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joyousreads132's review
3.0
As far as a**holes go, Penn is the mildly forgivable sort. Harper's submissive tendencies are her downfall. I'm really conflicted with this book. I might change the rating as I draft my review.
kimching232's review
3.0
When I first read the synopsis of Through to You, my attention was immediately captured. I wanted to read it despite the not-so-high rating on Goodreads. When I read the book though, I was quite disappointed.
Harper is the good girl type, while Penn, who is the resident heartbreaker, is the total opposite. It all started out with Penn complimenting Harper's tinsel. And when the two ditched school together, they surprised each other and themselves, which started their attraction towards each other.
Through to You started as a very interesting and promising read, but I soon became annoyed at the way the characters acted and how the story became over-dramatic. Penn's problem had a lot of hype surrounding it, yet when it came to the time that it was revealed, I was disappointed to find that it was just that. The way Penn acted, it might have been a huge mystery, but it really wasn't.
I enjoyed it a bit, because I was able to finish reading it after all. I would not go as far to that it was a waste of my time or anything remotely close to that, but it could have been so much better because I really saw potential at the start of the book. This book was not for me, but I hope others would be able to enjoy it more than I did.
Harper is the good girl type, while Penn, who is the resident heartbreaker, is the total opposite. It all started out with Penn complimenting Harper's tinsel. And when the two ditched school together, they surprised each other and themselves, which started their attraction towards each other.
Through to You started as a very interesting and promising read, but I soon became annoyed at the way the characters acted and how the story became over-dramatic. Penn's problem had a lot of hype surrounding it, yet when it came to the time that it was revealed, I was disappointed to find that it was just that. The way Penn acted, it might have been a huge mystery, but it really wasn't.
I enjoyed it a bit, because I was able to finish reading it after all. I would not go as far to that it was a waste of my time or anything remotely close to that, but it could have been so much better because I really saw potential at the start of the book. This book was not for me, but I hope others would be able to enjoy it more than I did.
courtneyarmiller's review against another edition
2.5
the mmc was so frustrating. the way he just continuously left her places and made her chase him around was irritating as hell.
ellieroth's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
cupcakegirly's review against another edition
3.0
I've read several of Lauren Barnholdt's books and I'll admit, most of them have left me with of a feeling of, "That's it?", but I enjoyed this one--and Penn, a lot more.
Through To You follows the pattern of her previous books with the before and after, dual POV, fluffy romance and very little depth to the story overall although sometimes that's just what you want in a book. Light, flirty and mostly fun. I say mostly fun because the issues these characters, secondary ones included, are dealing with aren't fun at all. Lauren Barnholdt does a good job of capturing the teenage voice of both Harper and Penn by allowing them to make mistakes and suffering the consequences for their actions. But readers are easily distracted from those by the relationship that develops between these two.
Did I mention I liked Penn? Because it bears repeating.
Harper and Penn have gone to the same school for four years, but it isn't until Penn drops a seemingly innocent note onto Harper's desk that things change. And fast. Their whirlwind romance runs the gamut of emotions from awkward first non-dates, pulse-racing make out sessions to bittersweet heartbreak and back again.
Through To You is fast paced, and witty with lots of swoony moments threaded throughout. I did get a little tense at the 97% mark on my Kindle, and I *may* have yelled something about never reading another LB book again if this one didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, BUT, I was happy with how this story ended. :)
Through To You follows the pattern of her previous books with the before and after, dual POV, fluffy romance and very little depth to the story overall although sometimes that's just what you want in a book. Light, flirty and mostly fun. I say mostly fun because the issues these characters, secondary ones included, are dealing with aren't fun at all. Lauren Barnholdt does a good job of capturing the teenage voice of both Harper and Penn by allowing them to make mistakes and suffering the consequences for their actions. But readers are easily distracted from those by the relationship that develops between these two.
Did I mention I liked Penn? Because it bears repeating.
Harper and Penn have gone to the same school for four years, but it isn't until Penn drops a seemingly innocent note onto Harper's desk that things change. And fast. Their whirlwind romance runs the gamut of emotions from awkward first non-dates, pulse-racing make out sessions to bittersweet heartbreak and back again.
Through To You is fast paced, and witty with lots of swoony moments threaded throughout. I did get a little tense at the 97% mark on my Kindle, and I *may* have yelled something about never reading another LB book again if this one didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, BUT, I was happy with how this story ended. :)
amberrae00's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 stars
Novel provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review
Opening Thoughts
I went into this book expecting a light, fun contemporary, but I didn't get that with this book. I had heard some pretty negative things from several people that I trust, so I went into this books with expectations at rock bottom. However, the first thirty pages seemed promising. The seemingly beginning of Penn and Harper's relationship was cute and I their characters were cute, if a bit annoying. Sadly, it quickly went downhill, and this book ended up with a 1.5 star rating from me.
Characters
I did not like either Harper or Penn. They are such stereotypical characters, and I've read quite a few books with characters like them recently and I'm so sick of them, though I believe I would have hated them despite that.
