BOOK REVIEW – Isn’t She Lovely (Redemption #0.5) by Lauren Layne

Isn't She Lovely (Redemption #0.5)
by Lauren Layne
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

“Think of it as screenplay fodder,” I say, putting a hand on her back and leading her towards the escalators. “Angry Gothic Girl discovers Fifth Avenue.”

“I’ve been on Fifth Avenue before, fool,” she snaps.
She’s so lovely.

Well….wasn’t that lovely? I quite enjoyed that. I’m as surprised by my five star rating as anyone else, but what can I say? When the book suits you, it suits you. I couldn’t have chosen a better time to delve into this story.

It had the perfect amount of wit, banter, romance, angst, and laugh out loud moments. Sometimes when I used to pick up a NA book, I would regret doing so-but not once in this hilarious novel did I want to put it down. That in itself is refreshing. It’s been a while since I’ve been positive towards a NA rather than indifferent….and I am so so glad that spell was broken with these two hilariously clueless students from different sides of the tracks.

Who knew that pretending you’re not falling for someone would be so much more difficult than pretending that you are?

I’m not going to lie-I’m feeling a little fangirlish about this one-so beware-I’m not normally so mushy but I think there is going to be a TON of gushing and proclamations of love for this book ahead. You’ve been warned.

Ethan Price chose better than he knew when he picked Stephanie Kendrick to play Barbie to his Ken. 
Because Stephanie Kendrick was once Steffie Wright.
Cheerleader, student council president and prom queen.
Impressing parents? Please.
I used to do that shit in my sleep.

I’m utterly and completely sad this book is over. Normally I put a book down and I’m like, ‘okay, what’s next?!’ but the moment I put Isn’t She Lovely down, I felt an immediate ache in my heart and I silently wished there was more that could happen without the story turning round and round in a slow, monotonous repeat, but sadly books don’t work that way and this is a perfect example of a book ending just as it-and where it-should. THIS is the reaction I want when I switch genres. THIS is how I want to feel when I read something I don’t normally read. THIS…was great.

I turn my head to watch him as he launches into some ridiculous story, and I’m not thinking about whether this is one of the truths or the lie.
I’m thinking that Ethan Price is putting on a damned good show in an effort to cheer me up. In an effort to make me forget.
But mostly, I try not to think about what I’m feeling.
Because what I’m feeling has nothing to do with our charade.
What I’m feeling seems real.

I, admittedly, was going to lower my rating-I was. There were SO many mentions of her boobs (yes, her massive boobs) in the first 30% of the book that I would have been drunk had I made a bet with myself to take a shot every time her lady lumps were mentioned. As the story progressed, though, it became a little inside joke that she would play up and it was scarcely mentioned except for when it would be expected that the anatomy in question should be mentioned…so that really helped. But in the end?? It didn’t matter. They could have mentioned her pelvic region fifty times and I wouldn’t have batted an eye-I ADORED this story and literally nothing could lower this rating. Okay, if they had all miraculously died in a plane crash I’d have been livid, exceedingly so, but that’s besides the point-Spoiler alert-they didn’t. ISL made me happy and gave my life vivid color in the sunniest shades possible as my world in real life has turned a nasty shade of gray…and, ultimately, I couldn’t ask for more in a book.

Knock it off, Price. She probably has Kill Them All tattooed on her ass or something.

