long-short of it: coulda been better.

the why's:

1. the most glaring issue here is the writing, especially the dialogue. the run on sentences go craaaazy wild and there are so many instances of weird grammar.
2. the flashbacks are a bit cheap, i'm not sure that it was a necessary device for this kind of book. there's just not that much untold history between gabbie and james.

a. at the end, there's a flashback to james telling the dad about their relationship, and the
flashback happens in the middle of him telling gabbie about the conversation with his dad.
i don't see why q.b. couldn't have just had that james/dad scene be it's own chapter. (there are
a few other sections like this, cutting a conversation just to jump to something one of the
characters is thinking about)

3. the big one. the main conflict of the entire book is not whether gabbie and james are meant to be together, it's that they're worried about what their family and friends will think of them after the truth is out. by the end of the book, every family member knows what's what - but there isn't a resolution !!

a. monica barges in on them, and they have to explain everything whilst dealing with the shock of being walked in on mid-sex, not to mention this is only a few days after they've admitted their feelings to each other. james tells the dad on his own, and we only find that out through a flashback memory. they tell the mom while the whole family is present, but the scene is super short and james and gabbie go on a walk while she processes. (there's also a cut during this conversation too!!! to when james was attracted to gabbie for the first time?? unnecessary and weird.) my point here is that every big reveal of the relationship to every family member is rushed and stilted. the bulk of the book is spent with gabbie/james worrying about telling their loved ones, and then when these scenes finally happen they're cut abysmally short.
b. right after they announce their relationship to the mom, james "proposes" (not in the way at all that gabbie said she wanted) and then the book ENDS. cue epilogue!!! huh!!

4. the book ends with no loose ends tied up. the family knows what james/gabbie are doing and knows they're going to be together no matter what. but that's not what matters. them just knowing what was going on was never the complete issue. the conflict is in how they deal with this new complicated dynamic in their family. and we don't see how any of their family members deal with this new turn of events! monica disappears after she finds out, and the dad and the mom find out too late in the book for anything to really come of it. in the epilogue, james and gabbie get married but the mom and the dad aren't even in the chapter! for all we know they never came around and have disowned the two of them - there's truly no indication of them accepting the relationship.

the good:
1. i like james! i like gabbie!
2. the chemistry between the two is great, i have no issues whatsoever as far as they're concerned.
3. good drama! (kinda)

the final say:
there was a lot of potential here! the adopted sister brother dynamic, the black daughter in an otherwise white family, the overachieving family gene and how that's affected gabbie, going to columbia and trying to live up to monica and james successes. like there are truly so many interesting directions this story could have been taken!! it wasn't a snoozefest by any means, but it was disappointing in the end. ( )

Okaaay. This was spicy af ( )