Veena’s review of All Of You (Between Breaths, Book 1) by Christina Lee
Young Adult Romance published by Intermix 17 Sep 13
I am not a fan of young adult romance, but this book ended up in my TBR pile by accident, so I decided to broaden my horizons and give it a try. Unfortunately, I just did not warm up to the story and eventually ended up abandoning it mid-way. One good thing that’s come out of this experience is that I’ve proven to myself that I don’t like this genre and I can avoid it moving forward.
Avery uses sex and the male gender to scratch an itch and/or to get back at the world. I’m not sure which and if it was discussed and revealed in the book – I didn’t get far enough to figure it out. She meets Bennett at a party and is instantly attracted, but he doesn’t show any interest at all in her charms, though the friend he’s with flirts heavily with her. She’s unsettled by him and perhaps for the first time since gaining her sexual maturity she forgoes a night between the sheets with a stud.
She is a character that I could not warm up to, even when the author shows a softer side of her with the old lady whom she bonds with in the nursing home, where she works part time while she’s putting herself through nursing school. Bennett, on the other hand, seems to have a lot more to offer beyond his surface hotness. Interestingly enough, he’s never dipped his toe into the sexual morass his mates indulge in, remaining a virgin and putting him on the exact opposite end of the scale from Avery.
Through a series of coincidences, they end up in the same apartment building and she ends up in his bed – not for sex but just for comfort after he rescues her from an intruder who’s trying to break into her apartment. As various friends and acquaintances pop into the picture to give them advice on furthering their relationship, Avery, of course, flies in the face of conventional wisdom and decides to walk away from him before he can demand something she feels incapable of giving him.
I ended up abandoning the book mid-way because I just struggled to get into their psyche and figure out what makes them tick and what keeps the story moving forward. I looked at Amazon and I find that I’m in the minority, since the book seems to have 4.5 stars out of 5 there. I’m convinced it’s because I don’t enjoy the genre. I only say this because I don’t want my review to discourage someone who enjoys the genre from not reading this book because of my thoughts and opinions.
Grade: DNF
Summary:
In this powerfully emotional debut New Adult novel, Avery has just met her hot upstairs neighbor. He’s irresistible. Tattooed. And a virgin.
Nursing student Avery Michaels wants nothing to do with dating–she’s perfectly happy single. Privy to too many of her mother’s bad decisions and even worse taste in boyfriends, all Avery can handle is a string of uncomplicated hookups whenever the mood strikes.
When she meets smoking hot tattoo artist Bennett, she wants him–for just one night. But he won’t accept a no-strings-attached arrangement. He lives by a straight-laced code of values based on his own troubled upbringing.
Bennett sees something special in Avery and he wants more from her. Way more. As Avery wrestles with her emotions for Bennett, danger and tragedy force them to open up to each other. And Avery must face the terrifying realization that she wants more from him, too.
So she needs to make a choice–let Bennett go or finally let him in.
No excerpt available
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