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bookmarklit's review against another edition
3.0
I don't fucking know honestly. I didn't really like this most of the time but there were some nice parts. The father-daughter relationship was great but the romance (basically up until the last few chapters) was not my favorite. Also too much cheesiness and angst simultaneously. Pass.
---- FULL REVIEW BELOW, but this is where spoilers are because I need them, okay??
God I have so many thoughts on this book and no idea where to begin. I feel incredibly conflicted because there are some things I really loved about this book. But, unfortunately, there were MANY more things I was not a fan of. AT ALL. It definitely left a lot to be desired and way more angst than expected. Overall, ugh.
THE GOOD
*Main character who works on cars with her dad.
I loved the father-daughter dynamics in this story. If all of the rest of the things in my "bad" section didn't exist, this relationship alone would have made this a much higher-rated book. Jill works on cars with her dad nonstop in his shop. They have a really good relationship that was awesome to read about. Her mom left them after some THINGS went down that I won't spoil. They had to try to move on and live their lives without her, which wasn't easy, but they always had each other. I've always been close to my dad so I just love these kinds of relationships in books.
*No filter when it was needed.
I know it's never a great idea for a teen to mouth off at their parent, but I was rooting so hard for Jill when certain things happened. I LOVED when she told her mom off! I don't think she was out of line with all of the things she said. Her mom was incredibly selfish when she left and did nothing to apologize for how she behaved. That conversation made me so angry I was literally gritting my teeth while reading.
THE BAD
*Terrible romantic prospects. Just... terrible.
Basically there's the childhood best friend, Sean, who seriously fucked up recently. Then, a new mysterious older boy, Daniel, moves in next door. I just didn't enjoy either one of these guys for a variety of reasons. About Sean: He was trying to hook up with her mom! Or at the very least flirting with her mom very inappropriately. Aka, a main reason her mom left. I just didn't like the way he jerked Jill around throughout the book and she just let him. Of course, all of that changes at the end when we learned what really went down. BUT, all of that throughout made it impossible for me to ship them! I was angry at her and him the entire time, so I never liked him until the last 5 chapters or something. About Daniel: He's 21 years old. She's not even 17 yet. He gets drunk, which she's never even witnessed a person do in her life apparently, and kisses her. It's her first fucking kiss! It's not only gross because he's drunk but because he's just so much older than her! I'm supposed to ship this??? I get that he becomes a non-issue after a while but I just didn't see the appeal at all. So yeah. As usual, I could understand the "reasons" for the love triangle and why she was interested in both boys, but I wanted no part in either one of them. Also, this kind of thing is incredibly annoying:
Boy: *calls repeatedly to make up after fight*
Girl: *ignores until he stops calling*
Girl: What's wrong with you? You haven't talked to me in a week are we ever gonna be okay again????
I can't with this. You can't get mad at someone for not talking to you when YOU ignored them for a week... while they were trying to get in touch with you. I don't get it.
*Too much angst and cheese for my liking.
It felt like a New Adult book without the fun sex scenes. I don't like angsty books or ones with too much drama, and this one had it up the wazoo. I appreciated the different aspects of her life (the boys, her relationships with her parents, etc.) for the most part. I just feel like there was a lot going on and I was constantly angry while reading. On top of the angst/drama, there was too much cheesiness in some of the dialogue. Some things that Daniel said to her made my eyes roll so far back into my head it was unreal. "I forgot I was angry just by looking at you" - yeah you're right, that's how life works.
*Frankly I just didn't care much.
Despite having very strong reactions while reading, I didn't care what was going to happen most of the time. I wanted to finish because I was fairly certain that there'd be one or two twisty things, which made me kind of curious, but that's really it. I was right because I was pretty interested by the end; a few things managed to surprise me and I actually LIKED some of it.
---- FULL REVIEW BELOW, but this is where spoilers are because I need them, okay??
God I have so many thoughts on this book and no idea where to begin. I feel incredibly conflicted because there are some things I really loved about this book. But, unfortunately, there were MANY more things I was not a fan of. AT ALL. It definitely left a lot to be desired and way more angst than expected. Overall, ugh.
THE GOOD
*Main character who works on cars with her dad.
I loved the father-daughter dynamics in this story. If all of the rest of the things in my "bad" section didn't exist, this relationship alone would have made this a much higher-rated book. Jill works on cars with her dad nonstop in his shop. They have a really good relationship that was awesome to read about. Her mom left them after some THINGS went down that I won't spoil. They had to try to move on and live their lives without her, which wasn't easy, but they always had each other. I've always been close to my dad so I just love these kinds of relationships in books.
*No filter when it was needed.
I know it's never a great idea for a teen to mouth off at their parent, but I was rooting so hard for Jill when certain things happened. I LOVED when she told her mom off! I don't think she was out of line with all of the things she said. Her mom was incredibly selfish when she left and did nothing to apologize for how she behaved. That conversation made me so angry I was literally gritting my teeth while reading.
THE BAD
*Terrible romantic prospects. Just... terrible.
