Redge reviewed I Hate You, Fuller James by Kelly Anne Blount
None
3 stars
First things first: I reallyreally wanted to like this book. The cute cover drew me in, and I usually enjoy the whole tutoring-the-jock trope.
There were a couple of times when I almost DNFed, though.
The plot felt a bit too contrived, even for a tropey story like this. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against tropes. Some of my best friends (aka: favorite books) are extremely tropey. And yet...
The principal and coach blackmailing Wren into tutoring?
The tutoring must be kept a secret, because of team morale?
Fuller can't think of anything else but the stupid bet to keep the tutoring a secret?
And then, the grand gesture fell flat for me, especially the dressing-up-as-Westley thing that didn't bring much more to the table than an "As you wish." What would have been wrong with sticking to just one favorite movie and doing that right?
While …
First things first: I reallyreally wanted to like this book. The cute cover drew me in, and I usually enjoy the whole tutoring-the-jock trope.
There were a couple of times when I almost DNFed, though.
The plot felt a bit too contrived, even for a tropey story like this. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against tropes. Some of my best friends (aka: favorite books) are extremely tropey. And yet...
The principal and coach blackmailing Wren into tutoring?
The tutoring must be kept a secret, because of team morale?
Fuller can't think of anything else but the stupid bet to keep the tutoring a secret?
And then, the grand gesture fell flat for me, especially the dressing-up-as-Westley thing that didn't bring much more to the table than an "As you wish." What would have been wrong with sticking to just one favorite movie and doing that right?
While the plotting felt somewhat forced, I enjoyed the overall writing style, and there were enough funny or cute scenes to keep me reading. (Mostly. I'll admit, there was some skimming, especially towards the end.)
I had trouble warming up to both Wren and Fuller, but I was rooting for Hudson and Gramps all the way - those two were by far my favorites, with Dae as runner-up.