Lin's Perspective

I really, really wanted to love this book. The premise was great, and I just hoped it would live up to my expectations, which to a degree it did, but for the majority of it I was just disappointed.

Elizabeth was so annoying, she rolled her eyes more times than a rolling cheese in Gloucester would down the hill… ^{_{(for those who have no idea what I’m referring to is a tradition in the UK where they roll a huge cheese and whoever catches it keeps it, here’s a link if your interest is pocked)}}. And I did the math, so you don’t have to it is exactly 35 times she bloody rolled her eyes, sometimes even 3 times on the same page… At some point, I was beginning to think this was the only thing she could actually do…yeah do with that info what you will.
This aside, the story was cute at times, there were some aspects that I did appreciate, especially when it came to her stepmom and her friend Joss, as well as her late-teenage-outbursts that we all had at some point. It did feel realistic and not too far-fetched from reality that a normal person coming of age would experience. However, I did have some major issues with the plot, the character development, and the way things were wrapped at the end.

I find myself linking the male characters more often than I do the female ones when it comes to romance books like this one. And this book here was no exception. Wes was great, I liked everything about him and his personality it actually reminded me of a close friend of mine, the way he jokes and acts as a whole. While Liz, was OK, for most time she was this angsty teenager that has some unresolved issues with the passing of her mother that probably would have needed some careful attention from her dad or a professional, but oh well, it was not that type of a book.

What really pushed my buttons was the spoiling of the ending of The Great Gatsby…. and I will talk about this because it is fine you can refer to books, movies, and songs but for the love of reading please stop spoiling books and assuming just because they are classics or very popular books people have read them or are familiar with. I am so pissed and yes, that was one of the major reasons why my rating went down for this one….

SPOILER SECTION

Riiight, so yeah, every time Wes showed up in the picture, I instantly lit he was probably my favourite character, and we certainly did not see much of him being the main love interest. I did like the fact that he put Liz in her place and told her the things that she should have heard a long time ago about her mom issues.

Elizabeth on the other hand like I already mentioned I just wished I could shake up and tell her to get a grip because she was acting like an ungrateful little brat who needed a wake-up call, which she did towards the end I am glad that the author made a character growth of her, but by then I was just too irritated to even care about her character.

For me personally, all the movie and song references felt way too much. They were in every single chapter, and it just distracted from the main plot and characters. I could not even see the connection or what the author was trying to convey with those references for the bigger part of the book…

Now, the whole thing with Wesley and Elizabeth getting on with it, you know all that cheesy stuff that comes between two people that apparently like each other… I was expecting a lot more of it. We got only what 2 kissing scenes between them throughout the whole book, and for the rest of it, it was just a fill-up quotes from cliché movies and Taylor Swift songs… really??

Where was the romance? I think I blinked, and I somehow missed it dammit…

I know my opinion here is unpopular, but c’mon, this was an ode to all the old-school romance movies and romantic songs than it was an actual romance book in my view….