Phew, this took me waaayyy longer to finish than I anticipated. I was surprised I didn’t fly through it because the writing was easy to understand but I guess I just never really bought into the story itself.
Such a shame because the cover is sooo beautiful (special edition)!
I didn’t connect with the main character, Anna, which is always a bad sign for me. I didn’t care for her problems and story, and I also didn’t like her throughout most of the book. She was so self-centered it was a relieve when a page didn’t describe how everything was supposed to be about her. And the over the top drama just isn’t my thing.
Why would you keep on belittling your crush’s current girlfriend when she’s done nothing but be that – the girlfriend? It makes Anna look so bitchy whenever we read what she thinks of her and what she’d like to do to her.
As if she had some sort of claim on her crush. I might have been able to relate to that when I was in my early teenage years but now it seems so silly and overly dramatic.
At some points she seemed lovely and concerned, though that just didn’t really add up in my opinion.
For example, she’s described as ‘rule-loving’ and ‘rule-abiding’, yet she’s acting the complete opposite in quite a few instances (mostly when a boy is involved).
Next, I didn’t like her double standards. She LOVED Étienne’s messy bedhead but woe betide the unlucky people she didn’t fancy would go out in similar hairstyles. Quote: ‘Couldn’t these people have at least brushed their hair before leaving their houses?’
And the most irritating thing is that she lacks self-reflexion quite badly, and that this is used to drive ALL the drama in the book.
I can see why people might like it (as I said I might have liked it too in my teenage years) but it’s just way too much drama for my taste. And since the writing style wasn’t exceptionally good I just couldn’t give more than 2 stars.
