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CATCHALL
I didn't even give it a full star. I rarely do this. Even Juliet Immortal was gifted with more than one star. But this book was so awful that I don't even know where to begin. I really, really, really, really disliked this book, unfortunately. I don't enjoy writing negative reviews, and I don't write them very often. But I am going to get through this review nonetheless.
THE HEROINE
VALERIE
Valerie was insipid, whiny, and annoying. She never did anything vaguely interesting and was one of the most irritating heroines I have ever read about. Valerie was selfish and rarely said or did anything intelligent. Instead, she ran around trying to get herself killed and make sacrifices for no good reason and basically does nothing.
THE LOVE INTERESTS
HENRY LAZAR
Henry is the only vaguely interesting characters in this book, and believe me, he is not that interesting. He cares about Valerie for whatever reason, and is basically really, really boring. He does have a few sweet thoughts, but they're for Valerie, so, dude, who cares? He's just as boring as everyone else in this book. (Also, I have no clue as to why he's the only character with a last name. It's weird.)
PETER
I really hated Peter. He's such an idiot. And also an Edward Cullen. "You should stay away from me. I'm dangerous." Gag. He's never really described in positive terms and I failed to see what was supposed to be so interesting about him. I mostly wanted to slap him upside the head, hard. Peter had absolutely no substance.
THE TOWNSPEOPLE
Totally deserved to die. I'm just saying. They're all so stupid and lame and dumb and boring and there was nothing vaguely special about any of them.
THE PLOT
This book did not have a plot.
Okay, well, there was stuff happening, but nothing interesting.
There was a supposed mystery that was instantly, glaringly obvious within the first twenty pages.
The entire book revolved around trying to solve this mystery.
The mystery was already solved.
So, basically, the entire book was pointless.
The characters are dull and stupid and never do anything. They're all completely self-centered and never look at anyone else. They sit around and drink tea until suddenly they become a raging crowd of angry people.
Woohoo.
*facepalm*
Basically, I practically lost the will to live.
Yes, my dears, it was that bad.
And yes, I do know that the author was limited and had to work from the screenplay, but there is no excuse or reason for it to be this bad.
THE ROMANCE
When I said romance, I lied. There is no romance to this book. Just a bunch of so-called "love." Peter shows up. Valerie is all, "Oh, we were best friends as children and now he's hot. Obviously I am madly deeply crazily in love with him." *facepalm* Aggghhh. What is wrong? This is, like, really really bad territory. It's awful. There's no real love between the two, and oh, it's so boring. It doesn't help that there's zero chemistry. The love triangle is completely pointless and was obvious from the beginning. It wasn't entertaining and all and felt fake and contrived.
THE WRITING
This is a debut novel from a just out of college student, and it shows. Even cutting slack for its debut novel status, this writing is exceptionally bad. I hate to say it, but there you have it. It sounds fake and insipid and I had to grit my teeth just to get through it. It made me want to tear out my own hair, and you have no idea how much I love my hair. The writing said the most pointless an random things at some parts and then left out things at other parts. It made my head hurt and made me sad for the young adult writing world.
THE ENDING
THE ORIGINAL ENDING
The ending made me want to shoot the book. It was awful. There's no closure whatsoever and it just ends, and then drops off the face of the planet. It was completely incomprehensible and left me feeling confused. I threw the book, where it made a satisfying sound against the wall. Mostly, though, I was just happy that the book was over. Or so I thought.
THE BONUS CHAPTER
It was not over. I actually didn't really want to read this. But as a reviewer, I do feel kind of obligated to. And maybe a part of me hoped that it could at least redeem some of the awful book. Well, it is pointless and so not even worth the time. It is even more stupid than the original ending, something that I thought was impossible. I actually almost put my fist through my computer screen because it upset me that much. The so-called "mystery" is resolved, but since I already knew that answer, I really couldn't have cared less.
WRAPUP
I will probably never read Blakely-Cartwright's writing ever again, unfortunately. This book was maybe one of the worst books I've ever read, definitely ranking way down there. This book made me angry that someone actually published it. I have no idea why it was published, actually. I don't think I have ever hated a book as much as I hate this one.
FINE.