Dienstag, 27. März 2018

The Now or Never Moment: Omnibus - Katie Kaleski

Title: The Now or Never Moment: Omnibus
Author: Katie Kaleski
Rating: 2.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Weapenry Co-Op for letting me receive a digital copy of this book.
By the time she realizes she loves him, he’s already gone.

Shelby and Tanner have been inseparable ever since freshman year when she intervened to save him from a bully’s beating. Fast forward four intense years--Shelby is leaving for college. Without Tanner. Three days before she’s set to move, he hands her a thick envelope with explicit instructions:

In no way shape or form is she to open the envelope until she is perfectly settled in at school. She is not to even think of it until then.

No one has seen Tanner since that moment.

She opens the envelope to find a letter of epic proportions inside that spans their years in high school together. When she reads it out loud to almost her entire dorm, Shelby relives the good and all of the bad, and together they learn details that Tanner held back, the things he never told her. How much he really loves her.

Sometimes, all it takes is walking in someone else’s shoes to realize what you’ve known all along. Sometimes, that realization comes too late.

This book was a lot of thing. First, let me explain that the author originally published four parts of this book - freshman year, sophomore, junior and senior - and now this book is the complete collection of all four. Which is why it is a really big book and seemed to be dragged into eternity to me, sometimes. Also, the hero didn't seem that guy-ish. Of course, there's vulnerable, but well... He was always portrayed as a victim, someone who let things happen to him. I was really angry over all these attacks toward him, believe him. Bullying is a serious topic and I am the last one who'll judge. This is something people should talk more about - keyword Hastag Stop Bullying. Because it seriously has to stop. But... With Tanner there was too much drama, too many things going on at once or too many things that led to others.

I usually dislike reading novels written in third person. And this one, unfortunately, was no exception. Tanner's point of views were written in first person - as a letter. But Shelby's point of view (was there really a view for her?) was written in third person and I always found myself wanting to skip these parts, because the writing style itself was so different at those scenes. And what I mean by saying that thing about doubting that Shelby really had her own point of view is because, well... We don't really get to know her. We know she's at college now and starts reading this HUGE letter by Tanner (no way it fit into an envelope. And also, even e-Mails got a character limit) and that's basically it. She met her roommate, people started gathering around her, listening to the letter she's read to them. Oh my, I really disliked all that. There's no real depth for her here.

I'm so sorry about all these negative aspects. I really am. I wanted to like this book, but I just didn't. Not really. The length is what bothered me the most, probably. Well, and Tanner's drama, because drama is good, but that was just over the top.

Anyway... The idea of writing a book mostly as a letter was nice. I thought that was great. And the letter itself started off really promising, too. So maybe I should have read this novel when it was still split into four parts. I bet I would have liked the first part of it, had it been a standalone.

There's really not much for me to add. I can't tell you to read it or not. You got to read the blurb, maybe even an excerpt and decide for yourself. It just wasn't my book, even though I love YA, but all these things mentioned above.

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