Wednesday, September 19, 2012

"A Season of Eden" by Jennifer Laurens


Format: Kindle
Genre: Mature YA Romance/ Coming of Age
Cover Rating: 5/5 Stars

From Goodreads: He’s my teacher. I shouldn’t be alone with him. But I can’t help that he’s irresistible.

I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us.

“I like hearing you play,” I said, moving toward him.

He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn’t say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. “May I?”

The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. “Eden.”

My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. “Is it okay?” I asked.

His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking.

“Let me stay,” I said. “Please.”

“You’re going to get me in trouble,” he said.

My Thoughts: I'm so mad that I wasted four hours reading this book straight last night when I came home from work. The writing was decent, and the story had the potential to be awesome... but every time it was about to go over and enter into the "Oh my god, I have to keep reading" phase, the author would step back from the jump. However, me, being the book lover that I am, kept reading. I just thought "she's going to take the plunge, it's going to happen, this book is about to get amazing." Except it didn't. I was left on the last page and my final words were "WTF?!" It was like she just up and left the book unfinished. I kept thinking of what my creative writing teacher would tell me last semester, "Leave your characters in a room, LOCK the door, and don't let them come out until it's over!" Eden and James need to be locked up in that music room and not be allowed to come out until something is freaking resolved.

The Cons: 
*The other characters were more reminiscent of junior high kids, than acutal young adults.
*Unsatisfying overall
*Insta love
*James walked a fine line between sensitive and just plain being a woman- seriously, a pink shirt?
* Inconsistent writing- first James is 22, then he's 21. Edens mom died 10 years, then it was 12. 

The Pros:
*Great tension/ build up... but that's all it was- you're left hanging
*I liked Eden. At first I thought she was a complete bitch, but in the end I saw what she truly was- a girl just trying to grow up.
*The church scene- right when they are about to leave after James has played for her... yeah, that was pretty hot.

Overall:
 This book gives off the impression that it's a romance. In fact, it gives that impression through out the whole entire thing until you reach 97% of it and then you realize the author is going to change the direction on you. So, 97% of it IS romance, the other 3% is coming of age. But it's the LAST 3% and that's what's important because it's the ending! I felt ripped off a little. I really was starting to love the story, but it needed to go to the next level. Right now, I can just compare it to a bad lifetime movie.

My Rating:



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