Author: Carrie Aarons
Published: 2020
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary
Rating:

Synopsis
When my best friend died of cancer just before her eighteenth birthday, she left her coveted bucket list to me. The things she already crossed off? Skinny dipping, going to Paris, completing the local hot wing challenge, road tripping to the ocean, and sending out a message in a bottle. So, it falls on me to finish it for her, to honor her memory. In the next year, it’s my mission to:

1. Dye my hair
2. Have sex
3. Camp out in a tent
4. Go bungee jumping
5. Get revenge on Lincoln Kolb

When I read the synopsis for this book, I figured it would be something that I would enjoy. The plot reminded me of ‘John Tucker Must Die’, which is a great movie. I hadn’t read anything by this author before, and (correct me if I’m wrong) I believe she is an indie author. Being an indie author myself, I always love to support other small time authors.

Going into this book, I assumed it fell into the YA genre, yet I found that the book leaned more towards new adult. This wasn’t a big disappointment, but it came as a shock to me, because I don’t typically read that genre.

I found the overall plot to be enjoyable, but there wasn’t much revenge plotting in the story. I wouldn’t even classify it at hate-to-love. It was more of a girl meets boy and they fall in love story.

However, the main female, Henley, was very conflicted throughout the book, because she was supposed to hate Lincoln for breaking her best friend’s heart. She was a tough and stubborn girl, which is probably why she decided to keep the ridiculous and immature revenge promise. A more mature college student would have just confronted Lincoln about the breakup.

I think the moral is that there are three sides to every story – his, hers, and what actually happened. And revenge is never the solution to your problems. As for Lincoln, he was as a cocky jock who never got attached. But he had a sensitive side that he didn’t let anyone see, too. I have read this type of male character before, and I honestly don’t mind them. Given a choice between Henley and Lincoln, however, I was much more a fan of Lincoln.

I didn’t have many cons  from this book, but it seemed to move very slowly. I found myself at the halfway point, and the plot hadn’t progressed much. Nevertheless, the book was a pretty quick read, which made up for the slow-moving story.

Overall, this book was a good time, and made me question whether or not I could handle the truly smutty books. Still, I don’t know if I would pick anything else up from this author. I am unsure if her books and writing style is for me.

Let me know if you have read this book, because I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Please give this post a like and share it with others. In case you didn’t know, you can follow the blog to get notified whenever there’s a new post.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny