Source: Purchased
Format: Kindle eBook
Series: More #1
Released: 2013
Goodreads | Amazon
SUMMARY
*Mikayla*
In one night my fairytale ended. Or it may have begun. This is my story of friendship and love, heartbreak and desire, and the strength to show weakness.
*Jake*
One night I met a girl. A sad and broken girl, but one more beautiful than any other. She laughed through her sadness, while I loved through her heartbreak.
*This is our story of a maybe ever after.*
He was right. It made no difference whether it was 6 months or 6 years.
I couldn’t undo what had been done. I couldn’t change the future.
I couldn’t even predict it.
It was one night.
One night when everything changed.
It was so much more than just the betrayal.
It was the Tragedy.
The Deaths.
The Murders.
But it was also that feeling.
The feeling of falling.
REVIEW
I just recently finished the fourth book in this series (More Than Forever, which releases on July 12) and I think all of my fellow bloggers will agree that love for a series can sometimes better your opinion of each individual book. I'm (not entirely) sad to say that I feel extremely biased toward this series (and this book) after reading the three books that follow this one. Not that I didn't love it when I first read it, but I had an issue or two at first, but now I just don't even care.
I bought More Than This on a whim. I'd never read anything dubbed "New Adult" before so this was a big step for me. I'm sure most of you know some of the controversy surrounding NA: that it's just erotica with a new name and younger characters; that it's just YA with explicit sex, that it's all garbage, etc. It's hard to get past the stereotypes when everyone you know and trust is saying there's no reason to give it a chance.
The Goodreads community reviews for MTT are what did me in. After seeing a ton of 4 and 5 star reviews for it, I wanted to read it pretty badly. Not to mention the air of mystery surrounding what went down in this book. I can't seem to control myself when people hold out on me like that. I had to find out for myself.
MTT starts out a little emotional, but sweet and funny and you'll be sitting there thinking, "Hm, I think I might like this one," and then WHAM. Jay McLean hits you right between the eyes with a curveball and you're like WHAT THE FUCK?! I'm pretty sure that exact phrase came out of my mouth several times after the first few chapters of this book. Things get pretty intense right away.
There were two things that I didn't necessarily like when reading MTT: the first was that the book, being self-published was... a bit less polished than what I'm used to. McLean's writing style is wonderful, it's powerful... but sometimes I cringed a bit inside when reading certain sentences. That's not to say they were bad, just that as someone who writes, maybe I would've written it differently. But I'm not a published author with one hell of a fan base, so I'm probably not the best person to judge.
The other thing was the sexual tension. It was intense, sometimes it was downright hysterical, but after a while it got to be plain annoying. Maybe that's what McLean was going for - I can't honestly say. But I know I would've enjoyed it a lot more without feeling the need to roll my eyes during certain part of the book waiting for you-know-what to happen. Honestly though, neither of these issues even mattered to me by the time I got halfway through the book. I was hooked and nothing could have stopped me from loving this book as much as I do.
Some of my favorite things about this book, however, include the adorable love story told effortlessly with one hell of a crazy subplot, as I mentioned before, Jay McLean's powerful (if not perfect) writing style, and the group of friends we are introduced to in MTT. I've never loved a group of friends in a book as much as these. I laughed so hard I cried - several times. They really helped make this book what it is.
Without giving too much away, I'll simply say that experiencing the way Micky and Jake's relationship developed after the traumatic events at the beginning of the book was just beautiful. I cried, I laughed - damn, did I laugh - and found myself grinning for hours after finishing. I think I also need to add that I finished this book in one day. ONE DAY. I generally read pretty fast, don't get me wrong, and the book wasn't incredibly long or anything, but I read this one during every free second I had (at work, on the bus, in between doing things at home).
MTT was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between myself and the More series. It's definitely a favorite series of mine and you'll get to hear all about it this week and next when I review the next two! :)
MTT starts out a little emotional, but sweet and funny and you'll be sitting there thinking, "Hm, I think I might like this one," and then WHAM. Jay McLean hits you right between the eyes with a curveball and you're like WHAT THE FUCK?! I'm pretty sure that exact phrase came out of my mouth several times after the first few chapters of this book. Things get pretty intense right away.
There were two things that I didn't necessarily like when reading MTT: the first was that the book, being self-published was... a bit less polished than what I'm used to. McLean's writing style is wonderful, it's powerful... but sometimes I cringed a bit inside when reading certain sentences. That's not to say they were bad, just that as someone who writes, maybe I would've written it differently. But I'm not a published author with one hell of a fan base, so I'm probably not the best person to judge.
The other thing was the sexual tension. It was intense, sometimes it was downright hysterical, but after a while it got to be plain annoying. Maybe that's what McLean was going for - I can't honestly say. But I know I would've enjoyed it a lot more without feeling the need to roll my eyes during certain part of the book waiting for you-know-what to happen. Honestly though, neither of these issues even mattered to me by the time I got halfway through the book. I was hooked and nothing could have stopped me from loving this book as much as I do.
Some of my favorite things about this book, however, include the adorable love story told effortlessly with one hell of a crazy subplot, as I mentioned before, Jay McLean's powerful (if not perfect) writing style, and the group of friends we are introduced to in MTT. I've never loved a group of friends in a book as much as these. I laughed so hard I cried - several times. They really helped make this book what it is.
Without giving too much away, I'll simply say that experiencing the way Micky and Jake's relationship developed after the traumatic events at the beginning of the book was just beautiful. I cried, I laughed - damn, did I laugh - and found myself grinning for hours after finishing. I think I also need to add that I finished this book in one day. ONE DAY. I generally read pretty fast, don't get me wrong, and the book wasn't incredibly long or anything, but I read this one during every free second I had (at work, on the bus, in between doing things at home).
MTT was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between myself and the More series. It's definitely a favorite series of mine and you'll get to hear all about it this week and next when I review the next two! :)
RATING: ★★★★ - Really Enjoyed It!
I enjoyed the hell out of this book. It's one that I hold dear to my heart. I even forced a few people to go out and read it, including my sister, who is finishing up the third book as we speak. While there were a few things that I didn't love such as the less-than-"polished" writing and the beyond annoying sexual tension between the main characters, the supporting characters and the powerful, heart-achingly beautiful story made me love this book, and eventually love this series so much!
If you haven't heard of this book or this author, I recommend you get off your butt right this second and go get acquainted. As a matter of fact, the kindle ebook is only $0.99 right now on Amazon (click the link above in the description to check it out). It's for a limited time only and it'll be the best dollar you've ever spent on a book!
Have any of you read this book yet? What did you think? Other than the extreme sexual tension (because I know that had to bug the hell out of you), what did you think?
Let's talk books!
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