Scan barcode
kerlyn's review
5.0
LOVELY! JUST LOVELY!
Omg this book was so nice! I loved benji and Taylor! I can’t believe Becky’s writing another book for this series! And its going to be about ASHLEIGH!!! AHHHHHH!!!!
Omg this book was so nice! I loved benji and Taylor! I can’t believe Becky’s writing another book for this series! And its going to be about ASHLEIGH!!! AHHHHHH!!!!
poppingparry's review
5.0
Originally written for Pari's Books!
Happy release day to Becky Jerams!
I got an email from Ms. Becky a week ago asking if I wanted to read and review Could you Love an Apple? I almost immediately said YES! because, if you guys didn't know, I fell in love with her characters and her writing in Reasons to Love a Nerd Like Me . And when I found out that this book is the story of our not-so-loved Taylor, I had to read it.
And I was not one bit disappointed.
Could you Love an Apple? is such an amazing story. This story explores the life of a former bully, who was just scared of his father. To any boy, his father is his role model and disappointing him is the last thing that anyone ever wants to do. Starting a new life is herd, but when that new life is hidden away from one the one thing/person that scares you brings you some sort of an independence.
This book is written so very well. There are snippets of online chats and emails between many, many people and they were so well put together. They didn't seem out of place, and in fact, without them, there would be a lot of missing pieces. I loved this new idea and its innovativeness (is that even a word?).
The Apples. George, Sharon, Benjamin and Ashleigh. Where do I begin with them?!
They were the epitome of family. Every single member of the Apples were so amazing. George, even though very quiet, portrayed the role of the kind of father that Taylor deserved to have. Sharon as well. Ashleigh was amazing. Her fangirling was on point! I could relate to her so much that in the end, she became one of my top favourite characters of this series.
And, Benjamin. Love, I really wish you were straight and real.
Taylor's transformation as a person throughout the book was tremendous. It gives hope that people like Taylor can start a new life and there will people to love them.
Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: If you love sweet stories, with a heavy dose of reality, this is the one for you. But, really, just read it.
Happy release day to Becky Jerams!
I got an email from Ms. Becky a week ago asking if I wanted to read and review Could you Love an Apple? I almost immediately said YES! because, if you guys didn't know, I fell in love with her characters and her writing in Reasons to Love a Nerd Like Me . And when I found out that this book is the story of our not-so-loved Taylor, I had to read it.
And I was not one bit disappointed.
Could you Love an Apple? is such an amazing story. This story explores the life of a former bully, who was just scared of his father. To any boy, his father is his role model and disappointing him is the last thing that anyone ever wants to do. Starting a new life is herd, but when that new life is hidden away from one the one thing/person that scares you brings you some sort of an independence.
This book is written so very well. There are snippets of online chats and emails between many, many people and they were so well put together. They didn't seem out of place, and in fact, without them, there would be a lot of missing pieces. I loved this new idea and its innovativeness (is that even a word?).
The Apples. George, Sharon, Benjamin and Ashleigh. Where do I begin with them?!
They were the epitome of family. Every single member of the Apples were so amazing. George, even though very quiet, portrayed the role of the kind of father that Taylor deserved to have. Sharon as well. Ashleigh was amazing. Her fangirling was on point! I could relate to her so much that in the end, she became one of my top favourite characters of this series.
And, Benjamin. Love, I really wish you were straight and real.
Taylor's transformation as a person throughout the book was tremendous. It gives hope that people like Taylor can start a new life and there will people to love them.
Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: If you love sweet stories, with a heavy dose of reality, this is the one for you. But, really, just read it.
capa105's review
2.0
Read full review HERE
Hey guys! I don’t know if you remember – it was along time ago – but I read the first book of this series a while back, Reasons to Love a Nerd Like Me, and I really enjoyed it at the time. So when Becky Jerams asked me if I wanted to read and review the sequel, I of course said yes. But I have to say, even though I did like the theme of the story and the overall plot, I had some major problems with the characters, some actions, and most of all, some things said within the book. I’ll try to explain the best I can, without giving it much away, ok?
