I’m actually reading this book in the 2 book bundle available from amazon here: http://amzn.to/1QF2zyP
(it’s the same price as each book individually, so it’s a good deal!)
Synopsis:
*WHAT IF IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON…?*
Over six months after an accident that broke her legs as well as removed her boyfriend from her life—because Cam Campbell left town and dumped her—high school senior, Ellen Foster, wants to move past her broken heart. She’s off to attend a summer photography workshop at a real university along with her best friends. Ellen’s determined to find a new love—or at least a summer boyfriend. In the dorm, she meets Harrison Shaw. He’s a handsome photography student, a charmer who likes her, and a perfect way to forget her past.
*WHAT IF IT ALL GOES PERFECTLY…?*
Ellen thinks she has everything she wants. Her summer program couldn’t be better. She’s half in love with Harrison Shaw, and she’s going after her next scholarship. But when she kisses Harrison, she can only remember how Cam Campbell used kiss her better, sweeter, and how he used to make her feel like she could fly…
*WHAT IF SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT…?*
When Cam shows up at the university it’s a shock, especially to Ellen’s new boyfriend. Cam’s distant, different and very afraid to hurt Ellen again. He asks Ellen if they could be friends despite the past and how they’ve both changed and Ellen agrees. But after all they’ve been through, can Cam and Ellen ever be just friends?
*WHAT IF…?*
My Review:
3 stars — I’m unsure how I feel after finishing the story. After rereading the first book, I could already tell I was in a different mood than the first time I read it, and so I’m sure that affected my enjoyment of finally finishing the series…but in the end, I guess I was a bit disappointed. I think I just had lower tolerance for the drama found in these books, and they just felt really unrealistic so much of the time that it took away from my enjoyment.
I knew from the ending of the first book that things were not going to go all smoothly for our star-crossed lovers. But I guess I didn’t expect them to spend so much of this book apart. And since I love me a romance, I was disappointed in the lack of that in this book.
Honestly, I think most of my disappointed feelings can be summed up in Harrison Shaw. (And here’s where the review could get a bit spoilery, so please skip the rest if you haven’t read the book). I was leery of Mr. Shaw right from the first moment of meeting, and actually pretty much called his role in this book from close to the beginning. So watching it all unfold wasn’t that fun for me. I mean, I really liked Ellen and Cam, so to watch them (mostly Ellen) succumb to yet another super villain just wasn’t what I was looking for. I guess I would have preferred more real life adversity instead if that makes any sense. But I suppose that wouldn’t have made for quite as much of a book. It just felt very overdramatic and unrealistic to me and so I didn’t enjoy any of the climax at all.
And quite honestly, I KNOW that Ellen was trying to get over Cam, but I just couldn’t understand how she could be so naive about Harrison. And knowing how important her photography was to her, I guess I was just surprised that she was so easily sucked into Harrison’s machinations. I try to remind myself that she is just a teenager, only *just barely* a senior in high school, and so I should give her a little slack. But I just wanted her to figure it out on her own or something I guess.
In the end the part I found most interesting in this book was finding out what had happened to Cam in the 6 months between the first book and this one. But that was really only a small part of the story. And in general I enjoyed Cam’s POV more in this book than Ellen’s POV.
So yeah. Disappointed with this conclusion. Would have also liked a bit more on the epilogue and resolution with Ellen and Cam, and especially with Laura and Patrick. Laura’s crazy antics actually annoyed me a bit more this time around too, so maybe I really am just in a mood. 🙁 I hate it when I’m in a mood, I prefer to just blindly like things. 😉
sometimes it is our mood vs. the book, but sometimes the ending does ruin the feel of an otherwise good book. You sound more than a bit conflicted with this one. So been there!
[…] How I Fly by Anne Eliot – Lenore Kosinski […]
Love Anne Eliot and this series! But I’m partial because my daughter has CP and I love that there is a MAIN CHARACTER who has it. I did take Ellen to be incredibly naive, which to me makes since, because so much of her life has been focused on dealing with her CP, her friends and family have sheltered her a bit and she hasn’t had the opportunity to gain life experience in the same way other people her age have. She’s dealt with a lot, but is perhaps a bit socially immature, if that makes sense. Either way, diversity in books is GOOD.
Huh, you provide an interesting perspective. I’m so used to heroines without additional challenges that I guess I forget that that can affect them socially as well.
But yes, Anne Eliot is da bomb, and diversity is AWESOME. We need more. Especially in disabilities, I feel like that’s an unexplored area of diversity.