by Amy Harmon
rating: ☆
published: 21st February 2017
spoilers? some
Goodreads
Galley provided by publisher
DNF at 15%
I may be a masochist when it comes to finishing awful books, but I am not so much of one that I will finish a book that makes me almost cry with how bad it is. I don't know if that's just me, because most of my Goodreads friends have rated this 5 stars, but I just can't do it.
Honestly, I knew from about the first chapter that I wasn't going to enjoy this one. The description Fern gives of Ambrose
"The squared-off edge of his sculpted jaw kept him from being too pretty, that and the fact that he was six foot three in his socks, weighed a strapping 215 pounds by the age of eighteen, and had a body corded with muscle from his shoulders to his well-shaped calves."
was just too much. If that had been because 18-year old Fern was infatuated with him that would be alright, I could accept that because then the writing style would change. But there was more
"Fern Taylor loved Ambrose Young, had loved him since she was ten years old and had heard his young voice lifted in a very different kind of song, but in that moment he reached a whole new level of beauty, and Fern was left reeling and dazed that one boy could be gifted with so much."
Because of course he's perfect at everything he does [biggest eye roll known to man].
And this writing style continues even when it's not in Fern's point of view (which was the dealbreaker for me - if it had been because of Fern's infatuation, I could have coped).
"Ambrose wasn't trying to be a jerk. He just didn't understand. And the little redhead with the crazy, curly hair was kind of freaking him out. He'd seen her before at school and knew her name. But he didn't know her. He wondered if she was special. His dad said he had to be nice to kids who were special, because they couldn't help the way they were."
The point at which I just couldn't take it anymore, was when Ambrose decided he wanted to join the army because
"Like the whole country, he wanted someone to pay for the deaths of three thousand people on 9/11. He wanted justice for the kids who lost their moms or dads."
"The United States was in Afghanistan, but some people thought Iraq was next. Someone had to go. Someone had to fight. If not him, then who? What if nobody went? Would it happen again?"
No consideration of the kids who would lose their mums and dads when the US invaded though, but I don't know why I expected otherwise. It's a book about war, written by an American author. What else is it likely to do? (Which I should have known before picking it up, etc etc - I knew it was about war, I didn't realise it was set in 2001.)
Also every time a character said something happened, or someone told them something, there was a flashback to that moment. Like, is that really necessary? And I don't know if it was just the formatting of the ebook, but it was hard to tell when the flashbacks started and ended.
So in the end, I just gave up. The prospect of finishing this book didn't appeal at all. I have better things to do with my time than force myself through it.
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