This book follows Taylor, who was a very important character in book 1 of this series, as in, he was Scotty’s first love and also his bully. Taylor does have a transformative arc in the first book, and he regrets what he did to Scotty immensely, and they are even able to get past it and become good friends. While I liked his arc on the first book, the friendship was something that was always just a bit too much for me, but I rolled with it.
Now, a couple of years later, Taylor is trying to rebuild his life distant from his toxic father, and far away from the town he grew up with, and acted horrible. While trying to keep his distance from everyone, he ends up meeting the Apples and he forges a relationship with Benjamin, and the two of them face a lot of problems and setbacks to be able to be together.
My first huge problem with this book was how unlikable I found Taylor. He was already not easy to love due to his past, but even understanding his issues and knowing where he’s coming from, it was kind of hard for me to like Taylor when he was treating people terribly. This was sort of mild when he was trying to keep people away from him, but there’s a point in the book when he says horrible things to Benjamin, and while I understand that Taylor has some serious issues, he did believe the things he said and I don’t think they’re excusable.
With that said, I did like Taylor’s growth. He goes through some major things in this book, and he’s overall trying to be a better person, and he is. I really liked Benjamin though, even if I’m not sure he was always a consistent character.
This romance develops kind of slow, and for the most part, I liked Taylor and Benj together, they were so different that they kind of balanced each other out. I also liked the overall story and plot, so that was a major point FOR the book. But the relationship does go through a lot of stuff, and I didn’t think they were all necessary, to be honest.
Now, my major, and I mean MAJOR issue with this book was the homophobic language and messages. I found this extremely problematic.
The first thing that truly bothered me came from Taylor himself, a gay character, when he insinuates that being topped during sex is somehow bad, or would make him somehow LESS. That it would be a source of shame. I do understand that Taylor has not come to terms with his sexuality completely and lives with some huge hangups, but the whole language and situation were just wrong. And while he later sort of understands that he’s not “less of a man” for it, I still felt like that wasn’t enough to make up for all the hate speech done earlier.
One other thing was the homophobic language and stereotyping done by some secondary characters. Homophobic people will always exist and ignorant people too, but the impact wouldn’t be so huge if the characters had less dialogue page time, because they were really not important. Most of those comments were not necessary and didn’t contribute to the story at all, so they weren’t useful at all, and they made me seriously dislike this book.
Finally, I have to talk about the writing and the pacing. One of my issues with the first book was its length, and at the time I thought that book 1 could have used some editing, because it dragged on a bit. I have to be honest and say that I felt like this one dragged even more. It took me a long long time to get through it. And I also wasn’t a huge fan of the way the more intimate scenes were written, and I didn’t feel like there was a seamless flow, you know?
Either way, to sum it up a bit, because I do realize that the last few paragraphs have been kind of negative… I did like the story and some of the characters, especially the Apples. I saw a huge potential in the plot, but I couldn’t totally enjoy it due to the issues mentioned above. Not really liking the MC is a huge issue for me, and that along with everything else, didn’t make for a very enjoyable reading experience.
Hey guys! I don’t know if you remember – it was along time ago – but I read the first book of this series a while back, Reasons to Love a Nerd Like Me, and I really enjoyed it at the time. So when Becky Jerams asked me if I wanted to read and review the sequel, I of course said yes. But I have to say, even though I did like the theme of the story and the overall plot, I had some major problems with the characters, some actions, and most of all, some things said within the book. I’ll try to explain the best I can, without giving it much away, ok?
This book follows Taylor, who was a very important character in book 1 of this series, as in, he was Scotty’s first love and also his bully. Taylor does have a transformative arc in the first book, and he regrets what he did to Scotty immensely, and they are even able to get past it and become good friends. While I liked his arc on the first book, the friendship was something that was always just a bit too much for me, but I rolled with it.
