Krysten’s Review

Frankly, I’m surprised at all the amazing reviews this book has gotten. It was mediocre at best — though admittedly it is more toward young adults who more easily swallow such cliches and accept the simplistic writing style. And yet somehow, I kept reading and finished it in a day. The plot itself is gripping (you can’t help but feel bad for Lake and Will, not for their doomed relationship, but for what their families have been through), if not somewhat contrived. Bad stuff happens to people, I get that. But that much bad stuff happened to not one, not two, not even three characters, but most of them, all in one book? Right. And the fact that Lake and Will have pretty much the exact same back story is pretty unbelievable.

Some reviewers said the characters are well thought-out and likable. I found them to be flat and predictable (though some of them did have fairly creative names). In spite of what she’s been through, Lake is remarkably immature, and I found her constant crying and falling all over Will to be tiresome. Most of the time I wanted to smack her and tell her to get a grip. Other ancillary characters — like Eddie — have more depth than she does. (The exception being Javi… I mean, just look at his name. Javier Chorizo? Really? Please tell me I’m not the only one who laughed at that.)

And the plot. With the exception of the poetry aspect, there was nothing new about it. A teenage girl who falls head over heels in “love” with the handsome boy next door after knowing him for ten seconds? Already done. There’s some twist of fate that keeps them apart? Done again. They are forbidden to have a relationship yet, in spite of their inner conflicts and bouts of random jealousy, they find a way to spend time together? Something happens to bond them closer? Then everything magically is fixed and they can finally be happy together? Done, done, done. Pretty much the only unique aspect of this book is the poetry slam — though I did find it somewhat unbelievable that everyone’s poems were so amazing when they had just started writing.

The ending, like much of the story itself, was awkward and uncomfortable. And, let’s be honest, something like that is only going to happen in a book or movie. What I really wanted to see was what happened with Lake’s mother, but the author glossed over that side story — which, to me, was meatier than the contrived romance with Will. I’d give this book another half star if I could, but on the whole, I’m disappointed. Won’t be reading any other of Hoover’s books.