alyssadorn 's review for:

Give Me a Reason by A.L. Jackson

1.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

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From very early on, I knew I wouldn’t like this book so idk why I kept reading. The dialogue is unbelievable and unrealistic, and the characters are cardboard. I wasn’t able to care about the characters because it was insta-attraction without any real growth from there for the longest time. Instead of attraction/lust growing while they learn about each other and start to care for each other more than just for sex, they were into each other and then it stagnated until they had sex and I didn’t even care by that point. The characters weren’t developed, so there wasn’t anything for the two of them to fall in love with; no wonder their relationship wasn’t believable. When she’s all “I’m broken” or “I can’t take any more heartbreak” like 20% into the book, there’s no reason for us to care— we didn’t get to know the character, so the heartache didn’t feel genuine. Also, soooo fast for her to be like “I don’t want my heart to get broken” when they literally had only shared tense glances and a few hand touches at that point. 

Even their pasts were hinted at as tragic without us knowing them yet, so there wasn’t any reason for readers to care, no emotional investment at all. 

Also, he liked her calling him “sweet warrior” when that’s what his mom called him?? Weird af. 

Also weird? How she called her literal dad “daddy” as an adult, and how the author calls her “the girl” sooooo much. Made it feel like a man wrote this book. 

Would’ve been one star, but the ending was a little interesting, if half of the reveals were obvious and the other half felt like a Hail Mary thrown in last minute.