LIKE YOU CAREI am nothing.
Nobody.
I'd rather be invisible than deal with what happens on the days my classmates decide to acknowledge my existence.
But then Turner Hall shows up - all cool confidence and witty banter - and all of a sudden I don't want to be invisible any more. I want to be seen.
I want him to see me.
I'm not who he thinks I am but I'm starting to suspect he's not all he says he is either.
Just my luck that he starts to make friends with my tormentors. How am I supposed to tell him who I really am? How am I supposed to show him my true face? What if the boy I'm falling in love with decides I'm nothing too?
REVIEW: DNF AT 80% - skimmed to the end
I am so angry and so frustrated after reading this ridiculous story. I'm not going to beat around the bush and say something nice to offset the ridiculousness that this book offered me. First and foremost, this is nothing but a mean girl story with over the top exaggerated drama and actions by holier than thou teenaged girls, and a heroine that is literally TSTL. (I hate using that, but she fit the description perfectly) To top if off, I feel like I wasted an entire day away not only reading it, but being duped into thinking if I go back in, it will get better. I should have DNF'd it when I first tried to.
This story was originally a novella in the Bully Me Anthology and I had just finished reading Sam Mariano's addition - The Boy on the Bridge, so I was excited to read more in that genre. So seeing that this one was supposed to be turning into a full length book, I was excited to try a new to me author. This was in the bully anthology - therefore it was supposed to be a bully romance. I don't even understand how this book made it into a bully romance anthology in the first place. This was 200 pages full of mean girl antics, abuse, harassment and assault. I do NOT want to read about spoiled girls beating up and physically abusing another girl because of a birthmark on her face!!! I don't even in the littlest bit. It was as if the romance was a side-thought to the bullying and a second thought to the "other" twist in the book. Which was all ridiculous in hindsight.
This story was originally a novella in the Bully Me Anthology and I had just finished reading Sam Mariano's addition - The Boy on the Bridge, so I was excited to read more in that genre. So seeing that this one was supposed to be turning into a full length book, I was excited to try a new to me author. This was in the bully anthology - therefore it was supposed to be a bully romance. I don't even understand how this book made it into a bully romance anthology in the first place. This was 200 pages full of mean girl antics, abuse, harassment and assault. I do NOT want to read about spoiled girls beating up and physically abusing another girl because of a birthmark on her face!!! I don't even in the littlest bit. It was as if the romance was a side-thought to the bullying and a second thought to the "other" twist in the book. Which was all ridiculous in hindsight.
Walking into this one, I was hoping for a new voice to follow - a new bully writer that made me root for the bad guy. Uhhhh, nope. Nuh uh. This was nothing of the sort. The voice was very young sounding with a very dramatic flair with her use of adjectives. I highlighted enough to roll my eyes at, and then I just stopped because I was highlighting more out of anger than places to remind me of the storyline.
I initially liked the setup enough to keep going. Mena was an embarrassed/shy girl with absolutely ZERO confidence because of a facial birthmark - but overwhelmingly so to the point of annoyance. She also hid her identity from Turner (the H) - but that's what started the whole intrigue for me. They had this amazing chemistry from the moment they met. The banter was fun and they talked and grew a sort of relationship organically, but secretly. It was quick, a little rushed and scripted, but it was growing. I was enjoying that little bit....until I wasn't. But Mena was a loner without any friends. Bullied incessantly and ridiculed into a corner. She watched enough YouTube to teach herself how to do makeup apparently quite well, enough to where she was doing her mother's when she went out a few times a week to "seminars". If she's SO good at doing makeup, why didn't she wear makeup to work? Why doesn't she put it on for school? (The reasons given were amateur at best.) Why does she let these moronic asshole abusive bullies pick on her? She was a complete doormat until 78%. A complete idiot. Her martyrdom throughout the entire book made her absolutely ridiculous. The lessons being ruined from this book alone is shocking. Like, why even bring all the cousins to make a show....and nothing happens??? Seriously, nothing. So many plot holes and questions.
