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A review by mlbnbrit
This by C.G. Blaine
5.0
This by CG Blaine gets all my stars. It is absolutely perfect.
I was hooked by the dedication. After only a few paragraphs, I was enamored with the main characters. By chapter three, I was falling just as hard for the secondary characters, and by chapter 14 the relationships were blowing me away. I fell in love with this novel almost immediately, and with every page my love only strengthened.
Bennet and Dane, with all their flaws and insecurities and issues, are perfect. Everything about their story is epic. From their unconventional, hilarious, and strangely sexy beginning (the antithesis of a meet-cute, btw), through the bumpy, twisted middle, all the way to the ending. The way CG Blaine cleverly weaves their lives together is pure art, and I was hanging on every word with bated breath. My heart was and still is totally wrapped up in their story, and they are two characters who will live with me for a long time.
I also appreciate how CG Blaine was able to keep me engaged the entire time without over-the-top dramatic conflicts. Instead, her gorgeous writing perfectly balances humor, romance, and pain. The well-developed characters, back stories, and plot were more than enough to grip my attention for the entirety of the novel. The biggest obstacles these characters need to face are internal, which not only makes it that much more relatable, it made me connect that much stronger with the characters and root harder for them. Each character and relationship is a unique gem, with their own complex quirks, histories, and dynamics. This is one of those novels where you get to know everyone, and as a result you end up loving everyone. If you told me today that there was going to be a sequel to This, and that every secondary character would be getting their own stand-alone, I would preorder those books SO FAST. I love them. I just….love them. I want more of them because I love them so much.
The writing. Don’t even get me started on how much I love the writing. The story flows so smoothly and with such seasoned elegance that it’s hard to believe This is CG Blaine’s second novel and not her 20th. Authentic voices. Picturesque imagery. Originality, nuance, patterns, and emotion. Everything about this book is unique and fresh, and I can’t think of a better word to describe it than perfect.
This is a 6 star read for me. I honestly loved every single page. Every word, every punctuation mark. The characters and writing owned me, and I’m officially a CG Blaine fangirl. I’m so excited to see what comes next from this author.
I was hooked by the dedication. After only a few paragraphs, I was enamored with the main characters. By chapter three, I was falling just as hard for the secondary characters, and by chapter 14 the relationships were blowing me away. I fell in love with this novel almost immediately, and with every page my love only strengthened.
Bennet and Dane, with all their flaws and insecurities and issues, are perfect. Everything about their story is epic. From their unconventional, hilarious, and strangely sexy beginning (the antithesis of a meet-cute, btw), through the bumpy, twisted middle, all the way to the ending. The way CG Blaine cleverly weaves their lives together is pure art, and I was hanging on every word with bated breath. My heart was and still is totally wrapped up in their story, and they are two characters who will live with me for a long time.
I also appreciate how CG Blaine was able to keep me engaged the entire time without over-the-top dramatic conflicts.
Spoiler
I didn’t need explosions or extreme tragedy to make me feel emotion or suspense (and you know how much I LOVE tragedy).The writing. Don’t even get me started on how much I love the writing. The story flows so smoothly and with such seasoned elegance that it’s hard to believe This is CG Blaine’s second novel and not her 20th. Authentic voices. Picturesque imagery. Originality, nuance, patterns, and emotion. Everything about this book is unique and fresh, and I can’t think of a better word to describe it than perfect.
This is a 6 star read for me. I honestly loved every single page. Every word, every punctuation mark. The characters and writing owned me, and I’m officially a CG Blaine fangirl. I’m so excited to see what comes next from this author.