Monday, January 28, 2013

Review: The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

The Secret of Ella and Micha (The Secret #1) by Jessica Sorensen
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Borrowed Hearts Publishing
Number of Pages: 191
Format: Nook Book
Buy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
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Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever.

Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home.

Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes.

 **Recommended for readers 17+ due to sexual situations and language.**


 Two contemporary books in one month? I know big surprise right? I made reading more non fantasy/sci -fi books one of my reading goals this year. A few months ago I was surfing through the Nook store and found this for less than $2. It sounded really good, and I finally got around to reading it. Needless to say I'm more on the disappointed side.

Ella lives in a rough town and like majority of the town is a little on the rough side.Which who could really blame her with an alcoholic father and a mother that had suffered from a mental illness and ended up committing suicide. Hiding one of her deepest fears, that she's just like her mom, one night a few weeks after her death, Ella snaps. After a close brush with death she decides to get far away as possible, running away to Vegas to go to school.

Unable to afford an apartment for the summer, Ella has no choice but to return home and to her past. There's no avoiding Micha who she runs into within five minutes of getting home. And Micha isn't backing down.

What did I like about the book? Glad you asked. I love how it's a turning of age book. I really liked the friendship between her and Lila. And wished we saw more of that. And that she would tell Lila the whole truth about her past. And I'm a sucker for sibling relationships in books. While it seemed that Ella and her brother's relationship is very tense and on the rocks, there's a slip that he does care about her and keeps tabs on her. Usually I hate reading about alcoholic parents, but Ella's dad worked a soft spot in my heart. He doesn't abuse her like you read about other alcoholic fathers do. His only crime is drinking way too much and not taking care of himself or the house. At the core, the love that Micha and Ella shares is amazing. They have gone through hell.

Not sounding too bad right? Now it's time to look at the ugly. This was a fast and easy read, and I couldn't put it down. Yet I still have so many issues with the book. It alternates between Ella and Micha POV. Which normally I don't mind, but in this book it will do it in the same chapter. And the result is many scenes are repeated. The big issue I have with the book is that it seemed I was reading a bad fanfic. Especially the Micha POVs. From what we knew of Micha; hot, sexy, bad boy, his voice didn't fit his reputation. The other issues is probably not a good editing job. A lot of the details, it was like there were no thought until it. It's mentioned that if Ella doesn't get this internship she wants, she will have to get a job to pay for college. Let's back up for a moment. How did she even get into college in the first place? It's mentioned that she never thought of herself going to college. One night she decided to run away. It keeps on saying eight months, but when you think about it that timeline doesn't add up. College starts in the middle of August and gets out early May. That's a little bit more than eight months. I doubt Ella just chose a school at random and showed up for classes. It doesn't work that way, plus how did she pay for it? The whole time Ella has been gone, Micha has been searching for her. And he happens to find her the day she leaves to come back home? *eyerolls* Let's talk about that phone call Micha makes to her the day she leaves to come back home. How did he get her new cell phone number? He called information and go the listing. In what world are cell phone numbers listed like that?

The next question that is never really answered. What state is Ella from? They tell us outright that the school is in Vegas and Lila is from California. It's mentioned that it's a twelve hour drive from school to Ella's house. The only real clue is when her brother shows up his car has Ohio plates. Since he lives in Chicago and the car was their mom's, my bet is Ohio. Problem. It's more than double twelve hour drive from Vegas to Ohio. I don't care how good of a friend Lila is, I don't see someone driving from Vegas to Ohio to drop her off, stay for the night and then drive by herself to California? Not to mention about a week after Lila leaves for home, she shows back up saying she can't deal with her home life. So she drive back to Ohio from California? Not to mention I'm sure she had good friends at home she could probably stay with? Speaking of driving, on the way to Ella's they were on the edge of town and Lila had to pee. Ella found a restroom through the gps, which turned out to be an outhouse. How the town is describe, I can go with an outhouse, but it wouldn't of shown up on a gps. There's a few other details that doesn't make sense. Like 18 year olds ordering kegs, or how it was mentioned that Micha got up in the late afternoon and then it mention how his mom was dressed to go to her day job as a secretary at a car dealership. Late afternoon would be the time she would be getting off a day job and not going in.

I don't like some of the language. How Micha had commented that he hasn't fulfilled his lifelong dream of sleeping with Ella. Umm what? Or how he comments about Ella's short shorts and how good her ass always looks. Micha is pretty much describe as a playboy yet only wants to be with Ella. I've never been on board with the guy who hooks up with other girls because he can't be with the one he wants. I hated how it was so easy for Ella to let Micha back in. I wanted to see him work for it, more of a resistance from Ella. And don't let me forget Lila. In the beginning the scenes with Lila, Ella, and Micha there were times where it seemed like Lila was completely forgotten. Or how the author felt like it was necessary to let us know the name of every song.

I believe this is one of the first books where I've had so many issues with it, yet I couldn't put it down. I haven't decided if I want to continue with the series. But I'm really interested in the third book planned for the series, which will focus around Lila and Ethan. Now those two characters caught my attention. I've been conflicted with how I should rate this book. But in the end the details just irritated me too much.

Rating: 2.5

 

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