The thing about this story is, they both have a problem that neither one of them has told anyone about or talked to anyone about it. They don’t realize how it has truly effected their attitudes or how it has broken them on the inside. That is one of the main points that fueled the story and I found myself continually hoping to find out what had happened with them to make them so defensive, but maybe it takes meeting a kindred spirit to truly help heal when no one else seems to get what’s truly going on, on the inside-what’s really hurting them. Ethan may have been overly into his image and might have made mistake after vapid mistake, but in the end, he had a heart of gold and just didn’t realize he didn’t know any better. He’d never been asked to be any other way and until that crazy, dark haired girl with black clothes from head to toe waltzed in and he didn’t know how to handle it. I loved seeing his transformation and how it all worked out in the end…I can’t say how, but sometimes the sweetest gesture in the world can end up with you busting out laughing at how ludicrous and (I guess) adorable it is. Then Stepahnie-She was the same with not wanting to change her ways, but they were both stubborn and needed to realize that there’s more to life than trying to make a shocking statement or trying to fade into the background. We don’t know why, but when we do find out why she’s become this way, our hearts break for this girl that has essentially shut everyone out and we root for nothing but the best for her…and then we cringe as she and Ethan duke it out when they both try to make the ultimate statements time after time.

I roll my eyes as I start tossing socks into the bag. “Let me guess. You want to know if I still have my old uniform.”
He sets the picture back on the nightstand and moves towards the door. “Nah. Not my thing. But I think I could develop a thing for girls in combat boots.”
I spin around in surprise, wanting to see his face, wanting to know if he means what I think he means.
But he’s already gone.

This is so different from what I always read. Like SO out there compared to normal. This is just a standard, everyday normal NA book for most people, but to me this isn’t normal. Everyone has their own ‘normals’-mine just tends to be paranormal and dystopian. But maybe that peril I so desperately seek isn’t only in dystopians. Aren’t angst and peril sometimes one in the same? I don’t mean literally, but figuratively speaking-there are different types of angst and different kinds of peril-and maybe I’ve noticed this before in my dystopians and paranormals, but never thought to apply it to YA/NA. Angst sometimes gives you that desired effect that makes you feel as though the world is dropping out from beneath your feet…as if the characters will be lucky to survive another day-Because their hearts are so broken and because they are going through such emotional turmoil. My favorite scenes in those crazy para/dystopians are those at the end when the hero or heroine is desperate to save the other-when they are willing to do anything, even die at the hands of the enemy, to save the other-That moment when they have nothing else they want to live for but that one person in the most dangerous of positions…all at the hands of the bad guy. I love the characters being stripped bare and that we get to see who they truly are and what they are really made of. I might have hit the nail on the head before about angst and peril being one and the same at times, but I’ve missed this detail slightly in my NA/YA novels before, and I fell in love with this relatively uneventful and mild version of the emotional peril I do so crave in my cut throat books. I just needed a reminder of why I used to love this stuff before it got all cliched and boring. Or maybe Lauren Layne just knows how to write a perfectly balanced story. That might be it, too.

“Are you sure it’s okay? I feel a little…”
She doesn’t finish the sentence, so I turn to glance at her, and ah, hell, she looks vulnerable. Those wide blue eyes are silently begging me to reassure her that yes, she can pull this off, and yes, she’ll be okay without her black-eyeliner defense against the world.
“You look beautiful,” I say softly.

See how I went all dramatic there?? I don’t do that for just any book. I don’t just fangirl for no reason-a story has to touch me in a different way and this book did, for whatever superficial reason.

So fun and just the right amount of snark and angst. Cute, lovable, and the most fun I’ve had reading a book in what feels like forever. I. Do. Not. Laugh. Out. Loud. At. Books. End of story. But this story had me laughing out loud and giggling like a little girl, then covering my mouth to stifle the insane urges to cackle like a madwoman.

I’m just more of the beer and football type while I’m at school. At home, it’s more chess and Scotch, but whatever. The point is, I saw at least five dudes in that classroom wearing nail polish. Nail polish.
I wouldn’t be caught dead.

I am SO happy I decided to read this after putting it off for so long- the only mistake I made? Waiting this long to read it. Or maybe I picked it up at the perfect time. Because as I finished last night, I was sitting there with a giddy, goofy smile on my face and I couldn’t have been happier. Preppy Price and Goth Girl for the win. Over and out.

ARC kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers) & iBooks (click on titles) ***Each book can be read as a standalone, but best enjoyed in order.***
Isn't She Lovely Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Broken Reviews: Chelsea	Crushed Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna

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