Friday, August 29, 2014

{Review} Shatter (True Believers #4) by Erin McCarthy


New Adult Contemporary Romance
Expected Release Date: September 2nd 2014
eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley


From the USA Today bestselling author of True, Sweet, and Believe comes a tantalizing New Adult novel about finding love in the most unexpected ways…

Kylie Warner prides herself on being optimistic, but after finding her best friend in bed with her boyfriend and flunking chemistry, her upbeat attitude has taken a dive. Even an impromptu hook-up with her sexy new chemistry tutor only brightens her mood slightly. After all, it’s not like she’ll ever see the tattooed scholar again…

While he’s a whiz at complex equations, Jonathon Kadisch has trouble when it comes to figuring out women. So when Kylie tells him that she’s pregnant after their night of passion, he’s at a complete loss. He’s prepared to be a good father—unlike his own deadbeat dad—but he’s less prepared to fall for the genuine and alluring blonde bearing his child.

With emotions running high, Kylie wonders if Jonathon’s devotion is out of growing love or looming obligation. And when heartbreak threatens to tear them apart, Jonathon will have to fight for the only girl who’s ever made him feel whole…






Shatter was the ONE book in this series I was looking forward to with bated breath. Kylie's story. Her turn in the spotlight and my hope that something beautiful would happen for her after such a crushing blow as she has suffered. If you're not familiar with the True Believers series that's a shame because these books are fantastic! In the third installment, BELIEVE, Kylie's best friend Robin had a drunken affair with her boyfriend. One she doesn't remember and ultimately dealt a blow to Kylie's ego and her overall self worth. It's a very painful thing to be cheated on but it's equally as soul crushing when it's someone you trust and care about.

Kylie wasn't my favorite female character in this series to begin with mainly because I didn't know her all that well. What I did know was that she was a fun, upbeat, outgoing party girl with a great personality. She was loyal and trustworthy to her friends and the people she cared about but I never really felt that I would ultimately connect with her. That was BEFORE the cheating incident, so after, naturally, my female solidarity kicked in and placed me across the battle line firmly on her side. Even though I enjoyed Robin's journey and saw how repentant she was I still felt that pull to be Team Kylie all the way. I've been cheated on several times and had a close friend do me the exact same way so it wasn't hard to feel that way after what happened to Kylie. With all the relationship drama going on Kylie's grades have started slipping and she calls in a tutor to help her in one of her classes. Johnathan is introduced as the inadvertent hot nerd who helps Kylie with her chemistry course work but ends up comforting her about her cheating ex the only way a guy really can. With his penis! Add in a dash of misunderstanding and a pinch of "We're expecting" and VOILA! You have the ultimate conflict. The baby thing threw me for a loop even though I read the synopsis a while back. I must have forgotten that tidbit. 

With Johnathan and Kylie being relative strangers to each other they have a lot to catch up on before they become parents. Kylie wasn't much of a deep pool but I liked her character. If you peeled her brain open you'd probably only find a Starbucks cup and some pink nail polish but that's OK. We can't all be oceans. What I liked about her was her willingness to roll with the punches. Yeah she was hurt and had her heart broken but she didn't let it keep her from experiencing love again. Her ex Nathan shows his idiot face again and again trying to get her to forgive him and I was very pleased to see her stand her ground with that asshole. I still don't understand why he wasn't taken to jail for his part in the cheating incident or why someone didn't beat his ass but whatever. It's in the past, and Kylie's moving on. Thankfully! Enter Johnathon. *Swoon* 

With every addition to this series McCarthy has written an exceptionally amazing guy. Tyler (meh he's OK), Riley (UNF!) and Phoenix (SHE'S NOT BREATHING!!! I CAN'T FIND A PULSE!!) were all amazing, sweet, loving and thoughtful men and Johnathon can be added to that group. He's the smart one of this equation with his super brain full of factoids and ya know...smart people...things. Nerds are so in and Uber sexy Johnathon with his silent stoicism and tattoo sleeve full of mathematical equations and science symbols really worked for me. Yes he's still a guy at heart and says stupid things that seem logical to him but to others come across as harsh but he was really such a sweetie pie. I wasn't the only one thrown for a loop with the baby thing because Johnathan had his heart stopping "OMG" moments but ultimately, because his Papa was an absentee douche, he decided to step up and handle his responsibilities. You gotta love that in a guy! 

