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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
So far, my favorite book in the series. I read it in one sitting; it took me about 3 hours.
Read this in one sitting. Such a good story about hope and redemption. Ugghhh I am crying
A solid good book but i had some real and pretty big issues with this one.
All three books in this series follow two characters - a football player of the high school team and the girl he falls in love with. we all know that going in. So that is fine.
All three books handle deeper, harder or troubling topics for both main characters. So that was expected as well. But sadly not fine in this book.
Lets start out with what i LOVED in this book:
I LOVE the football aspects of this book series and while i personally think that naming the star quarterback Brady is not really .... imaginative (just sayin'! I mean COME ON! Really???? Pick another name! ANY NAME!)(also another rant about names will follow in this review- be prepared!) but beside that its nice to see a YA book that makes sure to show responsible male students that show that they care about their sport AND their academics because it has to go together.
I also LOVED seeing fantastic parents in this book. Not only Bradys mother -since we already knew about her from the previous two books and how fantastic she is!- but also Riley's parents. They were just... real parents. They care about their kid, they take care of her, they support her, help her, are there for her and just respect her. And that is sadly so rarely to see especially in YA contemporary books so it was FANTASTIC to see wonderful parents represented in this book.
I LOVED that we have two main characters that take responsibilities seriously.
Riley is a mom, and she takes that seriously. She thinks about the future of her child just as much as she thinks about her own future. She also takes care of her alzheimer sick grandmother. So clearly she knows about responsibility and takes it serious. She doesn't want typical teenage drama. She steps away from it and i LOVED that! Because how rarely do we see especially female main characters that are NOT interested in drama? So that was great.
And Brady ... he took care of his mom, he made sure he was helpful to her as much as he can, he made sure that his teammates knew that they can count on him ... he was just not the typical male character that just expected everyone to just do things for him for the most parts. And just... thank you Abbi Glines for finally showing a teenager boy that doesn't expect everyone around him to serve him.
I LOVED seeing a rape victim not only survive but be so incredibly strong about it all. About being raped at a young age, about having a child from that rapist, about having to go back to a town that pushed you away and ridicule you after being so brave and talking about your rape! That is so fantastic to see!
I also love that it talks about support groups in a positive way.
Its just great to see a character that overcome actual real hardship and came out stronger, and it made clear that that is why they are stronger!
BUT i also had a good amount of things i didn't appreciate and some i really didn't like about the book.
Lets start with what i HATED and move on from there.
I HATED that the rape of a 15 year old girl was treated a something that should be discussed and gossiped about and as if a 15 year old girl would ever choose to have sex with a years older guy -not just that but the older bother of her boyfriend!
I know a lot of people do react negatively to any girl and woman talking about rape and being raped and naming their rapists. Sadly that is how our world is.
BUT i also think that if you write a book about that and make the rape victim 15 years old you should show that at least some people are on her side! I can not believe that everyone simply believes the older rich boy over an underaged girl!
So i think Glines could have done a better job of dealing with that overall issue.
The overall issue of the rape was not at all handled well in this book honestly.
Not just how disrespectful and hurtful and harmful the people around Riley are about what happened to her, but also how they react to her having a baby because of that rape.
It was just not okay. And i think that Glines could have done worlds better if she would have tried and that would have made a much stronger book.
I HATED how people slowly came around to "understanding" that "maybe" Riley didn't lie about being raped -but only after someone stood up for her, or saw her being a great mom to her little girl.
Just NO!
You do not believe a rape victim after shaming her and running her out of her home and town simply because your best buddy all of a sudden tells you to! You either do or you don't! And if you don't believe a 15 year old girl saying a slimy older boy raped her SAME ON YOU!
I also HATED that people around Riley just expected her to be okay with them once they gone up to her and pretend everything as okay again.
NO!
You apologise for mistreating that poor girl! You grovel! You try your darnest to make it up to her in some way, but at least you APOLOGISE! for being stupid, mean and petty and not having a backbone! because using the excuse that you where also only 15 years old and didn't know any better? That does not count!
Why the heck did nobody ever tell Riley that they were sorry how they doubt her?
where the heck where those moments in this book?
I HATED how a cheating adult husband was put on the same emotional trauma level as being raped or losing your parent to cancer is.
NO!
Cheating is horrible. And seeing someone you never expected to see cheating do that is horrible. I agree!
But it is NOT in anyway way, shape or form even near the trauma of being raped! DO NOT COMPARE IT!!!!!
Even if its traumatic for a person to learn about it, even if it turns that persons world up side down!
