**The following post is super spoilery. Proceed at your own risk.**So, here's my beef with this book....In the beginning Jeane and Michael hate eachother. As such they call eachother names.Jeane's insults are usually by way of calling Michael unoriginal. Michael insults Jeane by calling her fat and ugly... repeatedly. It wasn’t even like Jeane was secretly pretty. Though maybe if you got rid of the horrible grey hair and the even more horrible clothes and the nasty shoes then she might be passably cute. Or even plain and ordinary, which wasn’t as bad as, say, being ugly.This was said after their first kiss. Romantic, right?(He also goes on about how the girls he chooses to date - and it is he who does the choosing, he's that awesome - should feel lucky to date him as he can have whoever he wants....he's doing them a favor.)Okay, so maybe Michael isn't ready to admit his feelings for Jeane. As such he's resorted to calling her names to make himself feel better. Still, not something an upstanding guy would do (not imo at least).I thought that perhaps Michael's opinion on Jeane's looks would change once he realized he was having feelings for her. Unfortunately, this did not happen. He would call her fat, but then say that she was the first girl he knew that was comfortable with her body. So......yay for that, I guess.Not once did she moan about her thighs or her pot belly or about how fat she supposedly was like every other girl I knew...I don't know about you, but I love it when a guy thinks I have a pot belly. Love. It.I don't know. I guess I was just hoping by the end of the book that Michael would think, that in some way, Jeane was attractive. I suppose he shows this through actions, rather than words, but I also think it's important to actually tell the person you like that you think they're beautiful....and this never happens.And that's not to say that Jeane is perfect. Far from it. She's self centered, super judgmental and has a major fear of letting people in, so she's standoffish. But throughout the book she takes certain steps and actually starts to change. It seems like Jeane is the only character in the book to actually grow, and that is really upsetting.If I felt Michael's character had grown, I would have given the book 4 stars. It was a good book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it (finished it in one sitting). However, in the end, Michael doesn't seem sweet or endearing. He just seems like a pompous ass. And so, with that in mind, I give the book 2 stars and only recommend it to people who like slamming their heads on their keyboards.
Tongue Tied
Stay at home mom to three boys.
Addicted to the interwebz.
Should probably be cleaning my kitchen or folding laundry at this very moment, but I'm probably reading.
**The following post is super spoilery. Proceed at your own risk.**So, here's my beef with this book....In the beginning Jeane and Michael hate eachother. As such they call eachother names.Jeane's insults are usually by way of calling Michael unoriginal. Michael insults Jeane by calling her fat and ugly... repeatedly. It wasn’t even like Jeane was secretly pretty. Though maybe if you got rid of the horrible grey hair and the even more horrible clothes and the nasty shoes then she might be passably cute. Or even plain and ordinary, which wasn’t as bad as, say, being ugly.This was said after their first kiss. Romantic, right?(He also goes on about how the girls he chooses to date - and it is he who does the choosing, he's that awesome - should feel lucky to date him as he can have whoever he wants....he's doing them a favor.)Okay, so maybe Michael isn't ready to admit his feelings for Jeane. As such he's resorted to calling her names to make himself feel better. Still, not something an upstanding guy would do (not imo at least).I thought that perhaps Michael's opinion on Jeane's looks would change once he realized he was having feelings for her. Unfortunately, this did not happen. He would call her fat, but then say that she was the first girl he knew that was comfortable with her body. So......yay for that, I guess.Not once did she moan about her thighs or her pot belly or about how fat she supposedly was like every other girl I knew...I don't know about you, but I love it when a guy thinks I have a pot belly. Love. It.I don't know. I guess I was just hoping by the end of the book that Michael would think, that in some way, Jeane was attractive. I suppose he shows this through actions, rather than words, but I also think it's important to actually tell the person you like that you think they're beautiful....and this never happens.And that's not to say that Jeane is perfect. Far from it. She's self centered, super judgmental and has a major fear of letting people in, so she's standoffish. But throughout the book she takes certain steps and actually starts to change. It seems like Jeane is the only character in the book to actually grow, and that is really upsetting.If I felt Michael's character had grown, I would have given the book 4 stars. It was a good book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it (finished it in one sitting). However, in the end, Michael doesn't seem sweet or endearing. He just seems like a pompous ass. And so, with that in mind, I give the book 2 stars and only recommend it to people who like slamming their heads on their keyboards.