Shatter had a different feel to it than the rest of the books in the series. I'm not sure if it was because this one featured a dual POV between characters or what but something just felt a little off for me. I'm not really sure why, maybe it's because the others had a close family feel to it and this one was sort of set apart due to the cheating thing. I kind of felt like it was an "US vs. THEM" kind of undertone but it wasn't a bad experience. I will say that I had higher hopes for Robin and Kylie's reconciliation. I mean I know Kylie was a little busy with baby issues (both happy and sad) plus juggling her relationship with Johnathon, finding out who she really is and what she wants out of life and a harassment issue her Chemistry professor but still. I wanted to see Kylie and Robin heal their friendship and I felt like it wasn't addressed enough. I felt like I was told it happened instead of actually seeing it. Another aspect of the story I took issue with was how Kylie handled herself during a particular traumatic event between her and Johnathon regarding her pregnancy. I sort of felt like for such a "heavy" moment it took her no time at all to get over it and move on to being the giggling party girl again and left me scratching my head. If it were me this had happened to, I'm pretty sure I would have been down for longer than two weeks but what do I know? My uterus is just UN-rented space right now, so...

Shatter is the final installment in the TRUE BELIEVERS series and judging by the way things wrapped up with everyone I'm fairly confident in saying that. Seeing all the secondary characters I have grown to love over the course of four books again was a great way to put a nice red bow on everything. Jessica and Riley had an endearing finale that made me swoon big time. Tyler and Rory went out as only those two oddball people can and Phoenix and Robin's closure was great to see because I do love Robin no matter what. I never blamed her for her part in what happened so I was glad she found peace and mended her friendship with Kylie in the end. Johnathan and Kylie battled so many crazy circumstances together but came through as a strong couple that made you feel like they could handle anything in the future. I won't say they were my favorite couple because it's hard to chose but I did thoroughly enjoy their romance. Most of the time when I finish a long series I feel kind of sad to say goodbye to the characters and the stories but McCarthy did such a great job with tying up loose ends with such a satisfying conclusion that I can't be sad. True Believers is a series you can't miss out on if you love good stories about flawed people trying to find someone to love you for who you are. Flaws and all.


Quotes:

"Was she hot?"
"Of course she was hot! I'm not going to bang a chick three hours after meeting her if she looks like my uncle Mike." eARC 15%

"Hey, how did it go?" Jessica asked as a greeting. "Remember when I said that I didn't  want to go see Johnathon again because I didn't want to ruin the good memory by finding out he's an asshat?"
"Uh-huh."
"I found out he's an asshat."
eARC 26%

She was different. I wanted to spend every night on her twin bed in her micro-apartment holding her against me. I wanted to make her laugh. I wanted to hear her stupid chemistry jokes and answer every one of her random and out-of-context questions. I wanted it to be her and me. For real. Not because we had to be but because we wanted to be together. eARC 77%



{Click pictures for Goodreads info}

Reviews:


About The Author:





USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author Erin McCarthy sold her first book in 2002 and has since written almost fifty novels and novellas in teen fiction, new adult, and adult romance. Erin has a special weakness for New Orleans, tattoos, high-heeled boots, beaches and martinis. She lives in Ohio with her family, two grumpy cats and a socially awkward dog.

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2 comments:

  1. Ahhhh yes! I so agree. I wasn't too sad seeing this one end. I mean. I would be happy for another one but it felt like a good ending as well. I've had such a good time with the series :)

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  2. Yeah, this one did have a different feel. I know Believe had alternate pov, too, but I can't remember if the first two did. Maybe it's bc Jonathon wasn't a Mann and I agree with the Us vs Them idea. I also agree with Kylie's reaction to the big event.
    Nice review!

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