Donnerstag, 24. Mai 2012

Almost - Anne Eliot

Title: Almost
Author: Anne Eliot
Rating: 4/5

Three years ago Jess has almost been raped. She's never been the same since then, though she also wants other people to think that she isn't the same. She's rather seen as the rebel and bitch. To become a little "normal" again, she lands a summer internship and gives Gray Porter, ultimate hottie, a lot of money to pretend to be her boyfriend over the summer. What she didn't expect was for him to treat her just perfectly and for her to fall in love with him head over heels. And what she also doesn't know is that he knows so much more than she'd wish for.

This is the kind of book that I adore. Oh, yes, how I fell in love with this genius of a book! It was perfect. Almost . . . (Very clever inside joke, huh? :P)

In the beginning I really disliked Jess. She seemed too tough if you know what I mean. You could see (or read) that it's all fake. At least for me it felt that way. She doesn't wants to be seen as weak, but yet she kind of is. She is having these extreme nightmares about her almost-rape-experience and so she sometimes even denies herself to fall asleep. What happens during the day then, is that she needs to take a nap in order to not fall down in the middle of the street and sleep right there. She is afraid. I mean, who wouldn't? No girl or boy wants to experience something like that. It's the most horrible thing in the world. She isn't the same person she was three years ago. How could she be? It though seems as if her parents can't respect that and push her to finally live a "normal" life again. I could see that they wanted her to be happy, but it felt so forced. You can't force someone to live the life you want her or him to live. If something like that happens, you need your time to calm down and turn back into your old self, if that's even possible. I think it's not. You can't expect that after one or two years everything should be fine. Everybody has their own speed of moving on.

To achieve that "normal" life, or at least to achieve that for others to see, even though it's all just pretened, she makes a deal with Gray Porter, who is as you may have guessed right, the ultimate hottie that everybody wants to date. He needs the money of the summer intership and so she knows he won't say no to the following deal: Pretend to be her boyfriend and get a lot of money for that, so he can afford almost everything he ever dreamed of. (Probably over the top, but you get the point) He agrees and soon they spend more and more time together, growing tighter and tighter.

Now let me reflect: When you read about them growing closer together, it's just fabulous. I wouldn't say it's romantic, but when you read it, you feel the sparks and the love and everything. It's amazing. The beautiful writing Anne did here helped very much.

So, I wasn't much a fan of Jess. But let me tell you, I may have been her, because just as much as she loves Gray, I have fallen for that guy! :P Not that way, but in the typical Boys in Books are Better way. (Note: That's another point I liked. The books and quotes that were mentioned in the beginning of this book. I wish there would have been more of that.) He is such a deep thinking guy. Okay, probably not THAT deep thinking, but I really enjoyed reading his parts. The way he adores Jess and the way he struggles with what he knows about the night she has almost been raped. It's tragic and I felt so sorry for him. Also the way he cared about his Gran. It was so cute.

What else can I say? You just have to read this book to understand how good it is. It has everything! It's funny, romantic, dramatic, sad but really the one thing it is 100% is AWESOME!

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