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acorngirl121's review against another edition
2.0
I gave this 2 stars because of the premise. It was a cute premise...otherwise, I may have given it 1 star. I really had to plow through the 173 pages of this book, which is unlike me. I had a hard time with the point of view changing continually. It changed mid paragraph, between paragraphs, within sections, all the time. It's hard to keep up with. It's written VERY simply, without a lot of depth, and I think with all of that, I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I felt the language of the writing was very simple, and the storyline could have been fleshed out with one character's point of view and been a much better read. This young adult read would be better suited to the younger end of YA.
hannahtlucero's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to love this book. It's cheap on Amazon and the idea is a pretty interesting one—given the choice, would you choose the available guy or the (literal) dream guy whose identity is unclear? Katherine dreams of a guy who is so wonderful that she isn't sure if she should dive into a relationship with Cooper, her college's hockey star.
I wanted to love this book, but there are a few problems that would keep me from recommending it to friends.
-There are some editing issues, some very basic. My mind automatically corrects them, but the hesitation it causes is a little irritating.
-The POV is omniscient third, so you bop around in conversations. It's not very fluid and it takes you a second to figure out what's going on.
-The idea is SO GOOD, but I didn't think it was well-executed. I didn't really care about Katherine and found her inability to choose annoying. There really wasn't anything about her that made me believe that some stud like Cooper would drop everything and fall madly in love with her.
Here's my favorite parts about the book...
-Taylor and Danny were cute, at points more interesting than Katherine and Cooper. I wish they had their own book!
-The major twist is a good one
Overall, I wouldn't buy it again or recommend it to anyone, but J.Sterling is a good writer. She has definitely improved, The Perfect Game was a fantastic read. Check that one out!
I wanted to love this book, but there are a few problems that would keep me from recommending it to friends.
-There are some editing issues, some very basic. My mind automatically corrects them, but the hesitation it causes is a little irritating.
-The POV is omniscient third, so you bop around in conversations. It's not very fluid and it takes you a second to figure out what's going on.
-The idea is SO GOOD, but I didn't think it was well-executed. I didn't really care about Katherine and found her inability to choose annoying. There really wasn't anything about her that made me believe that some stud like Cooper would drop everything and fall madly in love with her.
Here's my favorite parts about the book...
-Taylor and Danny were cute, at points more interesting than Katherine and Cooper. I wish they had their own book!
-The major twist is a good one
Spoiler
I figured the twist would either be the dream guy would be dead and somehow related to her circle of friends, although I thought he'd be Cooper's brother. But the fact that Austen was Taylor's brother wasn't disappointing!Overall, I wouldn't buy it again or recommend it to anyone, but J.Sterling is a good writer. She has definitely improved, The Perfect Game was a fantastic read. Check that one out!
hnbb's review against another edition
2.0
This book really needed a better editor. It felt like a high school student had written it. Everyone had someone and they were all too perfect. There were so many obviously overused words. How often can you use "sassed" in a book, let alone within a few pages. I only kept reading because the concept was so intriguing...and it involved a hockey player. It was fun, but I feel no need to read another.
hrt131999's review against another edition
1.0
really good. has lots of great descriptions! and the way cooper and Kathrine fall in love but she also loves Austen! i just LOVED IT!
danicapage's review against another edition
4.0
I received this novel for review from the author.
My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: I read the synopsis and was immediately interested in reading this novel. It took me a few pages to get in the novel, but this was a hard book to stay away from. When I wasn't reading the book, I was thinking about it and constantly wondering what direction the book was going to go.
I loved the characters, the plot, and the premise of this novel. And overall throughout the novel, I really enjoyed the writing style. There were only a few moments where I had a disconnect, but most of the time I was connected to the novel on an intense level.
This novel involved a love triangle that was so frustrating and yet so irresistible. How do you fully commit to a relationship when every time you close your eyes you see your dream guy?
I loved that we got to know more about the characters as the novel went. Even though in some places I might have liked to gain more insight to the novel, for the most part I really enjoyed just getting to know the characters at their own pace. I felt that reflected their personalities really well.
Sterling's novel is an intriguing start to this series and I will definitely stay tuned in.
In Summary: An intriguing premise mixed in with lovable characters and a love triangle that is bound to keep people hooked.
For an extended review, please visit my blog.
My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: I read the synopsis and was immediately interested in reading this novel. It took me a few pages to get in the novel, but this was a hard book to stay away from. When I wasn't reading the book, I was thinking about it and constantly wondering what direction the book was going to go.
