Review
A Terrible Love got my attention because of the title and cover first. Probably a horrible reason, but hey I liked 'em. Then I read the synopsis and decided it was a definite read for me.
A Terrible Love opens in a prologue that takes place two years prior to the rest of the story and it sucks you in quick. You know right off that Jewell is in a horrible situation and her best friend Faith is now involved. We see the outcome of that involvement and jump to our story. Jewell is now Jess Mackey. She swears by her anonymity and by hiding in plain sight from what we aren't sure. She has changed everything from her appearance to her hobbies, but she ended up with friends... more specifically a best friend Carlie. Carlie is loud, obnoxious and sometimes meddlesome, but rightfully so. She has no idea about Jess and never questioned her. She pushes, well cons really, Jess into a tryout for the Seattle Pacific Ballet Company. She gave up ballet because it would draw attention to herself and her friends have seen her dance a little, but not at her full potential. That potential is amazing. She quit for good reason... it would draw a great deal of attention to her and it does. Enter Mitch. Mitch comes off as safe. The all-American boy just trying to make his way. He begins trying to win over Jess and although she tries to stand by her no boy rule to keep her anonymity, he finds his way in and that begins a ride that you least expect. Also enter here... Devin Castile... oh and Brad. Brad is her zaney Biology neighbor, although he does come off pretty protective. But Devin.... *fans self* he is her break all rules. He becomes her weakness and they embark on one hell of a romance. But Devin has secrets and he is elusive... can they make it? Will Mitch be the one for her? Can she maintain her hiding in plain sight and what is hiding from? What are Devin's secrets?
Jess/Jewell was a good character to me, mainly because of her growth in the book. She lived her life in constant fear and guilt. She created a new life and carefully constructed that life. Although she aimed to keep away from people her humanity won out, her need for people and she allowed Carlie and Amber into her life. But running from a past holds you back, hiding a past causes a person to hold on to fear and guilt and pain and never allows a person to truely deal with any of it. She never dealt with a huge loss either and then to protect herself, suffered more of a loss. Her family. Throughout the book we see her opening up and growing. We see her deal, even though she tries to hold back. We see her break. We also see her worst nightmare. Even though she's running, she's still a strong women. She tries to deal with things the best she can. She also has a great talent and she her get to be happy. Devin, or Cas as he was called,is the perfect bad boy. Secretive and elusive. Disappears for days, reappears without notice. Protective and tough... violently so. And when he does reappear... its all about mind-blowing sex... and in strange places at times. He is drawn to Jess/Jewell like a moth to a flame though and watching him realize he cares more than he expected to or should... was great. I liked his character. Mitch... there was just something about him that threw me off from his entrance. He was almost too perfect and I felt weird about their "relationship". Carlie I loved. She was probably my favorite character in the book. She was confident, caring, loyal, open, up front, obnoxious and pushy... but her pushiness wasn't a bad thing. I'd love to see her get her own story. Amber was ok too, but she came off judgemental to me.
Overall, A Terrible Love was a good book. It did have points that were kind of confusing, but they were mostly cleared up. At times, you wanted to strangle someone. I liked the throw off in the story, I liked it and I did not see things going the way they did. I expected somethings and guessed a few, but it was all mostly unexpected for me. I didn't see some things going they way they did. I understand there will be a book released giving us Devin's POV and I will definitely read it.
A Terrible Love opens in a prologue that takes place two years prior to the rest of the story and it sucks you in quick. You know right off that Jewell is in a horrible situation and her best friend Faith is now involved. We see the outcome of that involvement and jump to our story. Jewell is now Jess Mackey. She swears by her anonymity and by hiding in plain sight from what we aren't sure. She has changed everything from her appearance to her hobbies, but she ended up with friends... more specifically a best friend Carlie. Carlie is loud, obnoxious and sometimes meddlesome, but rightfully so. She has no idea about Jess and never questioned her. She pushes, well cons really, Jess into a tryout for the Seattle Pacific Ballet Company. She gave up ballet because it would draw attention to herself and her friends have seen her dance a little, but not at her full potential. That potential is amazing. She quit for good reason... it would draw a great deal of attention to her and it does. Enter Mitch. Mitch comes off as safe. The all-American boy just trying to make his way. He begins trying to win over Jess and although she tries to stand by her no boy rule to keep her anonymity, he finds his way in and that begins a ride that you least expect. Also enter here... Devin Castile... oh and Brad. Brad is her zaney Biology neighbor, although he does come off pretty protective. But Devin.... *fans self* he is her break all rules. He becomes her weakness and they embark on one hell of a romance. But Devin has secrets and he is elusive... can they make it? Will Mitch be the one for her? Can she maintain her hiding in plain sight and what is hiding from? What are Devin's secrets?
Jess/Jewell was a good character to me, mainly because of her growth in the book. She lived her life in constant fear and guilt. She created a new life and carefully constructed that life. Although she aimed to keep away from people her humanity won out, her need for people and she allowed Carlie and Amber into her life. But running from a past holds you back, hiding a past causes a person to hold on to fear and guilt and pain and never allows a person to truely deal with any of it. She never dealt with a huge loss either and then to protect herself, suffered more of a loss. Her family. Throughout the book we see her opening up and growing. We see her deal, even though she tries to hold back. We see her break. We also see her worst nightmare. Even though she's running, she's still a strong women. She tries to deal with things the best she can. She also has a great talent and she her get to be happy. Devin, or Cas as he was called,is the perfect bad boy. Secretive and elusive. Disappears for days, reappears without notice. Protective and tough... violently so. And when he does reappear... its all about mind-blowing sex... and in strange places at times. He is drawn to Jess/Jewell like a moth to a flame though and watching him realize he cares more than he expected to or should... was great. I liked his character. Mitch... there was just something about him that threw me off from his entrance. He was almost too perfect and I felt weird about their "relationship". Carlie I loved. She was probably my favorite character in the book. She was confident, caring, loyal, open, up front, obnoxious and pushy... but her pushiness wasn't a bad thing. I'd love to see her get her own story. Amber was ok too, but she came off judgemental to me.
Overall, A Terrible Love was a good book. It did have points that were kind of confusing, but they were mostly cleared up. At times, you wanted to strangle someone. I liked the throw off in the story, I liked it and I did not see things going the way they did. I expected somethings and guessed a few, but it was all mostly unexpected for me. I didn't see some things going they way they did. I understand there will be a book released giving us Devin's POV and I will definitely read it.
0
