Shy

Gah. This was so fucking cute.

There were a few editing issues and inconsistencies but those were easily overlooked because I fell head over heals for closet cinnamon roll hero Tate!! I was really in the mood for something a bit bully/angst-y, and this gave me everything I wanted, and then some.

This was the first bully book I think I've ever read where I actually felt like the hero actually internalized the consequences of his actions and redeemed himself. I loved Letty (I'm a big sucker for a low self esteem heroine, shoot me). I thought the push and pull between her and Tate made a lot of sense! It was a bit frustrating when she would continuously pull away from him right when they were making progress, but honestly, it made complete sense and I couldn't blame her for it one bit. She was a very strong heroine to continuously be able to be upfront about her trauma, voice her feelings even though it might hurt Tate's.

I think this was also the first romance book that I have ever enjoyed which only had the heroines POV. I am usually of the opinion that the MMC's POV is more interesting. However the way Charlotte Stein wrote it really worked! Tate was such a softy and Letty was able to read him like a book, so it was almost cuter this way! He was so obviously head over heels for her and he couldn't hide it! I love love loved it!


The only thing I wish is that there was some sort of epilogue, or bonus chapter or something! The ending left me salivating for one more teeny tiny taste of their HEA.

I have so much nostalgia love for this book. I worked as a librarian's assistant in middle school and so I was able to order this book from the local high school to read (even though I think I was supposed to need permission from someone to read this book because it was “more mature”) . It was the first book I had read with such a wild, confident, loose-cannon type heroine and a more mature level of romance than what was available in the middle school library and I instantly fell in love. I remember really liking her dynamic with the male main character. I'll have to re-read so I can give it an updated review, but even just looking at the cover brings back good memories for me.

Was superbly written. I would give the writing 5 stars, but the main character was just so painfully bland . I know this is intentional, I know that one could teach an entire course dissecting his thoughts and actions, but I really couldn't bring myself to care.

I wouldn't even call the narrator unlikeable, really. I felt nothing for him, nor about him. The world he lived in though was intensely interesting, and I found every other character in the book to be more worthy of a story about them than the narrator.

TL;DR I cared more about whether or not the old man ends up finding his dog than whether or not the main character has his head knocked off in the middle of the town square and quite frankly to construct a story where that's the case takes talent in and of itself...

I feel pretty much every emotion you could possibly feel about this book. To me Shirley Jackson is the queen of minor anxieties, and so this book was exhausting, unnerving, thrilling, confusing. Some of the stories hit too close to home, and made me angry, others made me laugh, or gasp in shock and horror. After every short story I wanted this book to be over I could be released from it's grip, but I also wanted it never to end.

I'm still feeling a bit dazed and confused about this book. Can I say I really enjoyed it? I'm not sure. I have this deep feeling that it is one of the most important books I've ever read, and I almost feel a compulsion to read it over and over and over again. But I also feel like I might need a break from it for sometime.