Harper is the classic good girl, who doesn't ever do anything wrong, and is essentially the perfect person, and lets everyone she knows down by dating Penn. She was so naive and annoying, and she kept going back to Penn over and over and over again, even as he continued to push her away and hurt her. I didn't understand why she didn't just dump him, she became a character that had no backbone, and let a guy become the center of her world.
Penn is the typical resident bad boy with the troubled past and bad home life, nothing I haven't seen, oh say, five million times. I didn't really find him attractive so I couldn't relate to Harper's attraction to him. He was so hot and cold, more cold than hot, though he was charming at times, he wasn't more often than not. He used his injured shoulder as an excuse so many times, and the first or even second time he used it, I could kind of sympathize with him, but by the tenth time, I was just done with him.
Plot
This book isn't very long, but it's still almost 300 pages and I felt like pretty much nothing happened. I was really bored for a lot of it, but I kept on reading because it's a review book and I like to at least try to get them finished. But this book was really, really boring. The kind of beginning for Penn and Harper's relationship was when Penn convinces Harper to ditch school and they kiss and BOOM! Harper is in love. I don't know that Penn thought that he was in love but he started getting all possessive and crap over Harper, so it was definitely more than someone should have felt after one kiss a couple of hours after you meet a person. So, yes there was insta-love, and yes it was horrid. I didn't feel any chemistry between Harper and Penn, they claimed to be in love with each other but I didn't believe it. I thought that the writing was overly simplistic, and better suited for a younger audience.
Overall, I did not enjoy this book. The writing was subpar, the plot was unoriginal, and I didn't like the characters. I would recommend it to people who really enjoy this kind of plot line, or people who are fans of Lauren Barnholdt, though I wouldn't get your hopes up too much because I've heard that this is one of her worst books. This was my first Lauren Barnholdt book and I do think I'll pick up one of her other, more loved books in the future.
Novel provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review
Opening Thoughts
I went into this book expecting a light, fun contemporary, but I didn't get that with this book. I had heard some pretty negative things from several people that I trust, so I went into this books with expectations at rock bottom. However, the first thirty pages seemed promising. The seemingly beginning of Penn and Harper's relationship was cute and I their characters were cute, if a bit annoying. Sadly, it quickly went downhill, and this book ended up with a 1.5 star rating from me.
Characters
I did not like either Harper or Penn. They are such stereotypical characters, and I've read quite a few books with characters like them recently and I'm so sick of them, though I believe I would have hated them despite that.
Harper is the classic good girl, who doesn't ever do anything wrong, and is essentially the perfect person, and lets everyone she knows down by dating Penn. She was so naive and annoying, and she kept going back to Penn over and over and over again, even as he continued to push her away and hurt her. I didn't understand why she didn't just dump him, she became a character that had no backbone, and let a guy become the center of her world.
Penn is the typical resident bad boy with the troubled past and bad home life, nothing I haven't seen, oh say, five million times. I didn't really find him attractive so I couldn't relate to Harper's attraction to him. He was so hot and cold, more cold than hot, though he was charming at times, he wasn't more often than not. He used his injured shoulder as an excuse so many times, and the first or even second time he used it, I could kind of sympathize with him, but by the tenth time, I was just done with him.
Plot
This book isn't very long, but it's still almost 300 pages and I felt like pretty much nothing happened. I was really bored for a lot of it, but I kept on reading because it's a review book and I like to at least try to get them finished. But this book was really, really boring. The kind of beginning for Penn and Harper's relationship was when Penn convinces Harper to ditch school and they kiss and BOOM! Harper is in love. I don't know that Penn thought that he was in love but he started getting all possessive and crap over Harper, so it was definitely more than someone should have felt after one kiss a couple of hours after you meet a person. So, yes there was insta-love, and yes it was horrid. I didn't feel any chemistry between Harper and Penn, they claimed to be in love with each other but I didn't believe it. I thought that the writing was overly simplistic, and better suited for a younger audience.
Overall, I did not enjoy this book. The writing was subpar, the plot was unoriginal, and I didn't like the characters. I would recommend it to people who really enjoy this kind of plot line, or people who are fans of Lauren Barnholdt, though I wouldn't get your hopes up too much because I've heard that this is one of her worst books. This was my first Lauren Barnholdt book and I do think I'll pick up one of her other, more loved books in the future.
caylabcba's review
5.0
I loved this book! I read it on the way to my family’s yearly camping spot, which is 4 hours from my house. I finished that book during the car ride! Then I got my host sister from Sweden to read the book too! She started this book the next day during lunch, and finished it just before the sun set! This books grabs a hold of you and never lets go. You really can not put this book down! It is just that good!
