All alone in a new state, Brennan Daniels has only the memories of her best friend, Reagan, to keep her company as she starts college.
Reagan is the reason for everything Brennan does—before she died, she made Brennan promise to stay good until she found a man worth keeping. No boys, no dating, and definitely no falling in love — those were the rules for college, and Brennan carved them into the brick walls guarding her heart…
But there’s a fire burning behind those walls, and when Brennan meets Owen Scott, the (mysterious) new guy across the hall, she can’t deny the pull between them. He is everything she should never want. Everyone warns her to stay away — even Owen himself — but the heart wants what the heart wants, even if it knows that it’s going to get hurt — even if it means throwing old promises to new flames…
I had such high hopes for this book, I really did, but it felt flat… 😦 .The concept is really good and this is something that I really liked, the fact that our main character is dealing – though not very well – with the death of a person that meant more to her than anything else. I really appreciated how the book doesn’t gloss over the hard stuff, and reading about Brennan’s panic attacks and hesitations broke my heart.
The writing was ok, but this book ran too long. In all honesty it needed a good trim, because it was way too repetitive. Other thing that bothered me a bit was the typos, the missing words and the wrong verbal tenses in some places. It’s something that I can overlook in ARCs quite often, if the writing is pulling me enough into the book, but that just wasn’t the case here :(.
Another negative for me ended up being some of the characters. Actually, I didn’t love either one of them, except for maybe Brenn’s brothers. Brennan herself was an OK MC, but she got under my skin. I understood her mood swings, given that it was part of her inability to deal with her trauma, but I couldn’t relate to her. Also, her clinging to that promise annoyed me to no end, maybe because I felt that the promise itself was a bit of nonsense.
Surprisingly I kind of liked Owen, though he was a bit hot and cold too. I did understand his reticence at first, and I loved reading about his fears of giving in to the relationship, what I didn’t quite get was his actions towards the end of the book… moving on…
I just want to say something, because I’m kind of sick of reading this in books. Why is it that guys who are casual about sex are viewed as douchebags in books? I don’t get it! What is so wrong with that behaviour, if they’re not hurting anyone in the process or making false promises?
I need to talk about Amelia (Brenn’s roommate), because seriously, what even?! I liked her at the beginning, but then, oh boy, no no no. First she – pardon my french – cockblocks Brenn and Owen like 100 times! WTF girl?! WHY? Then, after giving Brenn grief for not opening up, she decides to lie to her friend for THE WHOLE TIME THEY KNOW EACH OTHER! And why, you may ask? Well, that’s a good question, because I reached the freaking end of the book and I still don’t have any idea as to why. Worse! Everyone else knew! This is also true about Owen’s past, everyone surrounding Brenn knows all about his past, except for her. And I mean EVERYONE, including at least one of her brothers. I mean, come on people… really?
The romance itself was part of the redeeming qualities of the book, when Brennan was not freaking out over not keeping her promise to her dead BFF, she and Owen were happy and beyond cute together. Also, he said the most romantic stuff… I enjoyed those parts.
One thing that really put a damp on my enjoyment of this book was how judgmental Brennan came of at the beginning of this book. Slut shaming is never ok. And not only does she do it, but she also says not very nice things about people who decide to engage in threesomes. I mean, it’s a personal thing, but calling the girls who are into it “sluts” and saying that the guy who does it clearly has no respect for women… I mean… why? What? Why?
I’m rambling now. Ultimately I think this book needed seriously editing. It’s way to extensive and the pace is way too slow at times. The characters show some growth, but that doesn’t make them that more appealing. Some situations are quite bad, and I felt that most didn’t have a proper resolution.
One of her brothers knew Owen’s “secret”??? Why did they keep hiding things from her??
Let’s be honest, you didn’t rant as much as I thought after hearing everything you went through while reading this book XD
that’s because I ranted to you! 😛 Yes, her older brother knew, and he urged her to talk to Owen, but didn’t tell her why
Okay, I can see why he didn’t tell her. He wanted it to be Owen but it’s still stupid
it was. that part got on my nerve. because Amelia and her brother and everyone kept telling Brenn that she needed to give Owen a chance to explain, which I thought was cool. But she acted like a 5 yo having a tantrum, saying “no no no”
From what you told me sometimes she would act like a 5yo
totally. it was so annoying. and they never explained why amelia and callen kept their relationship a secret from her 😦
That’s so stupid. Why did she hide it on the first place??
no idea. also, the water drinking was never explained… i have no idea if she already knew she was pregnant or not, but I’m guessing yes. because that had to have happened before christmas, and she only went to the hospital near easter.
She had to know for sure. She was almost 5 months pregnat the timing was that
yep. and the dress wasn’t fitting properly either. which means she was already bigger. so why not say something? and owen gets to the hospital, finds out, and immediately tells her “you need to let him know”, but she never looks surprised by the news… Brenn on the other hand is totally shocked
That book has too many secrets
it’s ridiculous =/ and unnecessary. I didn’t mind that she got knocked up, but all the lying… no! the worst part for me was that Brenn was the only one being kept in the dark
Yeah. Why would they hide the things only from her?? Was it because she was too judgemental like you said or something like that?? That should have an explanation
no. i think it had to do with her not opening up at the beginning. and being in pain… i think. the judgmental thing really bothered me. I mean… I probably wouldn’t be ok with a threesome, but the comments she made? made me angry!!!
Still, they shouldn’t hide everything from her
no, they shouldn’t. it was horrible
I can see why you had so many problems with this book
yeah… Owen was super cute with her though. and never forced her to do anything
At least there was something good
hmmm, yeah… it was still almost 400 pages that I will never get back my time on
400 pages for that kind of story??? Why??
that’s a very good question. I told you it was way too long… it needs seriously editing
I can see why
also, hold on for this… the guy is described as a justin bieber wannabe (from the early days…)
Is that a good thing?? I don’t know but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t think that’s attractive. I still can’t understand what do the girls see on him
it’s not a good thing. she makes fun of him because of the hair, luckily that seems to be the only thing that he and Justin have in common
Good thing it’s only the hair. That can be fixed.
he fixed it, eventually. and then she didn’t like it. lol
That girl is difficult
lol. yep. i kind of hated her. lol… i want to forget about this book. Luckily my 2 current reads are way better 😛
I’m with you on that one. I really want to forget about the crazy girl book and it’s great that I’m reading/listening to 2 great book
have you made progress on the felicia day’s book?
Nope but I’ll be in a train today and I’ll be walking to IST after so I’ll have a lot of time 😀
😀 what time are you going?
soon. I just had lunch (what a surprise!! XD ) and now I need to go get dressed so I can leave soon
WOW! you had lunch at an appropriate time? WOW
Right?? That doesn’t happen that often. It only happens at weekends and it’s because my mom makes me have lunch with her XD
it’s so unusual 😀
I know. I’m surprised with myself too 😛
😉