Add to it all, there were no repercussions for any of the assaults this poor girl went through - not ONE, and it was frustrating beyond all belief. I made it to 80% in the book, to Turner and Mena's first sex scene and I was out. The "bully" was the girls. The twist with the family was not shocking - just another addition of drama. And the most annoying thing ever was she neverrrr trusted Turner, even at the end until he became her knight in shining armor - right after he "saved" her, and right before sex, of course. She questioned him way too damn much. She questioned everything way too damn much.
So, to sum it up: this was NOT a bully romance. The characters were very shallow and didn't have a whole lot of growth (if any) in this story. The side plots and teenaged romance were completely overshadowed by the mean girls that would have killed her had they not been stopped. This was full of over the top, forced drama for absolutely no reason. By the time it was all said and done, this was not entertaining in the least. It was angering. It was frustrating. It was annoying.
I initially liked the setup enough to keep going. Mena was an embarrassed/shy girl with absolutely ZERO confidence because of a facial birthmark - but overwhelmingly so to the point of annoyance. She also hid her identity from Turner (the H) - but that's what started the whole intrigue for me. They had this amazing chemistry from the moment they met. The banter was fun and they talked and grew a sort of relationship organically, but secretly. It was quick, a little rushed and scripted, but it was growing. I was enjoying that little bit....until I wasn't. But Mena was a loner without any friends. Bullied incessantly and ridiculed into a corner. She watched enough YouTube to teach herself how to do makeup apparently quite well, enough to where she was doing her mother's when she went out a few times a week to "seminars". If she's SO good at doing makeup, why didn't she wear makeup to work? Why doesn't she put it on for school? (The reasons given were amateur at best.) Why does she let these moronic asshole abusive bullies pick on her? She was a complete doormat until 78%. A complete idiot. Her martyrdom throughout the entire book made her absolutely ridiculous. The lessons being ruined from this book alone is shocking. Like, why even bring all the cousins to make a show....and nothing happens??? Seriously, nothing. So many plot holes and questions.
Add to it all, there were no repercussions for any of the assaults this poor girl went through - not ONE, and it was frustrating beyond all belief. I made it to 80% in the book, to Turner and Mena's first sex scene and I was out. The "bully" was the girls. The twist with the family was not shocking - just another addition of drama. And the most annoying thing ever was she neverrrr trusted Turner, even at the end until he became her knight in shining armor - right after he "saved" her, and right before sex, of course. She questioned him way too damn much. She questioned everything way too damn much.
So, to sum it up: this was NOT a bully romance. The characters were very shallow and didn't have a whole lot of growth (if any) in this story. The side plots and teenaged romance were completely overshadowed by the mean girls that would have killed her had they not been stopped. This was full of over the top, forced drama for absolutely no reason. By the time it was all said and done, this was not entertaining in the least. It was angering. It was frustrating. It was annoying.
~BEE
~ MEET KAYDENCE SNOW ~
Kaydence Snow has lived all over the world but ended up settled in Melbourne, Australia. She lives near the beach with her husband and a beagle that has about as much attitude as her human.
She draws inspiration from her own overthinking, sometimes frightening imagination, and everything that makes life interesting: complicated relationships, unexpected twists, new experiences and good food and coffee. Life is not worth living without good food and coffee!
She believes sarcasm is the highest form of wit and has the vocabulary of a highly educated, well-read sailor. When she's not writing, thinking about writing, planning when she can write next, or reading other people's writing, she loves to travel and learn new things.
~ CONNECT WITH KAYDENCE ~
ARC REVIEW
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GREAT Review. Sorry this one sucked
ReplyDeleteThanks, Berry. I was sorely disappointed in this one. NOT what I was led to believe this was.
DeleteYour complete honesty is so refreshing. Thank you for your review.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Joy. I know it's just an opinion, but it will always be my honest opinion. I'm just super bummed that this was NOT what I was lead to believe it would be. Oh well....onto the next book.
Delete