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A review by karaisreading
The Score by Elle Kennedy
5.0
i loved the score so much. here are my thoughts on why:
(this review will be MOSTLY spoiler free, but there is one point where there will be one, but i will block it off with a SPOILER warning!)
i have been looking forward to reading the score since day one. it's featuring two characters (dean and allie,) who have been around since day one (or book one!!) so i was really excited to finally get their book.
(here i will briefly talk about the amount of people that thought dean and sabrina were going to be the new couple, i find it so funny: obviously i knew it was going to be dean and allie and tucker and sabrina because i'm reading it in 2021 after all the books have been released, but i found that a really neat detail. makes me even more excited to read the goal!)
guys, one of my absolute FAVOURITE tropes ever is reformed fuckboy changing for his girl. and dean has been the biggest (i'm not sure if he counts as an fboy, per say, because he was very open about how he was here for sex, and just sex) until he meets allie. allie, freshly broken up with her boyfriend, hannah's best friend. the two of them hook up after allie is forced to relocate to the boy's house to avoid her sorry excuse of an ex sean.
this plot was ten times better than the mistake (sorry grace x logan i swear i love you guys), i would go as far as to say possibly....wait for it...even better than the deal. there. i said it. oh my god.
i think what i really liked was how we got to see both dean and allie fall for each other. some books are insta love, which is cute but i really enjoyed here how we as the reader were able to see both of them start to fall in love. the little hints of them slowly falling were so adorable i was SQUEALING.
both of their characters were also so well developed. for allie; i loved how she was so beautiful and badass; but i also liked how kennedy wrote her and her future and the concerns around that. i feel like a lot of people struggle with not only knowing what they would like to be or do, but what career path to take after that. in this case, allie knows that she is destined for acting, but she is lost about what type of acting she wants to go into. but i love how at the end she decides and realizes she has to make the decision herself, instead of relying on someone else like she's always done. it was super refreshing and i loved how allie stepped up to her character and how confident she was. one of my favourite heroines so far.
to the boy in question, dean heyward-di laurentis...is it safe to say he is my new favourite boy? yes, i don't usually go for the blondes, but i can very much appreciate a man who is loyal, good with kids, good looking, and completely and utterly confident in who he is and what he does. i feel like it's really rare to come across someone who is apologetically and proudly, 100% authentic all the time! or someone who is all that, but isn't also cocky or a bad person. dean might have grown up with a lot of things, but he had a lot of empathy and sympathy for everyone around him! he wasn't a bad person, not at all. some things he may not have dealt with the best, but nobody is perfect. but dean and allie were pretty close.
going back to the plot, i liked it a lot. like, a lot a lot. i loved all the side characters, and i've been making little mental notes of names and places to remember in the future books!
about the sex, allie and dean definitely had the best in-bed chemistry. hannah and garrett still hold my heart for the best couple (and my gannah, yes gannah! moments were very appreciated here.) but their sexual compatibility was off the charts! winston :D
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
awwwwwwwwwwwwwww i bawled like a baby when this happens because i didn't see it coming ;-; beau maxwell. i was rereading the earlier chapters and when i came across his character i just started crying. it was so sudden guys i literally turned the page and it was like "beau died." and i was like HUH?? LIKE PLEASE BACK UP BACK PEDAL PLEASE HELLO WHAT
HE WAS LITERALLY JUST IN NEW YORK HANGING WITH ALLIE AND DEAN?? HELLO??
i felt so hard for both allie and dean, allie because i know what it's like to have to deal with someone who isn't coping with something the right way. dean turned to alcohol and drugs, temporarily to block out the pain of losing one of his best friends. another reason i loved allie: she dished out that tough love. dean needed to hear it. i fricking love them.
SPOILER OVER
this book was full of super adorable little things i loved too; winston, dakota and dean's friendship, the introduction of summer, allie and her dad, that little perfume detail, it was all what i expected and more! that ending...makes me even more excited to read the goal! now we know why tucker had been sneaking around that whole time!!
i cannot recommend this book enough. dean and allie had such good conversations, and this book checked off everything i wanted and more. if you weren't the biggest fan of the deal or the mistake, try out the score! it might be better than you think. :)
(this review will be MOSTLY spoiler free, but there is one point where there will be one, but i will block it off with a SPOILER warning!)
i have been looking forward to reading the score since day one. it's featuring two characters (dean and allie,) who have been around since day one (or book one!!) so i was really excited to finally get their book.
