One of the best things about character-driven stories is that nothing is contrived. All the actions are authentic to the characters, whether you agree with them or not. Even if you're upset with them, you're not thinking that this character would never do that. It's the reason that I can fall so much more deeply into a character-driven story and become so much more invested in the characters, even when they are as flawed as Nell. She might have been selfish and constantly envious of others, but she was always real. When I first started reading the book, I thought that she was going to be the typical uptight good girl clashing with the school player. I got a lot of enjoyment from their initial confrontations, and I was excited that they both had higher intelligence than characters in the average YA novel.
Then their layers started being peeled back, and the ugliness came out. I loved it! Nell is not the typical good girl heroine at all, despite being a straight A student and a virgin. She's not the usual prissy but secretly swooning girl. She's got a very hard shell, albeit with some cracks from all the pressure she puts on herself. She is driven to win at all costs, and she doesn't cut anyone any slack. When she lashes out, she goes for the jugular. When she wants something, she goes after it without apologies. When was the last time you encountered a heroine like this in a YA romance?
The romance in this was also written on a more mature level than most of the new adult romances I've read, which mostly rely on sex. Nell and Jackson sure had hot chemistry, and their makeout scenes were plenty erotic, but the problems in their relationship can't be solved with sex. They both unravel and become truly cruel to each other. Some readers are going to be infuriated by this, but this is where Nell makes some observations about attitudes that are all too prevalent in society.
And a girl who wants sex will never be anything but a slut. Despite everything else she is.
I still see a lot of that in the romance books I read, whether YA or adult novels. That's why the heroine has to fight her attraction to the hero as he tries to seduce her. I loved how this author turned that on its head. And it makes sense, because Nell is no shrinking violet in any other aspect of her life.
So often in these types of books, the bad boy falls in love with the good girl because of her innocence and sweetness, and she brings out his heart of gold. That doesn't happen here, since Nell isn't very sweet. In real life, we fall in love with people despite their faults, because we form a special connection with them that we don't have with other people. Nell and Jackson have this connection, and it remains no matter how hard they try to break it.
I loved the mood at the end of the book. Nell made some strides in character growth, and I enjoyed the affect that had on the other characters. Not everything was resolved, but that was very true to life too. And Nell and Jackson...
Well, that scene was just plain perfection for their love story. Not the typical HEA, but perfect for them. All I can say to the author is WRITE MORE BOOKS!
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