgotten that? (view spoiler)[Not to mention, someone just has to bloody end up getting a life-threatening illness or an awful serious situation, don't they? May it be cancer, rape, abuse or a brutal past, every contemporary novel I turn to, it's there in all its plot device glory! Ugh. (hide spoiler)]
But once I got past all that, I found myself delving deeper and deeper into the story and enjoying every bit of it - the latter three quarters made the book amazing for me. A part of me was hoping for precisely that kind of ending and despite the predictability, I got just that and still absolutely loved it.
I was wishing so bad for this to be a stand-alone, (view spoiler)[(WHY WON'T YOU LET US STICK TO OUR BUBBLE OF HAPPY ENDINGS?) (hide spoiler)] but the existence of the other two books constantly nags me, so I'm itching to get myself a copy of them.
Overall, twas a wonderful, feels-filled read!...more
saania jamal ✧
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