Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”
“Sage Czinski is trying really hard to be perfect. If she manages it, people won’t peer beyond the surface, or ask hard questions about her past. She’s learned to substitute causes for relationships, and it’s working just fine… until Shane Cavendish strolls into her math class. He’s a little antisocial, a lot beautiful, and everything she never knew she always wanted. Shane Cavendish just wants to be left alone to play guitar and work on his music. He’s got heartbreak and loneliness in his rearview mirror, and this new school represents his last chance. He doesn’t expect to be happy; he only wants to graduate and move on. He never counted on a girl like Sage.”
Man, I am WAY in the minority on this one. I thought it was cute but I really didn’t feel that much for it beyond some swoons and enjoying the quirkiness of our MC. It was cute! I feel like that’s all I have to say about it. It didn’t really stand out for me but it was by no means BAD. I certainly blew threw it!! And there were parts that I really DID like (new friendships, Sage and her aunt and the cuteness of the relationship) but I finished it feeling rather lukewarm.
The romance was pretty fast to develop. I’m not opposed to insta-attraction or infatuation because UM I FELL IN LOVE WITH LIKE A MILLION BOYS IN HIGH SCHOOL. I felt that high of falling for someone with Sage and Shane and I could honestly feel my heart pitter-pattering through a lot of their interactions. I was swooning. I’ll admit it. They were really cute! LIKE REALLY CUTE. Not earth-shattering or anything but just kind of want I want to read on a nice summer day on the beach (where I was NOT). It definitely got pretty serious fast and I’m not the BIGGEST fan of that but it didn’t really bother me TOO MUCH. But if you are insta-love adverse, I would just say it definitely toes that line.
I LIKED Sage — she was a breath of fresh air. I loved her post-it note thing and how she stuck to her principles even when they seemed crazy to others. She had dimension to her and I liked that she kept surprising me. It’s just that sad thing where I never really felt that much for her beyond that. I WANTED TO. I DID. Her post-it note kindness was inspiring though! KIND WORDS REALLY ARE IMPORTANT.
I think also some of my disconnect was due to the fact that I thought it was going to be a little bit of a darker read? Sure, there were some things in both of their pasts that were serious and hard but I never felt like really connected to their back stories. We were told Sage was the bright and bubbly person she was because of her past but I never FELT those cracks in her armor like I thought I should. I never really FELT the pain of her past. Even when it was revealed. Like it was awful but I was just kind of like, “OKAY that was bad/must have been hard” but I wasn’t really feeling the emotions. So many other people told me they cried or their heart hurt while reading it and I, the queen of feels, didn’t have that same experience. I felt for her and Shane’s stories but the emotional aspect never hit me.
One of the issues I did have was the pacing felt wonky to me. In some places I was just CRAVING to read it so much. It kept me engaged and wanting to turn the pages and then other times it just stalled. And then the ending I found myself skimming a lot.
Truthfully it’s really between mixed feelings and it was okay! I had a couple little issues but the real reason for my rating is just a lack of emotion or any real impression. It was super cute and I can’t deny how I flipped through the pages/got caught up in the swoons but not a standout.
Re-readability: Not for me!
Would I buy a copy for my collection? No
contemporary YA readers, readers who don’t *hate* insta-love (not a problem for me but I could see others having issues), people looking for a cute romance
I flew through this one and totally got swept up in their romance but really felt lukewarm about it overall. It wasn’t bad…I just didn’t feel that much for it or connect in the way I wanted to. It just didn’t leave an impression but I know I am SOOO in the minority. Just a quick glance of some friends on Goodreads and I see so much love for it from people whose opinions I value so check out these opinions: here, here and here.
* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?
Ally R. says
Aw, it does sound cute. Sorry you ended up feeling lukewarm about it. Those are always the hardest reviews to write for me–when I don’t feel bad about a book, but I can’t feel too excited about it either.
Jamie says
Yes exactly! Like I didn’t have all these reasons why I didn’t like it…it just didn’t do much for me. SIGH. Lukewarm feelings are the worst!!
Emma @ Miss Print says
I’m actually kind of comforted that you didn’t love this one. After my initial infatuation with the cover passed and I took a hard look at the blurb I realized that this one didn’t sound like a book I would connect with so I decided to let it go. I’m glad to hear that suspicion on my part was a little bit confirmed and I can move onward to better books with no regrets for what might have been!
Killian says
To be honest the premise it self put me off this book but after reading your review I’m pretty sure I’l give it a miss. The plot seems fairly basic and I’m definitely concerned that you said that the only aspect that interested me, the character’s pasts, is just skimmed over. I also hate bad pacing, which you talked about. To me it shows that an author is either lazy or just plain bad when there are a few pages of action, and then way more pages of nothing, and then random action bit again, and the nothing. Just because nothing is happening in a book doesn’t mean an author shouldn’t be able to make it interesting. Anyway, I’ll definitely pass on this one, but then again I probably wouldn’t have read it anyway. Thanks for the review!
Rachel says
I am SO glad I read your review because I’ve been super back and forth about whether I want to read this one or not. I know you and I look for a lot of the same elements in a book, so I think that for now I’m going to set this one aside. I’m not the biggest fan of just “cute” (though sometimes it is necessary), and I definitely thought this would be a darker story. Meh.
Alexa S. says
While this one didn’t quite hit favorite status with me, I really liked Sage. I really enjoyed getting in her head, seeing how she dealt with what life has thrown at her and watching her develop relationships with other people.