Tamsin (Hart University #03) - Abigail Strom

Title: Tamsin (Hart University #03)
Author: Abigail Strom
Rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for letting me receive a digital copy of this book.

It’s junior year at Hart University, and theater major Tamsin Shay knows exactly what she’ll be doing: focusing on acting. She also knows what she won’t be doing.

Guys.

Daniel Bowman knows what he’ll be doing, too. Football, engineering classes, volunteer work with his church. One thing he won’t be doing:

Girls.

When they find themselves in a class together, the arguments begin. He’s conservative; she’s liberal. He’s traditional; she’s not. The only thing they share is their determination not to give into sexual attraction.

What could possibly go wrong?

Never in a million years had I thought, I'd actually like this book as much as I eventually did. Here's what I wrote when I finished Claire, the second book in the series:

"I'll probably give Tamsin a try, though I'm not exactly interested in her story. I don't know why, but I know one thing: I'll most likely love her story once I give it a chance."

And damn right! Just like I expected. It's not my favorite book to ever exist, but I liked it really much, despite all my fear I'd hate Tamsin's story. I didn't. Probably because of Daniel. He fit her so well. I couldn't imagine a guy that would, but the second Daniel entered the stage (almost literally), I knew he was perfect for her. And my, my. I loved these two together. The ever-lasting discussions about abortion and the pro-life or pro-choice team exhauted me, I'll admit that. But... The author managed great, because she captured both sides so perfectly and there was no right team either way. Both characters had different minds. In the beginning and in the end. No harm done.

Tamsin's such a strong character, I feel so bad for judging her in the beginning. It's what people do, I'm no exception to that. And I think there are more readers out there who aren't sure about this girl. She's different and I wasn't sure whether that's a good thing or not. Having read her story now, I think it's a good thing. Also because her character makes you rethink about your beliefs - the discussion might have annoyed me sometimes, but they also make you think. And I love that it doesn't have to be a Shakespeare book or a book written by any great philosopher to make you do that: Think. This is a new adult book. And while people nowadays tend to hate on that genre, I love how Abigail Strom used her power and wrote this kind of story.

I really believed both characters when it was their turn to speak - their point of views. Which is why I think the author has a great talent. You could always tell the two voices apart, and not just because of their different opinions on things. I feel like I'm repeating myself like an old CD playing the same old song, but I just didn't expect the book to be as good as it was, and now I want to point that out.

What Daniel went through... Oh my goodness. I couldn't hold back the tears. It's so tragic and he's still such a decent guy. And Tamsin's still strong, though so many people tried to bring her down in her past. There could be no better choice for the two characters than each other. Seriously. How did the author come up with that?! There's so much perfection in their tragedy.

While I was annoyed with "The Semester of Us" in Claire, I half expected this book to pick up the topic again. I'm so thankful that didn't happen and Tamsin just stayed true to herself. She's like this rock chick without being ever described as one and Daniel is like the gentleman you read about in books like Jane Austen's. Weird mix, huh? But just give it a go and you'll see for yourself that this is the best possible mix. Of course, they both got flaws... Such as Daniel's friends. Gosh, they're jerks. I didn't like their conversations one bit. What girl would?! And Tamsin sometimes seemed to think she was perfect, like acceting the fact that people slut shamed her made her queen of everything. Now that I think about it, it's really obvious, actually. I didn't like that, but the positive aspects are stronger.

The scenes in acting class were really interesting. And I always love reading about Rikki, because she's most likely my favorite of Abigail Strom's characters. It hasn't been that long since I read Claire, but I loved the reunion feeling I received on my end. Though honestly, and this time I really mean it, I'm not quite sure about the next book in the series - Julia. She's a mystery to me. We haven't even really seen a glimpse of her yet. And now a whole book? Eh. Just not sure.