Read the rest of my book review at https://caylasbooktopia.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/book-review-through-to-you/
Read the rest of my book review at https://caylasbooktopia.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/book-review-through-to-you/
ciaralo's review against another edition
3.0
Probably 3.5. I both enjoyed Harper and Penn's relationship and had a lot of issues with it. Pretty mixed on this one. Full review to come.
ambers0511's review
1.0
1.5 stars
Novel provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review
Opening Thoughts
I went into this book expecting a light, fun contemporary, but I didn't get that with this book. I had heard some pretty negative things from several people that I trust, so I went into this books with expectations at rock bottom. However, the first thirty pages seemed promising. The seemingly beginning of Penn and Harper's relationship was cute and I their characters were cute, if a bit annoying. Sadly, it quickly went downhill, and this book ended up with a 1.5 star rating from me.
Characters
I did not like either Harper or Penn. They are such stereotypical characters, and I've read quite a few books with characters like them recently and I'm so sick of them, though I believe I would have hated them despite that.
Harper is the classic good girl, who doesn't ever do anything wrong, and is essentially the perfect person, and lets everyone she knows down by dating Penn. She was so naive and annoying, and she kept going back to Penn over and over and over again, even as he continued to push her away and hurt her. I didn't understand why she didn't just dump him, she became a character that had no backbone, and let a guy become the center of her world.
Penn is the typical resident bad boy with the troubled past and bad home life, nothing I haven't seen, oh say, five million times. I didn't really find him attractive so I couldn't relate to Harper's attraction to him. He was so hot and cold, more cold than hot, though he was charming at times, he wasn't more often than not. He used his injured shoulder as an excuse so many times, and the first or even second time he used it, I could kind of sympathize with him, but by the tenth time, I was just done with him.
Plot
This book isn't very long, but it's still almost 300 pages and I felt like pretty much nothing happened. I was really bored for a lot of it, but I kept on reading because it's a review book and I like to at least try to get them finished. But this book was really, really boring. The kind of beginning for Penn and Harper's relationship was when Penn convinces Harper to ditch school and they kiss and BOOM! Harper is in love. I don't know that Penn thought that he was in love but he started getting all possessive and crap over Harper, so it was definitely more than someone should have felt after one kiss a couple of hours after you meet a person. So, yes there was insta-love, and yes it was horrid. I didn't feel any chemistry between Harper and Penn, they claimed to be in love with each other but I didn't believe it. I thought that the writing was overly simplistic, and better suited for a younger audience.
Overall, I did not enjoy this book. The writing was subpar, the plot was unoriginal, and I didn't like the characters. I would recommend it to people who really enjoy this kind of plot line, or people who are fans of Lauren Barnholdt, though I wouldn't get your hopes up too much because I've heard that this is one of her worst books. This was my first Lauren Barnholdt book and I do think I'll pick up one of her other, more loved books in the future.
Novel provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review
Opening Thoughts
I went into this book expecting a light, fun contemporary, but I didn't get that with this book. I had heard some pretty negative things from several people that I trust, so I went into this books with expectations at rock bottom. However, the first thirty pages seemed promising. The seemingly beginning of Penn and Harper's relationship was cute and I their characters were cute, if a bit annoying. Sadly, it quickly went downhill, and this book ended up with a 1.5 star rating from me.
Characters
I did not like either Harper or Penn. They are such stereotypical characters, and I've read quite a few books with characters like them recently and I'm so sick of them, though I believe I would have hated them despite that.
Harper is the classic good girl, who doesn't ever do anything wrong, and is essentially the perfect person, and lets everyone she knows down by dating Penn. She was so naive and annoying, and she kept going back to Penn over and over and over again, even as he continued to push her away and hurt her. I didn't understand why she didn't just dump him, she became a character that had no backbone, and let a guy become the center of her world.
Penn is the typical resident bad boy with the troubled past and bad home life, nothing I haven't seen, oh say, five million times. I didn't really find him attractive so I couldn't relate to Harper's attraction to him. He was so hot and cold, more cold than hot, though he was charming at times, he wasn't more often than not. He used his injured shoulder as an excuse so many times, and the first or even second time he used it, I could kind of sympathize with him, but by the tenth time, I was just done with him.
Plot
This book isn't very long, but it's still almost 300 pages and I felt like pretty much nothing happened. I was really bored for a lot of it, but I kept on reading because it's a review book and I like to at least try to get them finished. But this book was really, really boring. The kind of beginning for Penn and Harper's relationship was when Penn convinces Harper to ditch school and they kiss and BOOM! Harper is in love. I don't know that Penn thought that he was in love but he started getting all possessive and crap over Harper, so it was definitely more than someone should have felt after one kiss a couple of hours after you meet a person. So, yes there was insta-love, and yes it was horrid. I didn't feel any chemistry between Harper and Penn, they claimed to be in love with each other but I didn't believe it. I thought that the writing was overly simplistic, and better suited for a younger audience.
Overall, I did not enjoy this book. The writing was subpar, the plot was unoriginal, and I didn't like the characters. I would recommend it to people who really enjoy this kind of plot line, or people who are fans of Lauren Barnholdt, though I wouldn't get your hopes up too much because I've heard that this is one of her worst books. This was my first Lauren Barnholdt book and I do think I'll pick up one of her other, more loved books in the future.