Author: Jay Crownover
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publication Date: April 29, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Purchase Links:
Purchase Links:
Am I weird or what???? I feel like I'm one of the few people who didn't like this one that much. This is my first book in the Marked Men series, so I didn't know what it was in it for me. And then, omg! Suddenly, there were all these characters appearing, and they were a lot. It got me confused on who is who, but I think that's just on my part since I hadn't read the previous books. Indeed, this can be read as a standalone, but I guess I was just caught off-guard at first. I had to reread some parts, but that's okay. It made me understand the characters more, and feel like I'm a part of their big family.
But what's not okay for me is Saint. It started off as okay: Saint has low self-esteem, and I sympathized with her. She was this successful, determined, selfless and kind girl who never thought twice when it comes to caring for others. Underneath that, she's vulnerable and has low self-esteem. But I felt so tired reading through this book because of Saint's inability to move on from the past. I really tried to like her and feel connected with her (promise!) but I just couldn't. I had a hard time doing so. Being overweight and having a crush on Nash in high school, she overheard some ugly remark and assumed it was about her right away. Then what? It controls the rest of her life. OH MY GALLY. I think the effect of this incident on her was realistic, but it was stretched out and over-dramatized for Saint. As in seriously? It was really obvious that she still likes Nash, so WILL YOU PLEASE ADMIT IT ALREADY?????
Although she was there for the times that Nash needed her, she was like a push-pull phenomenon. I'll just never know what she thinks, when suddenly she'll pull away and retract back to her shell. Or sometimes, she's this confident girl ready to face the world. Almost the entire book I just wanted to slap Saint or pull her hair or whatever. I wanted her to have that wake up call. When she did, I didn't entirely feel that wake up call, either. She went to her mom and had a talk. She finds out Nash needs her. She has an "aha" moment that she loves him and can't live without him. Wait, WHAT? I could care less about Saint at that point. Though, her selfless and kind personality balances off some of the issues I have with her, and made me like her for a tiny-weeny bit.
On the other hand, Nash is such a sweetheart. He had a lot of things to deal with, and his emotions felt completely believable. Plus, he was patient and loves Saint whole-heartedly. DO I STILL HAVE TO ASK FOR MORE??? Absolutely not! He was like this perfect guy but not really, in the way that he has this realistic background and problems going on with him. Though, it amazes me on how he is still able to find time for romance with all the things that were happening simultaneously in his life.
All in all, Nash is a novel that mentions a beautiful message: to love oneself first before being able to love others. If we can't even love and appreciate ourselves, then how can we expect others to love us whole-heartedly, right? Then, if we can't love ourselves, how can we expect ourselves to be able to love others unconditionally as well? A lot of things happening may affect us, but it is entirely up to us on how to deal with it. Of course, with the help of people around us. We can't just keep on making excuses about every single thing because if we're not going to be the ones to actually do something about it, then who will?
But what's not okay for me is Saint. It started off as okay: Saint has low self-esteem, and I sympathized with her. She was this successful, determined, selfless and kind girl who never thought twice when it comes to caring for others. Underneath that, she's vulnerable and has low self-esteem. But I felt so tired reading through this book because of Saint's inability to move on from the past. I really tried to like her and feel connected with her (promise!) but I just couldn't. I had a hard time doing so. Being overweight and having a crush on Nash in high school, she overheard some ugly remark and assumed it was about her right away. Then what? It controls the rest of her life. OH MY GALLY. I think the effect of this incident on her was realistic, but it was stretched out and over-dramatized for Saint. As in seriously? It was really obvious that she still likes Nash, so WILL YOU PLEASE ADMIT IT ALREADY?????
Although she was there for the times that Nash needed her, she was like a push-pull phenomenon. I'll just never know what she thinks, when suddenly she'll pull away and retract back to her shell. Or sometimes, she's this confident girl ready to face the world. Almost the entire book I just wanted to slap Saint or pull her hair or whatever. I wanted her to have that wake up call. When she did, I didn't entirely feel that wake up call, either. She went to her mom and had a talk. She finds out Nash needs her. She has an "aha" moment that she loves him and can't live without him. Wait, WHAT? I could care less about Saint at that point. Though, her selfless and kind personality balances off some of the issues I have with her, and made me like her for a tiny-weeny bit.
On the other hand, Nash is such a sweetheart. He had a lot of things to deal with, and his emotions felt completely believable. Plus, he was patient and loves Saint whole-heartedly. DO I STILL HAVE TO ASK FOR MORE??? Absolutely not! He was like this perfect guy but not really, in the way that he has this realistic background and problems going on with him. Though, it amazes me on how he is still able to find time for romance with all the things that were happening simultaneously in his life.
All in all, Nash is a novel that mentions a beautiful message: to love oneself first before being able to love others. If we can't even love and appreciate ourselves, then how can we expect others to love us whole-heartedly, right? Then, if we can't love ourselves, how can we expect ourselves to be able to love others unconditionally as well? A lot of things happening may affect us, but it is entirely up to us on how to deal with it. Of course, with the help of people around us. We can't just keep on making excuses about every single thing because if we're not going to be the ones to actually do something about it, then who will?
I'm an natural redhead even though I haven't seen my real hair color in years, I'm a big fan of tattoos and have a half sleeve on either arm and various other pieces all over the place, I've been in the bar industry since I was in college and it has always offered interesting insight into how men and women interact with each other, I have 3 dogs that are all crazy, I live in Colorado and love the snow, I love music and in all reality wish I could be a rock star not a writer or a bartender but I have zero talent so there is that.
I love to write, love to read and all I'm interested in is a good story with interesting characters that make the reader feel something.
I love to write, love to read and all I'm interested in is a good story with interesting characters that make the reader feel something.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Hi there! Thank you for taking your time to read through our posts and comment. We really do appreciate every comment we receive, and we try our best to comment back! :D