– I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. –
To be published by St. Martin’s Press on 06 Sep 2016
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Ash Gupta has a life full of possibility. His senior year is going exactly as he’s always wanted– he’s admired by his peers, enjoying his classes and getting the kind of grades that his wealthy, immigrant parents expect. There’s only one obstacle in Ash’s path: Eden Moore—the senior most likely to become class valedictorian. How could this unpopular, sharp-tongued girl from the wrong side of the tracks stand in his way?
All Eden’s ever wanted was a way out. Her perfect GPA should be enough to guarantee her a free ride to college — and an exit from her trailer-park existence for good. The last thing she needs is a bitter rivalry with Ash, who wants a prized scholarship for his own selfish reasons. Or so she thinks. . . When Eden ends up working with Ash on a class project, she discovers that the two have more in common than either of them could have imagined. They’re both in pursuit of a dream — one that feels within reach thanks to their new connection. But what does the future hold for two passionate souls from totally different worlds?
I chose this book because…
I was a bit tentative about this book because it looked like it could be the typical jock boy meets nerd girl and they’re as mismatched as can be but one makes the other better and one makes the other happier and they fall in love and live happily ever after. But I’m intrigued by questions about the future and inspired by passionate people who know (or think that they know) what they want from life and actively pursue it. Even though it’s been years since I’ve graduated high school, I certainly still relate to anticipation and uncertainty about the future as a junior in college. Also pretty cover with pretty stars and pretty handwritten typography.
Upon reading it…
I don’t know… I just didn’t like the protagonist, so it was hard to get into the book, which is a shame, because I was rooting for her when I read the blurb. Ash and Eden weren’t what I expected. When I started reading the book, I thought that their personalities had switched!
I think these two characters were supposed to come off as mismatched and we were supposed to unveil their connection and fall in love with them. From the blurb, I thought the book would be from Ash’s perspective or alternate between the two, because it seemed like Ash was the more active character, whereas Eden was just trying to mind her own business and find her future. They started off as “enemies” sure enough, although there wasn’t enough emotion to warrant such a label, but for someone who was so individual and other and doing her own thing, she paid wayyy too much attention to Ash. Maybe that was the only way to introduce Ash to us readers.
Ash, well he was bland and his speech was so stilted: “I wanted this. To touch you. To reach for you without asking because I knew you welcomed my hands on you.” I didn’t get that he was a jock or exceedingly popular, except for perhaps amongst his two sidekick friends. He can be summed up in two words: hot, smart. I can’t tell you how hot or how smart, but apparently he is.
Eden struck me as fickle (maybe it had something to do with the speed of the narrative?), self-righteous, kinda arrogant, and ragged on herself more than anyone else did, insisting that that’s how everyone else saw her–as trailer trash. Honestly, she wouldn’t let you forget it. How one person can be both arrogant and self-deprecating I don’t know; she probably needs to get on Tumblr and work through her angst.
“The photo was layered and charming and the most nuanced thing Tiffany had ever done. The kind of shot that could get her some attention. No way could I allow its use.”
Maybe it’s all that teenage angst that rubs me the wrong way. Everyone feels like the world owes them something. I feel like teenagers don’t realise how angsty they are until they become young adults. If you’re in your teens, maybe you’ll enjoy this book more.
Oh, also the scholarship part was pretty anticlimactic.
★★☆☆☆
If you like this, you might like…
Girl Online by Zoe Sugg, Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg, Sam Cruz’s Infallible Guide to Getting Girls by Tellulah Darling
**quotes have not been checked against a finished copy of the book**
Sometimes, bad days happened.
Everything ached. My head. My hip. My dignity.
Okay, bribes were good, especially when they included chocolate.
It was a relief to get past the ugliest part of the truth.
What must that be like—to pursue a scholarship simply because you wanted it?
How can someone go off-script in an improv?
Life could be crushing you, yet it doesn’t. You have real reasons to complain, and you don’t. That’s what I want to be a part of.
That look on his face? Both beautiful and disastrous.
“My first date was with you, Ash. My first kiss. You’re my first everything.”
“This may sound selfish, but I’m glad your firsts are mine.”
Art can be a tool for channeling emotion. It’s yours to use.
Neither of us fit in, so instead we fit together.
Retelling the story hurt almost as much as living it had, but I told it all.
It’ll be awful, and you’ll survive it anyway.