Chelsea's Adventures in Book Blogging...

2 starsI'm pretty surprised this book has such high ratings. "it was ok" pretty much sums it up, so I'm going to make this short & sweet.What's to like?-cowboys. mmm.-decent writing-a couple heart-fluttery moments, and a couple funny moments-a couple "wise beyond their years" sage pieces of advice. My fave: "We don't deserve anything, Rowen. We don't deserve punishment, we don't deserve happiness, life owes us nothing. Realize that. So we have to take what we want because life sure as shit isn't going to freely hand it over."-I did like the characters, especially Jesse's familyWhat's not to like?-For me, it was too wholesome. Given how old they are (19 or 20), they act like they're 16. And I think this book is really better for a younger crowd. Maybe I'm just too far past my angsty days to really relate. But they kept referring to each other as a "man" or "woman," and I noticed the use of those words each time because it gave me the mental image of little kids playing dress-up in mommy & daddy's clothes. They're two kids trying to have an adult relationship.-There's too much going on. Sure, there's a main plot, but so many side things happen that I'm left at the end feeling a little like I'm not sure what exactly I just read. Here's some of what I'm talking about, and I'm sure I'll miss a few: Garth comes into picture, bad boy, turns out he's Jesse's ex-best friend, who slept with Jesse's ex-girlfriend, Josie. Rowen becomes pals with Josie. Rowen gets drunk with Garth, passes out, and he apparently starts trying to make out with her (though no mention of how fucked up that is. PS, Garth also had sex with Josie when she was drunk. Why isn't anyone noticing he's a bit of a rapist?). Jesse's adopted & previously abused. Rowen was assaulted by mom's ex boyfriend, mom didn't believe her, then mom shows up with said ex years after they'd broken up, now back together with him. Then, of course, there's a fight. Then Jesse's sad and goes out in the rain and falls in a ravine & breaks himself. Was that stream of consciousness confusing to you? Yes, me too.-They lay the symbolism on pretty thick. His horse and his truck are beat up and damaged, but he loves them anyway. Wait a minute... could that be a metaphor?-It is ssslllooooowwww. And kind of boring....so much for a short review. It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't a book for me.