I loved the characters, the plot, and the premise of this novel. And overall throughout the novel, I really enjoyed the writing style. There were only a few moments where I had a disconnect, but most of the time I was connected to the novel on an intense level.
This novel involved a love triangle that was so frustrating and yet so irresistible. How do you fully commit to a relationship when every time you close your eyes you see your dream guy?
I loved that we got to know more about the characters as the novel went. Even though in some places I might have liked to gain more insight to the novel, for the most part I really enjoyed just getting to know the characters at their own pace. I felt that reflected their personalities really well.
Sterling's novel is an intriguing start to this series and I will definitely stay tuned in.
In Summary: An intriguing premise mixed in with lovable characters and a love triangle that is bound to keep people hooked.
For an extended review, please visit my blog.
kristy_102's review against another edition
1.0
An interesting concept for a book, but I found the plot predictable and the twist at the end not particularly exciting. My lack of enjoyment may have been partly a function of how badly the Kindle version was edited, though (the grammar was appalling and that always puts me off reading!). Despite that it would probably be well suited to preteen/early teen girls as light reading.
lthom009's review against another edition
3.0
This book was fine, but I think it might be more appropriate for a much younger audience. I have a hard time accepting that a college freshman is going through all of this heavy, soul mate stuff - I can't help but roll my eyes at some of the language, especially when juxtaposed with mindless flirting and cheesy double dates. It's not a bad book, and there were things that I really liked about it, but I think it needs to be more polished to be more than a middle school or high school-level read.
wealhtheow's review against another edition
1.0
Katherine Johns has shiny straight hair, adorable freckles on her nose, and strangely intense dreams. Even though she only just started college, she's already attracted the attention of the most sought-after man at school, hockey-star Cooper Donovon. But how can she concentrate on him when she's dreaming of her soul-mate?
It turns out that her dream boyfriend is none other than her new bff&roommate Taylor's brother Austin, who died 2 years ago. Katherine has to choose between her dead soul-mate and her live hottie boyfriend. I was annoyed at how easily everyone accepted Katherine's stories of dreaming about a dead guy. Not a single person tells her she's crazy, or even mistaken--they all immediately take her at her word. She doesn't even have to prove it by giving info only Austin would know. She just tells Austin's family and ex-girlfriend that his angel/ghost is visiting her in dreams, and they all accept it but are completely disinterested in how. Why is no one curious about the dead dude? No one wonders if he can tell them anything about death or the afterlife, no one wonders about whether other dead loved ones are hanging around too. Supposedly his death devastated his family, but not one of them wish they could see him, too. They're only interested in how Katherine and Austin's romance is going. Spiritualists and mediums get wealth and fame through vague, obvious pronouncements about dead people, but no one is interested in the fact that apparently ghosts are all around us, watching us and peeping into our dreams?
Putting aside the huge problem that the plot itself is completely unrealistic, the characters and writing don't help. The tense shifts every few sentences, sometimes the POV switches within a single paragraph. Grammar errors run rampant. The dialog is like someone taped 400 hours of CW programming and then selected the most boring, meaningless sentences possible and strung them together. The characters are too bland to even count as stereotypes. They're all handsome and nice; if they're a man, they're also muscled and good at hockey. That's the extent of their characterization. The weirdest throwback tropes are in here, too: there's an Italian restauranteur who speaks-ah like-ah this-ah, each of the characters' mothers are described as being in the kitchen (followed by the maddening phrase "of course") and half a chapter is devoted to telling us that picnics are not manly and that men should be manly and therefore not like picnics. (I have no idea where the author got that particular idea.) It is, overall, the most boring, bland, and just plain bad book that I've read in months.
Putting aside the huge problem that the plot itself is completely unrealistic, the characters and writing don't help. The tense shifts every few sentences, sometimes the POV switches within a single paragraph. Grammar errors run rampant. The dialog is like someone taped 400 hours of CW programming and then selected the most boring, meaningless sentences possible and strung them together. The characters are too bland to even count as stereotypes. They're all handsome and nice; if they're a man, they're also muscled and good at hockey. That's the extent of their characterization. The weirdest throwback tropes are in here, too: there's an Italian restauranteur who speaks-ah like-ah this-ah, each of the characters' mothers are described as being in the kitchen (followed by the maddening phrase "of course") and half a chapter is devoted to telling us that picnics are not manly and that men should be manly and therefore not like picnics. (I have no idea where the author got that particular idea.) It is, overall, the most boring, bland, and just plain bad book that I've read in months.