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A review by ladyalireadsalot
The Bounce Back by Addie Woolridge
5.0
Let me start off by saying that I was not all in on THE CHECKLIST - the first book in this series by Addie Woolridge. I didn't connect with Dylan as a character and I wished there had been a bigger deep dive into WHY she is the way she is.
Now, let me say that is the OPPOSITE of how I feel about Neale & THE BOUNCE BACK. I absolutely loved Neale as a character & the MANY insights we got into her mind. We saw her inner turmoil as she tried to figure out what her passion is & why everything she had tried in the past just wasn't working out. And, as I write that, I wonder if maybe I loved Neale & reading her story (as well as her blossoming connection with Anthony) because I relate to her in a way.
Finding your passion is hard.
Finding your path is even harder.
After literally crashing & burning at an art show, Neale decides that she has GIVEN up on art & is going to find a real job in the real world. She's going to do what everyone keeps telling her to do & move out of her parents house and try to support herself. She finds a job kind of - oddly - in a peripheral field to performing arts at a greeting card company who seems to work as a middle man for other companies who need music for their cards. There she starts to find a place among her coworkers & immediately develops a connection with the on-staff artist, Anthony.
The slow burn (pun intended) of Neale & Anthony was satisfying in a complete way. A lot of romance books really rely on avoiding the fade to black scenes when the heat is turned on, but I appreciated that Woolridge allowed you to see the foreplay and then shut the curtains. It left Neale & Anthony a little bit more innocent (even if what they were doing was far from).
In summary, I love Neale & I would read another book all about her self-discovery and watching her commit to challenge after challenge.
10/10 would recommend.
Favorite quotes:
- "...especially since she had been invited to the workout and declined because only monsters chose spin over sleep."
- "You don't want the pain that comes with pursuing what you love, so you only put half of yourself into something That way, if you fail, you can walk away and say you never really tried. You are half-in, half-out."
Now, let me say that is the OPPOSITE of how I feel about Neale & THE BOUNCE BACK. I absolutely loved Neale as a character & the MANY insights we got into her mind. We saw her inner turmoil as she tried to figure out what her passion is & why everything she had tried in the past just wasn't working out. And, as I write that, I wonder if maybe I loved Neale & reading her story (as well as her blossoming connection with Anthony) because I relate to her in a way.
Finding your passion is hard.
Finding your path is even harder.
After literally crashing & burning at an art show, Neale decides that she has GIVEN up on art & is going to find a real job in the real world. She's going to do what everyone keeps telling her to do & move out of her parents house and try to support herself. She finds a job kind of - oddly - in a peripheral field to performing arts at a greeting card company who seems to work as a middle man for other companies who need music for their cards. There she starts to find a place among her coworkers & immediately develops a connection with the on-staff artist, Anthony.
The slow burn (pun intended) of Neale & Anthony was satisfying in a complete way. A lot of romance books really rely on avoiding the fade to black scenes when the heat is turned on, but I appreciated that Woolridge allowed you to see the foreplay and then shut the curtains. It left Neale & Anthony a little bit more innocent (even if what they were doing was far from).
In summary, I love Neale & I would read another book all about her self-discovery and watching her commit to challenge after challenge.
10/10 would recommend.
Favorite quotes:
- "...especially since she had been invited to the workout and declined because only monsters chose spin over sleep."
- "You don't want the pain that comes with pursuing what you love, so you only put half of yourself into something That way, if you fail, you can walk away and say you never really tried. You are half-in, half-out."