Now, a couple of years later, Taylor is trying to rebuild his life distant from his toxic father, and far away from the town he grew up with, and acted horrible. While trying to keep his distance from everyone, he ends up meeting the Apples and he forges a relationship with Benjamin, and the two of them face a lot of problems and setbacks to be able to be together.
My first huge problem with this book was how unlikable I found Taylor. He was already not easy to love due to his past, but even understanding his issues and knowing where he’s coming from, it was kind of hard for me to like Taylor when he was treating people terribly. This was sort of mild when he was trying to keep people away from him, but there’s a point in the book when he says horrible things to Benjamin, and while I understand that Taylor has some serious issues, he did believe the things he said and I don’t think they’re excusable.
With that said, I did like Taylor’s growth. He goes through some major things in this book, and he’s overall trying to be a better person, and he is. I really liked Benjamin though, even if I’m not sure he was always a consistent character.
This romance develops kind of slow, and for the most part, I liked Taylor and Benj together, they were so different that they kind of balanced each other out. I also liked the overall story and plot, so that was a major point FOR the book. But the relationship does go through a lot of stuff, and I didn’t think they were all necessary, to be honest.
Now, my major, and I mean MAJOR issue with this book was the homophobic language and messages. I found this extremely problematic.
The first thing that truly bothered me came from Taylor himself, a gay character, when he insinuates that being topped during sex is somehow bad, or would make him somehow LESS. That it would be a source of shame. I do understand that Taylor has not come to terms with his sexuality completely and lives with some huge hangups, but the whole language and situation were just wrong. And while he later sort of understands that he’s not “less of a man” for it, I still felt like that wasn’t enough to make up for all the hate speech done earlier.
One other thing was the homophobic language and stereotyping done by some secondary characters. Homophobic people will always exist and ignorant people too, but the impact wouldn’t be so huge if the characters had less dialogue page time, because they were really not important. Most of those comments were not necessary and didn’t contribute to the story at all, so they weren’t useful at all, and they made me seriously dislike this book.
Finally, I have to talk about the writing and the pacing. One of my issues with the first book was its length, and at the time I thought that book 1 could have used some editing, because it dragged on a bit. I have to be honest and say that I felt like this one dragged even more. It took me a long long time to get through it. And I also wasn’t a huge fan of the way the more intimate scenes were written, and I didn’t feel like there was a seamless flow, you know?
Either way, to sum it up a bit, because I do realize that the last few paragraphs have been kind of negative… I did like the story and some of the characters, especially the Apples. I saw a huge potential in the plot, but I couldn’t totally enjoy it due to the issues mentioned above. Not really liking the MC is a huge issue for me, and that along with everything else, didn’t make for a very enjoyable reading experience.
divinefolly's review
5.0
Firstly, I just want to thank Becky for providing me with a copy of her book “Could You Love An Apple?” to read, enjoy and review.
CYLAA is the second book in a series of companion novels, it is considered more New Adult than Young Adult, it is a m/m relationship and it contains some fairly homophobic comments by some characters (if that is a trigger for you).
I have rated the book 4.5/5.
Here is a quick description for anyone that is interested:
“After a few difficult college years, Taylor Raven has decided to finally move away from Havensdale to the tiny village of Westerfield. The peaceful country life is exactly what he needs to get away from it all. However, he is incredibly lonely living by himself in the middle of nowhere and no matter how far he runs, he just can’t seem to escape the mistakes of his past.
As he struggles to find any kind of meaningful connection he comes across The Apple Inn – a pub run by a curious, slightly eccentric family who welcome Taylor into their world, particularly the kind and fun-loving son of the family, Benjamin. Can Taylor ever fall in love again when the one obstacle in his way is himself?”
So let’s start with Taylor. To put it simply, he was the main antagonist in the first novel in this series but it goes so much deeper than that. As an emotionally and physically abusive bully you wouldn’t think there was much else to him. But this is a story of redemption and a huge payoff for those moments of tenderness, angst and fear that were shown in the first novel. His journey in this book an internal one. How do you deal with the dreadful things you have done in the past? Even when everyone else has forgiven you, how do you forgive yourself? It’s not an easy or simple journey and he earns every good thing that comes his way.
