Source: Netgalley/Amulet Books – I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I received no compensation.
Publisher: Amulet Books
Edition: eARC
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Rating: 3/5
Synopsis via Goodreads:
For as long as she can remember, Wren Gray’s goal has been to please her parents. But as high school graduation nears, so does an uncomfortable realization: Pleasing her parents once overlapped with pleasing herself, but now... not so much. Wren needs to honor her own desires, but how can she if she doesn’t even know what they are?
Charlie Parker, on the other hand, is painfully aware of his heart’s desire. A gentle boy with a troubled past, Charlie has loved Wren since the day he first saw her. But a girl like Wren would never fall for a guy like Charlie—at least not the sort of guy Charlie believes himself to be.
And yet certain things are written in the stars. And in the summer after high school, Wren and Charlie’s souls will collide. But souls are complicated, as are the bodies that house them.
First I would like to say that I couldn't wait to get started with this book because I had read Shine by Myracle. I fell in love with Shine due to Myracle's ability to paint beautiful, but terrifying pictures with her words. I did not expect any less from this book.
This book would definitely be categorized as YA romance, as nearly the whole book is based off the incredibly fast and consuming relationship of Wren and Charlie. Their steamy, first-love relationship takes over 3/4 of the book with not much left for the ending. The sex scenes are very frank and might I add not that appropriate for YA readers. While it is categorized as YA, The Infinite Moments of Us has sex scenes that are very Adult, and I would personally not recommend this to my high school students. However, I am sure most of them have read worse than this content.
I felt the ending was a sort of an after thought in the book. I was 90% done with the novel before anything major really happened. In that 10% Myracle had to resolve the major conflict and end the book. The relationship of Wren and Charlie overshadowed so much of what was good about the book. I loved that Wren was able to take charge of her life and become someone she wanted to be and not take the exact path her parents had made for her. I also loved that Wren was able to look at a guy like Charlie and see past his troubled upbringing and not turn him into a "make his life better" project. The book had wonderful execution at points and then terrible the next. Entirely a let down compared to her other novel, Shine.
For as long as she can remember, Wren Gray’s goal has been to please her parents. But as high school graduation nears, so does an uncomfortable realization: Pleasing her parents once overlapped with pleasing herself, but now... not so much. Wren needs to honor her own desires, but how can she if she doesn’t even know what they are?
Charlie Parker, on the other hand, is painfully aware of his heart’s desire. A gentle boy with a troubled past, Charlie has loved Wren since the day he first saw her. But a girl like Wren would never fall for a guy like Charlie—at least not the sort of guy Charlie believes himself to be.
And yet certain things are written in the stars. And in the summer after high school, Wren and Charlie’s souls will collide. But souls are complicated, as are the bodies that house them.
First I would like to say that I couldn't wait to get started with this book because I had read Shine by Myracle. I fell in love with Shine due to Myracle's ability to paint beautiful, but terrifying pictures with her words. I did not expect any less from this book.
This book would definitely be categorized as YA romance, as nearly the whole book is based off the incredibly fast and consuming relationship of Wren and Charlie. Their steamy, first-love relationship takes over 3/4 of the book with not much left for the ending. The sex scenes are very frank and might I add not that appropriate for YA readers. While it is categorized as YA, The Infinite Moments of Us has sex scenes that are very Adult, and I would personally not recommend this to my high school students. However, I am sure most of them have read worse than this content.
I felt the ending was a sort of an after thought in the book. I was 90% done with the novel before anything major really happened. In that 10% Myracle had to resolve the major conflict and end the book. The relationship of Wren and Charlie overshadowed so much of what was good about the book. I loved that Wren was able to take charge of her life and become someone she wanted to be and not take the exact path her parents had made for her. I also loved that Wren was able to look at a guy like Charlie and see past his troubled upbringing and not turn him into a "make his life better" project. The book had wonderful execution at points and then terrible the next. Entirely a let down compared to her other novel, Shine.
Rating: 3/5
ugh.. is it so hard to ask for an innocent romance without all the steamy inappropriate scenes for the YA category? I miss the innocent love in YA books sometimes.
ReplyDeletegreat review though!
- Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf
Definitely! When I read contemporary YA, I am always hoping for that innocence!
DeleteTo bad they didn't just change the ages and make this new adult. I am sorry the ending felt like an after thought. Great review.
ReplyDelete