Its not the worst thing that will happen in your life. Sad but true!
Being raped?? That is something that will hopefully be the worst thing that ever happens to you if you are in the horrible situation!
Its just not okay how the rape was planed down in so many ways in this book! Its just not okay??
I had -clearly!- issues with that!
But moving on from that.
I also HATED how Brady constantly went back and forth if he wanted to get to know Riley again or not -and only decided that she would do him good when he needed someone that would understand a live changing situation.
Not okay.
Either he believes Riley or he doesn't. Either he doesn't care what everyone else thinks about Riley because Brady believes her and stands by her or he doesn't. Its that simple. Its that easy.
It wasn't in this book and i think Brady was given the overly easy way out in this book and i think that could have been done better because Glines DID do it better in the previous two books in this series. So... yeah. not a huge fan of how this paring came together.
I HATED the "confrontation" between Riley and her rapist. It was way to easy for the guy. Telling Riley that she won? Really? REALLY????
Just wanting to see the kid he raped into a 15 year old? NO! SOOOOOO MUCH NO!!!
I HATED the names.
I mean come on!
I already ranted about naming your quarterback Brady.
I really don't like the name Riley for a girl -thats personal! I personally think its a guys name but thats something i can get over and not have a big issue with.
But Bryony???? REALLY?
How the heck did Glines come up with that?
Looked up worst name in existence?
(Sorry if you like the name but ... how can you? I mean really! Any kid with that name will be living through hell in school!)
Not that Glines did a good job with naming any of the characters in this book series (Willa, Gunner, Carolee... should i go on??) but naming a baby that is just ... mean!
There were also some small things i didn't love.
I didn't really like how the adults seem to keep out of the rape talk until they either said they believed or made a stupid comment. Both not a great way to go, me thinks.
I also didn't love how Brady reacted to finding out what he found out, i think that could have been handled better on his part because he basically made it all about himself when it was not about him, and he was no even the person that would be affected the most by it so that was not great.
But on the other hand there were also moments i really liked, such as Willa and Maggie stepping up and being great and nice to Riley and clearly believing her and working on helping her without Riley ever having to say anything to them at all. It was great to see three girls not being mean to each other and trying to hurt each other and stabbing each other in the back -sadly that has to be noted as a positive thing instead of a just "thats normal".
I also always had to smile at the little bryony because she's clearly a cutie even from a book page!
I also liked how the cheater was not excused in this book.
I didn't love that the woman the cheating was done with was called a slut... but i did like that no excuse was made for the guy to make it possible to talk himself out of being a cheater.
On the other hand it was sad to see that Glines clearly makes her stand point known on what she thinks on cheating spouses while not standing up for the 15 year old unwilling rape victim she created... so there is that....
I think overall the stuff that i really loved and the stuff i really didn't pretty much evens each other out. Not really since i think that if you handle a topic like rape you should do it better than it was done in this book, BUT it wasn't a bad book overall so... its hard to rate and review some books because how do you do it right?
Unbased stating facts? Rating about feelings? (Clearly chosen option!) a mixture? I never know!
But all in all it was okay. It was not the best book, not in this series, not by this author.
But it had its good moments, it had its great moments, even if it also had its horrendously bad moments.
And so overall?
Its a good book even if it could have been a great book in my option.
To wrap this up - DO I THINK ITS WORTH A READ?
Yes.
If you enjoyed the first two books?
Definitely worth read.
If you like glines writing and story telling? Read this!
If you are someone that feels strongly about rape?
NO
Do not read this book!
Decide for yourself!
All three books in this series follow two characters - a football player of the high school team and the girl he falls in love with. we all know that going in. So that is fine.
All three books handle deeper, harder or troubling topics for both main characters. So that was expected as well. But sadly not fine in this book.
Lets start out with what i LOVED in this book:
I LOVE the football aspects of this book series and while i personally think that naming the star quarterback Brady is not really .... imaginative (just sayin'! I mean COME ON! Really???? Pick another name! ANY NAME!)(also another rant about names will follow in this review- be prepared!) but beside that its nice to see a YA book that makes sure to show responsible male students that show that they care about their sport AND their academics because it has to go together.
I also LOVED seeing fantastic parents in this book. Not only Bradys mother -since we already knew about her from the previous two books and how fantastic she is!- but also Riley's parents. They were just... real parents. They care about their kid, they take care of her, they support her, help her, are there for her and just respect her. And that is sadly so rarely to see especially in YA contemporary books so it was FANTASTIC to see wonderful parents represented in this book.
