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A review by penningtales
Come to Me Quietly by A.L. Jackson
2.0
2.5 stars.
Let me start off by saying A. L. Jackson is a great author. The sentences she forms are wonderful to read and many passages stood out to me. The narrative is very descriptive which normally doesn't bother me if the dialogues had balanced it out.
They didn't.
I felt like the hero and heroine barely spoke to each other or had a proper conversation, save a couple, and it really began to drag the story down. That and the fact that it got slightly repetitive. Not just the wording, but the whole getting close and pushing away thing Jared was doing as well. Aside from that, it felt like nothing was happening in the first 300 pages or so. I kept reading, waiting to learn what Jared had done all those years ago and why he felt so unworthy of love or kindness.
The story does pick up towards the end, but by then it just gets so melodramatic. And this is coming from someone who loves reading about drama, who loves angst in her stories. That's when I realized I just didn't care for the characters.
All in all, this novel was disappointment. With such high ratings here, I had really hoped to like it. But I just couldn't. There's a sequel to this book and since I already have it, I'll read it. I just hope it doesn't have the same problems that this one suffers from.
Let me start off by saying A. L. Jackson is a great author. The sentences she forms are wonderful to read and many passages stood out to me. The narrative is very descriptive which normally doesn't bother me if the dialogues had balanced it out.
They didn't.
I felt like the hero and heroine barely spoke to each other or had a proper conversation, save a couple, and it really began to drag the story down. That and the fact that it got slightly repetitive. Not just the wording, but the whole getting close and pushing away thing Jared was doing as well. Aside from that, it felt like nothing was happening in the first 300 pages or so. I kept reading, waiting to learn what Jared had done all those years ago and why he felt so unworthy of love or kindness.
The story does pick up towards the end, but by then it just gets so melodramatic. And this is coming from someone who loves reading about drama, who loves angst in her stories. That's when I realized I just didn't care for the characters.
Spoiler
I mean, I did feel bad for Jared at the start, but the more I read of his point of view the more annoyed I got. He came off as a whiny boy rather than a tragic hero. And Aly was so bland, it felt like she had no life outside of Jared. There was also no getting to know each other again as adults which disappointed me. And Christopher, Aly's brother and Jared best friend, confused me. He's the one who brought Jared back into Aly's life, who over the years assured Jared that what happened wasn't his fault. Then why, for the life of me I don't understand, was he against them dating? Especially when he was constantly sleeping around himself. But I agree, them hiding it from him and going around his back in his own apartment was wrong. But his reaction to catching them was so bad. Who throws his sister, the person he loves and wants to protect, across the room?All in all, this novel was disappointment. With such high ratings here, I had really hoped to like it. But I just couldn't. There's a sequel to this book and since I already have it, I'll read it. I just hope it doesn't have the same problems that this one suffers from.