Blog Tour + Review: The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

The Promise of Amazing

By Robin Constantine

Release Date: December 31, 2013

Source: Netgalley

Summary: Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how. 

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

Review: I have been dying to read this one ever since I saw the cover (yes, yet another review starting out obsessing over the cover…but can you blame me??). Also, this one is a YA contemporary romance, and that's probably one of my favorite genres. By the time I had this one in my hands, I had some pretty high expectations for the story.

Wren has always been the quiet, average girl that no one really pays attention to. Grayson, on the other hand, is used to being Mr. Popular who can get any girl he wants and has a bright future ahead of him. In Wren's junior year of high school with her future looming over her, she doesn't want to be the quiet girl anymore. So when she saves Grayson from choking at a wedding she was working, both are intrigued by this person that is so unlike themselves. Wren finds herself thinking about Grayson nonstop. Little does she know, Grayson can't stop thinking about her either. These two completely opposite people go on the awkward, complicated, life-changing journey of figuring out who exactly they want to be, and may just find themselves falling in love.

This book sounded like something that I would absolutely fall in love with. An awkward, lovable story about two people falling in love? That would have been great, if only I actually liked the characters doing the falling in love. I'm sorry, but Grayson is a huge tool from page one and, while he's on the journey to changing, he's still a tool. He may act different around Wren, but who wants a guy who acts one way around you and a completely different way around his friends? And how many times can a girl forgive a guy for being a jerk? I get that Wren is super quiet and nice, but that's just annoying how easily she forgives him. 

And if insta-love isn't you're thing, you definitely don't want to read this book. Seriously, Wren saves Grayson from choking, and they're instantly obsessing over each other. They barely even talked, yet all they can do is think about each other and how much they liked the other person. There should have been a bigger getting-to-know-you period where they were friends, and then decided that they and feelings for each other. There should have been more progression and no BAM!-we're-in-love kind of story going on. 

The characters and insta-love may have bugged me, but this still was a cute story. Grayson has a racy past that he wishes he didn't have, and has to deal with showing Wren that side of him without losing her. Also, Wren has to learn much more about who she wants to be, and watching her find herself is really sweet and you find yourself wanting the best for her. 

Overall, I was expecting more out of this one. It's still a sweet contemporary, but there were one too many things that rubbed me the wrong way to really enjoy the story. If you don't mind the whole aspect of an arrogant main character and insta-love romance, then maybe you'll enjoy it more than I did.

About the Author

Robin Constantine is a born and bred Jersey girl who moved down South so she could wear flip-flops year round. She spends her days dreaming up stories where love conquers all, well, eventually but not without a lot of peril, angst and the occasional kissing scene. 

Her YA debut, THE PROMISE OF AMAZING, will be released in 2014 by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

For more information about Robin and her debut novel, check out the following links: 

Goodreads // Amazon // Barnes & Noble // The Book Depository // Author Website // Author Blog // Facebook // Twitter // Tumblr


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