“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” -Jane Austen
Rating: 7/10"Try anything once, right?" | I've read other books from Sarina Bowen and generally liked them. My first of hers was the first in the Ivy Years series and the second her short novella that I believe fits in with the Ivy Years as well. This one was slightly different than those. And I have to admit, I didn't like it as much as The Year We Fell Down. I just realized I read Coming in from the Cold, which is in the Gravity series. I didn't like it as much so I guess TSH falls right in the middle for me. TSH is about a girl, Bella, who really really likes hooking up with guys, and a guy, Rafe, who is the typical "nice guy." They share a drunken hookup one night after Rafe finds out his girlfriend cheated on him (because of a long subplot having to her with her being asexual...). The book is very mature, so there are quite a few intensely detailed scenes, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Anyway, Rafe feels ashamed at himself for losing it in a hookup after being raised a nice Catholic boy, so he avoids Bella and she thinks it's because he is disgusted with what they did/with her. They don't really reconnect until she finds out she has an STI, has to tell the frat bro he gave it to her, and gets drugged and humiliated. Rafe finds her as she stumbles out of the frat house and the rest of the story is basically about him trying to comfort her, the pair growing closer and Bella getting revenge on the frat. This story seemed to go on foreverrr. I remember thinking the story seemed to be wrapping up but looking at the remaining pages and their being way too many to make sense. I feel like the ending dragged on a bit much and Bella and Rafe could have gotten to the point of realization that they were good together and her overcoming her embarrassment a bit quicker. It wasn't bad by any means, I just didn't find myself wanting to continue reading until I finished. When I was reading, it was more to get it finished than anything else, which probably isn't a good sign. That's why I decided to only give it seven stars. I toyed with six, but that just seemed too low, but I'm known for being too nice with ratings anyway. One part I did like was the addition of Lianne to Bella's life. I think she needed that girl friend after completely ditching her hickey ones. Which reminds me... I found the whole hockey team manager thing to be underdeveloped. If it was her entire life I didn't realistically see her leaving cold turkey. I understand what happened to her was traumatic, but I just can't see her dropping hockey just like that. But overall it was fine. The "hookup scenes" were the best parts, which either says something about me or the book — I haven't decided yet. Either way, it was a good little read and a nice transition from my last book to the next. I can't read two greats in a row, right? Wait... |