Basically there's the childhood best friend, Sean, who seriously fucked up recently. Then, a new mysterious older boy, Daniel, moves in next door. I just didn't enjoy either one of these guys for a variety of reasons. About Sean: He was trying to hook up with her mom! Or at the very least flirting with her mom very inappropriately. Aka, a main reason her mom left. I just didn't like the way he jerked Jill around throughout the book and she just let him. Of course, all of that changes at the end when we learned what really went down. BUT, all of that throughout made it impossible for me to ship them! I was angry at her and him the entire time, so I never liked him until the last 5 chapters or something. About Daniel: He's 21 years old. She's not even 17 yet. He gets drunk, which she's never even witnessed a person do in her life apparently, and kisses her. It's her first fucking kiss! It's not only gross because he's drunk but because he's just so much older than her! I'm supposed to ship this??? I get that he becomes a non-issue after a while but I just didn't see the appeal at all. So yeah. As usual, I could understand the "reasons" for the love triangle and why she was interested in both boys, but I wanted no part in either one of them. Also, this kind of thing is incredibly annoying:
Boy: *calls repeatedly to make up after fight*
Girl: *ignores until he stops calling*
Girl: What's wrong with you? You haven't talked to me in a week are we ever gonna be okay again????
I can't with this. You can't get mad at someone for not talking to you when YOU ignored them for a week... while they were trying to get in touch with you. I don't get it.
*Too much angst and cheese for my liking.
It felt like a New Adult book without the fun sex scenes. I don't like angsty books or ones with too much drama, and this one had it up the wazoo. I appreciated the different aspects of her life (the boys, her relationships with her parents, etc.) for the most part. I just feel like there was a lot going on and I was constantly angry while reading. On top of the angst/drama, there was too much cheesiness in some of the dialogue. Some things that Daniel said to her made my eyes roll so far back into my head it was unreal. "I forgot I was angry just by looking at you" - yeah you're right, that's how life works.
*Frankly I just didn't care much.
Despite having very strong reactions while reading, I didn't care what was going to happen most of the time. I wanted to finish because I was fairly certain that there'd be one or two twisty things, which made me kind of curious, but that's really it. I was right because I was pretty interested by the end; a few things managed to surprise me and I actually LIKED some of it.
elvenavari's review against another edition
3.0
A pretty quick read. Good characters and a fairly decent story. It was the tag line on the front cover that caught my attention and still resonates with me, "Are some things meant to stay broken?" Sadly, I don't think this was played out well enough in the book. I really don't see the point of Daniel even being in this book.
haleyferg's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
ktrusty416's review against another edition
5.0
Complex (and heart breaking) situations, characters and problem, beautifully written. Couldn't put it down. Now wishing I'd made it last just a wee bit longer.
emilia128's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
booksforlosers's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve had this book for a while , but for some reason I never really picked it up . Once i did , I couldn’t put it down . There were so many different things going on all the time , so it was always entertaining . I was kind of surprised with the ending , but in a good way . This book has raised my standards , and if the next book is good , it gonna seem bad cuz I just finished this one
kiararedman's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
whitney_hutchings's review against another edition
4.0
~3.8~
"are some things meant to stay broken?" NOOOOOOOO JILL NOOOOOO
eek! I chose to listen to this book today because it was on my tbr and it was only 8 hours long haha. So I cranked it out today. It was pretty good. I was expecting a story like [b:The Insomniacs|44418044|The Insomniacs|Marit Weisenberg|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599721177l/44418044._SY75_.jpg|68967696], and I think that it was better. Which is good. I mean, I liked The Insomniacs and I thought that this book was VERY similar but the plot of The Insomniacs felt more random than this.
This book was very well thought out. Everything that happened made sense and there wasn't really a shocking event (only at the beginning heh - if you have read it, you know what I am talking about)
This poor girl. Her life is so messed up. Poor Jill. If I could just give her a big hug, I really would. Her family life is messed up and her relationship life is really messed up. But it made for a good story haha.
DANIEL I still don't know how to feel about you, but I do say. I love my dark-haired, broken men. They always have a soft spot in my heart. *cough* *cough* william herondale.
Shoot. I can't remember the other love interest's name...that's really awkward. I think it is something like ethan or something like that. Well, I rather liked him. I am still deciding if I like him more than Daniel. Ask me in about two days and then we shall see.
okay, well I gotta work on my college applications right now...or else...
Have a WONDERFUL night!
"are some things meant to stay broken?" NOOOOOOOO JILL NOOOOOO
eek! I chose to listen to this book today because it was on my tbr and it was only 8 hours long haha. So I cranked it out today. It was pretty good. I was expecting a story like [b:The Insomniacs|44418044|The Insomniacs|Marit Weisenberg|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599721177l/44418044._SY75_.jpg|68967696], and I think that it was better. Which is good. I mean, I liked The Insomniacs and I thought that this book was VERY similar but the plot of The Insomniacs felt more random than this.
This book was very well thought out. Everything that happened made sense and there wasn't really a shocking event (only at the beginning heh - if you have read it, you know what I am talking about)
This poor girl. Her life is so messed up. Poor Jill. If I could just give her a big hug, I really would. Her family life is messed up and her relationship life is really messed up. But it made for a good story haha.
DANIEL I still don't know how to feel about you, but I do say. I love my dark-haired, broken men. They always have a soft spot in my heart. *cough* *cough* william herondale.
Shoot. I can't remember the other love interest's name...that's really awkward. I think it is something like ethan or something like that. Well, I rather liked him. I am still deciding if I like him more than Daniel. Ask me in about two days and then we shall see.
okay, well I gotta work on my college applications right now...or else...
Have a WONDERFUL night!