Meh....Review of Young Adult Novel, THE SECRET OF LETTING GO

MY REVIEW

When I began reading THE SECRET OF LETTING GO, I had pretty high hopes. The blurb sounded great. Haunted by tragedy, Daniel, the MC, meets Clover, a girl with her own demons, who's trying to start a new life. He ends up rescuing her and their lives are suddenly thrust together...

For me, the book was just...eh. The opening scene started out okay, but the beginning of the book dragged for me, which is weird considering a lot happens in the beginning. Danielle and Clover meet and he's immediately drawn to her mysterious and unorthodox demeanor. A scene later, Clover nearly drowns, but he dives in the ocean and saves her. He discovers upon taking her home that she's living out of her car. Later that night, when a huge storm hits the coast, he goes to rescue her, once again. So, a lot goes on in the first few scenes. Yet, despite these events, I felt like the first quarter of the book just took way to long to get started. I know, I'm contradicting myself, right? Well, not really. I can only attribute my lack of connection of the characters to my ambiguous feelings toward the book. There was just something missing for me. Maybe had the author given us more of a personal connection with the characters from the start, revealing a little more about them and their secrets, instead of trying to keep it mysterious, I would have felt more for them. In addition to my lack of feeling for the characters, the actual writing was just... meh.

Overall, the book wasn't terrible. It had some good points and I thought the plot was interesting enough. I could see other readers possibly enjoying it. For me though, someone who thrives on character development and connection with the characters, it was just an okay read.

3 of 5 stars.

.PURCHASE

ON AMAZON

BLURB

One summer can change everything...

Haunted with guilt after his girlfriend’s death, Daniel Hudson has no interest in committing to anyone. At the end of the summer, he’ll be leaving Florida for a new start in college. If only he could avoid the mysterious new girl in town, who seems every bit as naive and eccentric as she looks. Trouble is, she’s hard to ignore, with her beautiful piercing eyes, pitiful-looking dog, and unsettling tendency of finding trouble.

Clover Scott lived her whole life off the grid and arrives on the Gulf coast in search of her grandparents. She never expected to nearly drown, or get caught in a hurricane, or fall in love with the boy who rescues her. Now, she has a chance to rewrite her life’s story, to finally fit in somewhere, but Daniel wants answers about her past. When the police start asking questions about the disappearance of her parents, she must make a choice: go to jail or confess her secrets—even if they might destroy her chance at a happily-ever-after.