Wednesday 20 September 2017

Sublime by Christina Lauren

Sublime


Series: N/A
Author: Christina Lauren
Page Count: 336
Published: October 14th, 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
  3.5 Stars ★★★

Lucy wakes up near a school. She doesn't know why she is there, and she doesn't know why people are acting like she isn't even present. But she does know that she is drawn to Colin, for some unknown reason. Colin finds himself drawn to her as well, and he knows that there's something different about her. As they get to know each other, they fall for each other, and the fact that one of them is dead starts to complicate things. Colin wants to be close to Lucy, to touch her like she's any other girl, and once they find a dangerous way to accomplish this, they can't seem to stop.

I will admit, the reason I first looked into getting this book was the cover. Look at it! It's beautiful. After reading some reviews, both positive and negative, I realized that I had to get this book. While I wasn't really disappointed, I wasn't extremely impressed with this book either.

I have two issues with this book. First, is the writing style. I believe that it's written in third person present tense, and this combination just threw me off. I found it hard to get into reading the book, I really think that third person past tense would have been a much better choice. Because this issue obviously extended for the whole book, that knocked a few stars off of my rating.

Another issue I had with the book was the pacing. It was a bit too slow for my taste, and a good chunk of the more exciting parts happened in the last half of the book, so the first half felt extra drawn-out. As I mentioned, the plot speeds up at the halfway mark, which I really appreciated! I have to say, the pieces of the plot after that point were enjoyable and thrilling to read about.

I loved pretty much everything else about this book. The concept itself is one that I enjoyed. The idea of a romance between a ghost and a living person, two people drawn together for some unknown reason, and the obstacles that they face all tied this story together very well. The romance had a bit of an insta-love feel to it, but I don't mind this if it's done well, and in the case of this book, it was definitely done well.

I also really liked both main characters. Both had tragic pasts, Colin losing his parents at a young age, and Lucy dying so young, and I think that their personal tragedies complemented the others' in a way that made their attraction to each other, and their overall characters, very easy to care about. I like that the author didn't reveal every detail about their situations right away, it gave the story a sense of mystery.

This book was truly bittersweet, with all the talk of tragedies, and the unknown, and the question of whether or not Colin and Lucy's relationship would be able to continue on into the future, considering all the issues that they had to face together. No spoilers here, but I have to say that I think the ending was perfect!

Overall I enjoyed this book, though there were some issues. While the romance was sweet, the writing style and pacing cost the book a few stars. However, the whole concept of the book was intriguing and I am glad that I read it!

I recommend this book to young adult readers who like stories about ghosts. If you're into paranormal romance, you may enjoy this.

Find Sublime on Goodreads.