The love interest, Benjamin, is selfless when it comes to his kindness and generosity – just one of those genuinely nice people that is so rare to read in books these days. He is funny without being offensive or at the expense of others and an absolute delight to read about. What I loved about the two of these people together is that their individual issues aren’t solved because they are together but because they show each other another way of being. It’s not a soppy, “Love can save everything” message, but one of personal growth when you surround yourself with the right people.
I loved the plot, storytelling and pacing. Although it is a story about personal growth and family troubles, it is still mainly a love story and this one gave me all the squishy feelings. It wasn’t a WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM relationship, but one with a slow build and plenty of smooching and a couple of sexy times **wiggles eyebrows**. I like that it is all balanced with the relationship that Taylor has with his parents, friends and the new community and that the Apple family and the Inn’s problems play such a huge role in the story.
I think the only issue I had was similar to the issue that I had in the first book in that the “bad guy” was just way over the top. The character – Patricia – was just really…screechy. She just didn’t have another level (although there was some good insight into why she was acting the way she was). It was just tough reading a character that had no subtlety to their hatred.
I don’t think there is much more that I can say without giving away every single plot point in the book besides READ THE THING! If you love romance and cute boys being cute and angsty then this is definitely for you :)
CYLAA is the second book in a series of companion novels, it is considered more New Adult than Young Adult, it is a m/m relationship and it contains some fairly homophobic comments by some characters (if that is a trigger for you).
I have rated the book 4.5/5.
Here is a quick description for anyone that is interested:
“After a few difficult college years, Taylor Raven has decided to finally move away from Havensdale to the tiny village of Westerfield. The peaceful country life is exactly what he needs to get away from it all. However, he is incredibly lonely living by himself in the middle of nowhere and no matter how far he runs, he just can’t seem to escape the mistakes of his past.
As he struggles to find any kind of meaningful connection he comes across The Apple Inn – a pub run by a curious, slightly eccentric family who welcome Taylor into their world, particularly the kind and fun-loving son of the family, Benjamin. Can Taylor ever fall in love again when the one obstacle in his way is himself?”
So let’s start with Taylor. To put it simply, he was the main antagonist in the first novel in this series but it goes so much deeper than that. As an emotionally and physically abusive bully you wouldn’t think there was much else to him. But this is a story of redemption and a huge payoff for those moments of tenderness, angst and fear that were shown in the first novel. His journey in this book an internal one. How do you deal with the dreadful things you have done in the past? Even when everyone else has forgiven you, how do you forgive yourself? It’s not an easy or simple journey and he earns every good thing that comes his way.
The love interest, Benjamin, is selfless when it comes to his kindness and generosity – just one of those genuinely nice people that is so rare to read in books these days. He is funny without being offensive or at the expense of others and an absolute delight to read about. What I loved about the two of these people together is that their individual issues aren’t solved because they are together but because they show each other another way of being. It’s not a soppy, “Love can save everything” message, but one of personal growth when you surround yourself with the right people.
I loved the plot, storytelling and pacing. Although it is a story about personal growth and family troubles, it is still mainly a love story and this one gave me all the squishy feelings. It wasn’t a WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM relationship, but one with a slow build and plenty of smooching and a couple of sexy times **wiggles eyebrows**. I like that it is all balanced with the relationship that Taylor has with his parents, friends and the new community and that the Apple family and the Inn’s problems play such a huge role in the story.
I think the only issue I had was similar to the issue that I had in the first book in that the “bad guy” was just way over the top. The character – Patricia – was just really…screechy. She just didn’t have another level (although there was some good insight into why she was acting the way she was). It was just tough reading a character that had no subtlety to their hatred.
I don’t think there is much more that I can say without giving away every single plot point in the book besides READ THE THING! If you love romance and cute boys being cute and angsty then this is definitely for you :)
achillespatroclus's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
More...