I LOVED that we have two main characters that take responsibilities seriously.
Riley is a mom, and she takes that seriously. She thinks about the future of her child just as much as she thinks about her own future. She also takes care of her alzheimer sick grandmother. So clearly she knows about responsibility and takes it serious. She doesn't want typical teenage drama. She steps away from it and i LOVED that! Because how rarely do we see especially female main characters that are NOT interested in drama? So that was great.
And Brady ... he took care of his mom, he made sure he was helpful to her as much as he can, he made sure that his teammates knew that they can count on him ... he was just not the typical male character that just expected everyone to just do things for him for the most parts. And just... thank you Abbi Glines for finally showing a teenager boy that doesn't expect everyone around him to serve him.
I LOVED seeing a rape victim not only survive but be so incredibly strong about it all. About being raped at a young age, about having a child from that rapist, about having to go back to a town that pushed you away and ridicule you after being so brave and talking about your rape! That is so fantastic to see!
I also love that it talks about support groups in a positive way.
Its just great to see a character that overcome actual real hardship and came out stronger, and it made clear that that is why they are stronger!
BUT i also had a good amount of things i didn't appreciate and some i really didn't like about the book.
Lets start with what i HATED and move on from there.
I HATED that the rape of a 15 year old girl was treated a something that should be discussed and gossiped about and as if a 15 year old girl would ever choose to have sex with a years older guy -not just that but the older bother of her boyfriend!
I know a lot of people do react negatively to any girl and woman talking about rape and being raped and naming their rapists. Sadly that is how our world is.
BUT i also think that if you write a book about that and make the rape victim 15 years old you should show that at least some people are on her side! I can not believe that everyone simply believes the older rich boy over an underaged girl!
So i think Glines could have done a better job of dealing with that overall issue.
The overall issue of the rape was not at all handled well in this book honestly.
Not just how disrespectful and hurtful and harmful the people around Riley are about what happened to her, but also how they react to her having a baby because of that rape.
It was just not okay. And i think that Glines could have done worlds better if she would have tried and that would have made a much stronger book.
I HATED how people slowly came around to "understanding" that "maybe" Riley didn't lie about being raped -but only after someone stood up for her, or saw her being a great mom to her little girl.
Just NO!
You do not believe a rape victim after shaming her and running her out of her home and town simply because your best buddy all of a sudden tells you to! You either do or you don't! And if you don't believe a 15 year old girl saying a slimy older boy raped her SAME ON YOU!
I also HATED that people around Riley just expected her to be okay with them once they gone up to her and pretend everything as okay again.
NO!
You apologise for mistreating that poor girl! You grovel! You try your darnest to make it up to her in some way, but at least you APOLOGISE! for being stupid, mean and petty and not having a backbone! because using the excuse that you where also only 15 years old and didn't know any better? That does not count!
Why the heck did nobody ever tell Riley that they were sorry how they doubt her?
where the heck where those moments in this book?
I HATED how a cheating adult husband was put on the same emotional trauma level as being raped or losing your parent to cancer is.
NO!
Cheating is horrible. And seeing someone you never expected to see cheating do that is horrible. I agree!
But it is NOT in anyway way, shape or form even near the trauma of being raped! DO NOT COMPARE IT!!!!!
Even if its traumatic for a person to learn about it, even if it turns that persons world up side down!
Its not the worst thing that will happen in your life. Sad but true!
Being raped?? That is something that will hopefully be the worst thing that ever happens to you if you are in the horrible situation!
Its just not okay how the rape was planed down in so many ways in this book! Its just not okay??
I had -clearly!- issues with that!
But moving on from that.
I also HATED how Brady constantly went back and forth if he wanted to get to know Riley again or not -and only decided that she would do him good when he needed someone that would understand a live changing situation.
Not okay.
Either he believes Riley or he doesn't. Either he doesn't care what everyone else thinks about Riley because Brady believes her and stands by her or he doesn't. Its that simple. Its that easy.
It wasn't in this book and i think Brady was given the overly easy way out in this book and i think that could have been done better because Glines DID do it better in the previous two books in this series. So... yeah. not a huge fan of how this paring came together.
I HATED
Just wanting to see the kid he raped into a 15 year old? NO! SOOOOOO MUCH NO!!!
I HATED the names.
I mean come on!
I already ranted about naming your quarterback Brady.
I really don't like the name Riley for a girl -thats personal! I personally think its a guys name but thats something i can get over and not have a big issue with.
But Bryony???? REALLY?