(here i will briefly talk about the amount of people that thought dean and sabrina were going to be the new couple, i find it so funny: obviously i knew it was going to be dean and allie and tucker and sabrina because i'm reading it in 2021 after all the books have been released, but i found that a really neat detail. makes me even more excited to read the goal!)
guys, one of my absolute FAVOURITE tropes ever is reformed fuckboy changing for his girl. and dean has been the biggest (i'm not sure if he counts as an fboy, per say, because he was very open about how he was here for sex, and just sex) until he meets allie. allie, freshly broken up with her boyfriend, hannah's best friend. the two of them hook up after allie is forced to relocate to the boy's house to avoid her sorry excuse of an ex sean.
this plot was ten times better than the mistake (sorry grace x logan i swear i love you guys), i would go as far as to say possibly....wait for it...even better than the deal. there. i said it. oh my god.
i think what i really liked was how we got to see both dean and allie fall for each other. some books are insta love, which is cute but i really enjoyed here how we as the reader were able to see both of them start to fall in love. the little hints of them slowly falling were so adorable i was SQUEALING.
both of their characters were also so well developed. for allie; i loved how she was so beautiful and badass; but i also liked how kennedy wrote her and her future and the concerns around that. i feel like a lot of people struggle with not only knowing what they would like to be or do, but what career path to take after that. in this case, allie knows that she is destined for acting, but she is lost about what type of acting she wants to go into. but i love how at the end she decides and realizes she has to make the decision herself, instead of relying on someone else like she's always done. it was super refreshing and i loved how allie stepped up to her character and how confident she was. one of my favourite heroines so far.
to the boy in question, dean heyward-di laurentis...is it safe to say he is my new favourite boy? yes, i don't usually go for the blondes, but i can very much appreciate a man who is loyal, good with kids, good looking, and completely and utterly confident in who he is and what he does. i feel like it's really rare to come across someone who is apologetically and proudly, 100% authentic all the time! or someone who is all that, but isn't also cocky or a bad person. dean might have grown up with a lot of things, but he had a lot of empathy and sympathy for everyone around him! he wasn't a bad person, not at all. some things he may not have dealt with the best, but nobody is perfect. but dean and allie were pretty close.
going back to the plot, i liked it a lot. like, a lot a lot. i loved all the side characters, and i've been making little mental notes of names and places to remember in the future books!
about the sex, allie and dean definitely had the best in-bed chemistry. hannah and garrett still hold my heart for the best couple (and my gannah, yes gannah! moments were very appreciated here.) but their sexual compatibility was off the charts! winston :D
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
awwwwwwwwwwwwwww i bawled like a baby when this happens because i didn't see it coming ;-; beau maxwell. i was rereading the earlier chapters and when i came across his character i just started crying. it was so sudden guys i literally turned the page and it was like "beau died." and i was like HUH?? LIKE PLEASE BACK UP BACK PEDAL PLEASE HELLO WHAT
HE WAS LITERALLY JUST IN NEW YORK HANGING WITH ALLIE AND DEAN?? HELLO??
i felt so hard for both allie and dean, allie because i know what it's like to have to deal with someone who isn't coping with something the right way. dean turned to alcohol and drugs, temporarily to block out the pain of losing one of his best friends. another reason i loved allie: she dished out that tough love. dean needed to hear it. i fricking love them.
SPOILER OVER
this book was full of super adorable little things i loved too; winston, dakota and dean's friendship, the introduction of summer, allie and her dad, that little perfume detail, it was all what i expected and more! that ending...makes me even more excited to read the goal! now we know why tucker had been sneaking around that whole time!!
i cannot recommend this book enough. dean and allie had such good conversations, and this book checked off everything i wanted and more. if you weren't the biggest fan of the deal or the mistake, try out the score! it might be better than you think. :)