Title: Sublime
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 2014
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Synopsis can be found here.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Review:
She wakes up and doesn’t remember how she got there. Alone in the woods, Lucy finds herself drawn to daredevil Colin from the local boarding school. Colin can’t help but be mystified by Lucy. But where is she from, why is she haunting the school. Is she a ghost? Is she something else?
Besides the gorgeous cover drawing me in, I was pretty excited to read this book by bestselling authors Christina Lauren. I really enjoyed their smutty Beautiful Bastard book and I knew this was YA so wouldn’t have the same kind of humor and heat, but looked forward to it anyway.
Sadly, I was disappointed.
The story starts out mysteriously and grabbed my attention. A girl wakes up, with no memory and no idea how she got there. Some people can see her, but mostly she blends into the background. She isn’t sure what she really is, but she does know that she doesn’t belong. She’s just outside normal. She doesn’t feel the weather, she isn’t hungry. But she is drawn to Colin, beautiful troubled Colin.
Colin is a daredevil, having survived a horrible car crash that took his family. He lives on campus with his guardians, Dot and Joe who work at the school. But once he sees Lucy, his whole world centers around her and them together.
The beginning was interesting and dark. I like how Lucy tries to avoid Colin at first, not really understanding herself let alone why this boy keeps following her around. But then the insta-love kicks in and it’s so obsessive it totally took me out of the book. Because dear readers, the only way for Colin to be able to touch Lucy (like really touch and not just feel some weird energy static) is for him to be on the brink of death. Of course, you can imagine the chaos that ensues when they both realize this. The stakes are raised, Lucy realizes she wants Colin all to herself, even if he is half dead. Colin doesn’t have any sense or self preservation and just wants to feel connected to this girl who he is totally infatuated with, taking his own life into his hands.
Ugh, should I go on?
The main problem with Lucy and Colin’s relationship is that it’s not built on anything. There is no slow build up and stolen glances, no opening up to become friends and then more. It’s all insta-love, insta-attraction, how do we get to touch. It’s teenage hormone madness getting the upper hand. Nevermind they still don’t know what Lucy is, why she’s still on campus, what her goals are. Nevermind that Colin hasn’t really dealt with his sad circumstances, or that he doesn’t seem to see that Dot and Joe really love and care for him and what he’s doing is breaking their hearts. Nope. Colin and Lucy only see each other in their own selfish blinding telescopic views.
I guess I’m just disappointed because neither of these characters I could get behind. I didn’t like either of them, didn’t really see any real attraction, or any growth of the characters or advancement of the plot. Even the ending I felt was unsatisfactory.
Don’t get me wrong. I will probably still try more Christina Lauren books. But I think I’ll stick to their adult ones. This YA was totally off the mark for me.
Rating 3 Raisins No Thank You!
