Fifteen-year-olds Cece and Mack didn't expect to fall in love. She's a sensitive A student; he's a high school dropout. But soon they're spending every moment together, bonding over a rescued dog, telling their secrets, making plans for the future. Everything is perfect. Until. Until. Mack makes a horrible mistake, and in just a few minutes, the future they'd planned becomes impossible. In this stark new reality, both of them must find meaning and hope in the memories of what they had, to survive when the person they love can't stay.
From award-winning writer Paul Griffin, Stay with Me is both heartbreaking and uplifting, filled with characters (both dog and human) that will forever change the way you look at the world.
Review: When I first saw this book on the sale shelf of my library, I was super excited because it looked really good and it was an ARC (I bought it in August and it didn't come out until September). Based on the summary and reviews I had read, I thought it was going to be like a Simone Elkeles book, where the good girl falls for the bad, latino (or gang-related) boy. The story was about a girl falling for an ex-convict, but it was seriously lacking in the amazingness of Simone's books.
The first thing that I wasn't a big fan of was the simple, almost stupid language the author used. These are 15-year-olds but the way they talked and thought was as if they were 8. I understand that Mack wasn't that smart, but Cece was studying vocab for a huge test, so you'd think she'd talk with the intelligence of at least like a 15-year-old.
The other thing that wasn't quite right about this book was that everything moved so fast and some stuff was kind of unbelievable. Cece and Mack meet and then 2 pages later they're all over each other saying they love each other. Unlike Simone Elkeles's books, Mack and Cece really lacked the chemistry and romance a true couple in love should have.
The part I did really enjoy was the dogs! They were so cute and I loved how much Mack loved the dogs. But that was mainly the only part I really liked about Stay With Me. So overall this book was really not all there for me. I was disappointed in the romance and the story in general.
The synopsis made this book sound like it would be good, stinks to hear it was not that great. I think I'll stay away from this one.
ReplyDeleteNerd Girls at Books to the Sky
It's always such a bummer when you go into a book expecting to really enjoying it and then it just falls flat. Better luck next time, though, right? :)
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