So Bookalicious!: Review: The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

Thursday 2 January 2014

Review: The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

Synopsis
Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

- Goodreads -

Opinion

The Promise of Amazing held the promise of being amazing and it did held its promise. It reminded me of my own high school days just like Wren I was average, ranked somewhere in the middle and I always got the comment of teachers that I was a bit too quiet.

Wren is sick of it and desperate to change. Speak up more, live in the moment, and not let people push her around. And she get attention when she perform the Heimlich on a Grayson at a wedding at her parents catering hall and saves his life. After that Grayson can’t get Wren out of his mind. He used to be the big man on campus at St Gabriel’s, but after being expelled for selling term papers, he’s a bit lost. They soon learn that they can help each other.

Like I mentioned before I can identify myself easily with Wren. And I enjoyed watching her step out of her comfort zone. Sometimes she was a bit naïve, she bought everything that Grayson said even when it was obvious that it was bullshit. In the beginning Grayson was a bit of an ass. But he improved quickly, especially when he was around Wren. She helped him back on track even when his past is still hunting him. But through it all Wren stood by his side and she didn’t let him down no matter what.

What I loved the most about the book were the interactions between all the characters. Grayson and Wren are so sweet together. They push each other to new limits but in a good way and their conversations were often animated. I also loved all the bantering between Wren and her friends, family and co-workers. The same was is true with Grayson, he argues a lot with his friends they often even don’t get along. But if you put him with his half-siblings you just meld into a puddle.

A minor issue I had with this book was the insta-love. They just met and they seem to know that they will each other’s life for good. All seemed a bit hastened at times. It was clear that they were attracted from the beginning to each other and that should have been enough for a while, all the love declarations came much too fast for my taste.

I really loved this book. How Wren and Grayson found one another was sweet and cute, and there was still enough drama to provide some conflicts in this book. the dialogues and bantering between the characters made me laugh. All this things made it impossible to stop reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary YA’s. There’s just one word to describe this book: AMAZING.