How the heck did Glines come up with that?
Looked up worst name in existence?
(Sorry if you like the name but ... how can you? I mean really! Any kid with that name will be living through hell in school!)
Not that Glines did a good job with naming any of the characters in this book series (Willa, Gunner, Carolee... should i go on??) but naming a baby that is just ... mean!
There were also some small things i didn't love.
I didn't really like how the adults seem to keep out of the rape talk until they either said they believed or made a stupid comment. Both not a great way to go, me thinks.
I also didn't love how Brady reacted to finding out what he found out, i think that could have been handled better on his part because he basically made it all about himself when it was not about him, and he was no even the person that would be affected the most by it so that was not great.
But on the other hand there were also moments i really liked, such as Willa and Maggie stepping up and being great and nice to Riley and clearly believing her and working on helping her without Riley ever having to say anything to them at all. It was great to see three girls not being mean to each other and trying to hurt each other and stabbing each other in the back -sadly that has to be noted as a positive thing instead of a just "thats normal".
I also always had to smile at the little bryony because she's clearly a cutie even from a book page!
I also liked how the cheater was not excused in this book.
I didn't love that the woman the cheating was done with was called a slut... but i did like that no excuse was made for the guy to make it possible to talk himself out of being a cheater.
On the other hand it was sad to see that Glines clearly makes her stand point known on what she thinks on cheating spouses while not standing up for the 15 year old unwilling rape victim she created... so there is that....
I think overall the stuff that i really loved and the stuff i really didn't pretty much evens each other out. Not really since i think that if you handle a topic like rape you should do it better than it was done in this book, BUT it wasn't a bad book overall so... its hard to rate and review some books because how do you do it right?
Unbased stating facts? Rating about feelings? (Clearly chosen option!) a mixture? I never know!
But all in all it was okay. It was not the best book, not in this series, not by this author.
But it had its good moments, it had its great moments, even if it also had its horrendously bad moments.
And so overall?
Its a good book even if it could have been a great book in my option.
To wrap this up - DO I THINK ITS WORTH A READ?
Yes.
If you enjoyed the first two books?
Definitely worth read.
If you like glines writing and story telling? Read this!
If you are someone that feels strongly about rape?
NO
Do not read this book!
Decide for yourself!
dark
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Rape
medium-paced
Two years ago Riley left Lawton after accusing the oldest Lawton boy of rape. Now she is back in town to take care of her grandmother while raising her baby that nobody believed was Rhett’s. Brady Higgens, star quarterback for the football team, had sided with Rhett back in the day but when he runs into Riley back in town with a baby who bears strong resemblance to Rhett he is left questioning what he thought all along. With the whole town thinking she is a liar, will Brady be able to stand up for what he thinks is right?
Overall this was a super cute book. I wasn’t quite as into it as the others in the series but it definitely was not a disappointment by any means. Brady is a textbook version of a good guy. He always does what is right and I liked that he suck with his gut even when it wasn’t the socially acceptable thing to do.
Riley was a fun character to read and I really liked the relationship she had with her family and the mindset she had to do whatever she needed to to best provide for her daughter. I will say one thing that bothered me through this entire book WHAT KIND OF NAME IS BRYONY?! I could never get past that.
I liked the plot involving Brady’s family also. An image of a perfect family was painted throughout the first two books so the plot twist with the Higgens came as a shock. One of my favorite things about this book is how accepting Willa and Maggie from the first two books were to Riley. It is so important to have support and they trusted Brady’s judgement and accepted her unconditionally. Overall a really cute read. More YA and plot heavy than a steamy romance but I really enjoyed it.
4/5 Stars
Overall this was a super cute book. I wasn’t quite as into it as the others in the series but it definitely was not a disappointment by any means. Brady is a textbook version of a good guy. He always does what is right and I liked that he suck with his gut even when it wasn’t the socially acceptable thing to do.
Riley was a fun character to read and I really liked the relationship she had with her family and the mindset she had to do whatever she needed to to best provide for her daughter. I will say one thing that bothered me through this entire book WHAT KIND OF NAME IS BRYONY?! I could never get past that.
I liked the plot involving Brady’s family also. An image of a perfect family was painted throughout the first two books so the plot twist with the Higgens came as a shock. One of my favorite things about this book is how accepting Willa and Maggie from the first two books were to Riley. It is so important to have support and they trusted Brady’s judgement and accepted her unconditionally. Overall a really cute read. More YA and plot heavy than a steamy romance but I really enjoyed it.
4/5 Stars
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No