Note: This is more like a rant, not a review.I was going to rate this at least two stars. For Adam. And because for the first 1/3 of this book, I was hooked and absorbed and anticipating another great YA book. So, it was a great beginning.
But I rate books mostly on my reading experience, what I'm left feeling.
And this book just left me angry. And sad that I picked this book and had to force myself to see it through.
In the end, I just couldn't care for Nate or any of the characters anymore. The story just turned unrealistic. After all the angst and drama, the 'love triangle' was resolved with everyone all happy smiles and 'ooh let's all play a game of football together' and hug each other and call each other new best friends and flirtatiously tease each other. By then, I had ceased to really believe in or care for these characters. Except for poor Adam. He was right-he did deserve better than Nate. Even Nate knew it. And I get that I was supposed to feel sorry for Luke because of his asshole dad-but Luke never felt like a real character so I couldn't bring myself to become emotionally invested in his situation at all.
And the ending. What? Huge incident that tears the relationship apart again-and you just get a brief summary before skipping straight to a 10 years later epilogue where everyone is at a HS reunion and now adults, all fine and dandy and married, kids and everything.
I think I just expected too much, wanting to believe that I had found another great YA book like Collide (where Luke is a very minor character) and it was really good. Luke and his mentioned BF actually really intrigued me and I will be looking forward to their upcoming story. I'm letting my initial review stand though unless I ever decide to reread it.
