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A review by ryanpfw
More Than This by Jay McLean
4.0
Spoilers for More Than This!
This one’s a re-read. The series has five books based around a cluster of high school friends. My favorite of the characters got her own series each based around members of her family, so we’re at eight books total, and Jay McLean has stated there will be five more additional books in this series, so I figured I’d start a re-read.
I can’t remember how I first came across this book. Perhaps it was off a free-for-the-day list, but what appealed to me was the fish out of water scenario, which is a favorite genre of mine. Mikayla doesn’t have a lot of friends, and spends most of her time with her boyfriend, best friend, parents and younger sister. On the evening of her prom, she discovers her best friend and boyfriend have been sleeping together for years. She’s taken in by a group of kids who happen to be nearby and spends the evening with them, and when she’d dropped off at home, she finds that her family was murdered in a home invasion gone wrong.
How’s that for angst?
Mikayla is taken in by this surrogate group of new friends and that forms the basis of this first book in the series, and after this we’ll continue the story on with Logan, Lucy and Dylan.
Mikalya and Jake’s story is much as I remember it. There are moments of wonderful adopted family goodness, some very heavy angst given the plot line, and the wonderful beginnings of drunkLucy!. Pacing is an issue. With this particular type of novel, and given Jay McLean’s writing style, there are going to be roadblocks and obstacles for the characters. Sometimes they take the form of violence and big, dramatic moments, and other times, they’re quieter. Lucy’s mom died from cancer. That’s as emotional as a home invasion, and probably more relatable to readers. Jake and Mikayla’s story felt padded at times. Things are great, and then Jake gets the wrong end of the stick and has a meltdown. Then he sees Mikalya talking to a guy and has a meltdown. Then Mikalya gets the wrong idea and has a meltdown. It’s all these failure-to-communicate moments that keep the happily ever after from being delivered because we still have pages left. In future novels, Jay McLean will utilize one more prominent event to propel the story further, instead of a lots of little ones. Sometimes they’ll deliver, and other times they’ll make the characters seem petty. That’s the fun part with variety, I guess.
The possessiveness plots grate on me a bit. James was a jackass, and over time even Jake can see he’s useful for Mikalya, but the whole “I shall be the only one to bring you flowers from this point forward” plot drives me crazy. Other male characters will carry this plot line forward in the future. I guess it’s an attractive quality?
The final reveal came at the 98% point in the book. I believe we get more followup in future books as I recall, but I wish it was baked in a bit more.
Jake’s parents’ bedroom reveal, and any trace of drunkLucy! were perfect! Jake’s mom asking if Mikayla would like a picture was the high point of the book for me.
This one’s a re-read. The series has five books based around a cluster of high school friends. My favorite of the characters got her own series each based around members of her family, so we’re at eight books total, and Jay McLean has stated there will be five more additional books in this series, so I figured I’d start a re-read.
I can’t remember how I first came across this book. Perhaps it was off a free-for-the-day list, but what appealed to me was the fish out of water scenario, which is a favorite genre of mine. Mikayla doesn’t have a lot of friends, and spends most of her time with her boyfriend, best friend, parents and younger sister. On the evening of her prom, she discovers her best friend and boyfriend have been sleeping together for years. She’s taken in by a group of kids who happen to be nearby and spends the evening with them, and when she’d dropped off at home, she finds that her family was murdered in a home invasion gone wrong.
How’s that for angst?
Mikayla is taken in by this surrogate group of new friends and that forms the basis of this first book in the series, and after this we’ll continue the story on with Logan, Lucy and Dylan.
Mikalya and Jake’s story is much as I remember it. There are moments of wonderful adopted family goodness, some very heavy angst given the plot line, and the wonderful beginnings of drunkLucy!. Pacing is an issue. With this particular type of novel, and given Jay McLean’s writing style, there are going to be roadblocks and obstacles for the characters. Sometimes they take the form of violence and big, dramatic moments, and other times, they’re quieter. Lucy’s mom died from cancer. That’s as emotional as a home invasion, and probably more relatable to readers. Jake and Mikayla’s story felt padded at times. Things are great, and then Jake gets the wrong end of the stick and has a meltdown. Then he sees Mikalya talking to a guy and has a meltdown. Then Mikalya gets the wrong idea and has a meltdown. It’s all these failure-to-communicate moments that keep the happily ever after from being delivered because we still have pages left. In future novels, Jay McLean will utilize one more prominent event to propel the story further, instead of a lots of little ones. Sometimes they’ll deliver, and other times they’ll make the characters seem petty. That’s the fun part with variety, I guess.
The possessiveness plots grate on me a bit. James was a jackass, and over time even Jake can see he’s useful for Mikalya, but the whole “I shall be the only one to bring you flowers from this point forward” plot drives me crazy. Other male characters will carry this plot line forward in the future. I guess it’s an attractive quality?
The final reveal came at the 98% point in the book. I believe we get more followup in future books as I recall, but I wish it was baked in a bit more.
Jake’s parents’ bedroom reveal, and any trace of drunkLucy! were perfect! Jake’s mom asking if Mikayla would like a picture was the high point of the book for me.