Monday, September 15, 2014

Review: Sublime by Christina Lauren


Sublime by Christina Lauren
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 14, 2014
Rating: 2 stars
Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

True love may mean certain death in a ghostly affair of risk and passion from New York Times bestselling duo Christina Lauren, authors of Beautiful Bastard. Tahereh Mafi, New York Times bestselling author of Shatter Me calls Sublime “a beautiful, haunting read".

When Lucy walks out of a frozen forest, wearing only a silk dress and sandals, she isn’t sure how she got there. But when she sees Colin, she knows for sure that she’s here for him.

Colin has never been captivated by a girl the way he is by Lucy. With each passing day their lives intertwine, and even as Lucy begins to remember more of her life—and her death—neither of them is willing to give up what they have, no matter how impossible it is. And when Colin finds a way to physically be with Lucy, taking himself to the brink of death where his reality and Lucy’s overlap, the joy of being together for those brief stolen moments drowns out everything in the outside world. But some lines weren't meant to be crossed…

What I Liked:

Here we go with the Pretty Cover Syndrome. Although, this cover is more haunting and ethereal, than really pretty. The positions of the two people on the cover are really cliche, but the people themselves are rather interesting. Nevertheless, I feel for the cover syndrome, and paid for it.

Lucy is dead, but she doesn't know it until later in the book. She just wakes up one day, walks to the boarding school that is nearby, and starts attending. Colin sees her for HER, unlike most of the students, who don't really see her until they really stare at her. Colin and Lucy fall in love. They're totally drawn to each other. So why is Lucy here? Is she haunting the school? Is she waiting for Colin? Who was she when she was alive? How did she die? Nothing seems to make sense, but nothing seems to matter when Colin and Lucy are together. But they may pay for the measures they take to be together...

One thing that I liked was how captivating this story was (or seemed to be). I wanted to know more, I wanted to find out what was going on, I wanted my questions to be answered. The authors really had me going, because I just could not figure out this book, as I was reading! Problem was, I couldn't figure it out after I finished the book. So. 

The romance is very steamy and very evocative and slow-burn and I love the physical nature of Colin and Lucy's relationship. On the emotional side, it was all insta-love/insta-lust, so the feelings were kind of supposed to be just THERE... but I like how sizzling the relationship was.

Moving on to the next section!

What I Did Not Like:

My biggest problem: while I LOVED not being able to figure out what was going on in the book (while reading), I finished the book and looked around, like, that's it? None of my questions were answered! I'm so confused! Literally EVERYTHING was left to my imagination! We have no idea why Lucy came back! We have no idea why it's Colin! One reason was given, but the authors made it seem like that wasn't the real reason. And then things happened with OTHER people like Lucy, and in the end, it contradicted everything that we knew to be true of Lucy and the other dead people. I. Don't. Understand. Anything.

Also the romance was very insta-love-y. While I mentioned that I love the physical nature of the relationship, I just could not understand how the two of them seemed to love each other that deeply from the start. Not typical teenage stuff... just saying.

Nothing happens in this book. Literally, nothing. Lucy pops up, she and Colin get to know each other, she disappears, comes back, they try to get to know each other more, things happen, the end. It felt like the same old, same old, back and forth, blah, blah, blah.

I know this doesn't seem like a lot of dislikes, but the ending and the feeling of dissatisfaction left me with a bitter aftertaste - I wanted to know more, I didn't get more, and I'm not going to get more (this is totally a standalone novel, given the ending alone).

Would I Recommend It:

Naahhh. Great cover, successful authors (apparently; I wouldn't know, as this is my first novel of theirs that I have read), horrible story. Seriously, I spent the whole book wondering what was going on, which is okay while reading... but not okay once you reach the end of the book and things still aren't cleared up.

Rating:

2 stars. Not a one-star-read because this one had me going for a while - I mean, I finished it really quickly, because I wanted to know what was going on. But not any higher than two stars because seriously, this book needs a negative rating from me. I just did NOT like it. 


Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

8 comments:

  1. Not a fan of books that leave everything for you to figure out what you want about them... nope, I need my answers!!
    Reading the summary I felt like it'd be too much romance-y and insta-love-y and I just feel like I did the right thing avoiding this one, not for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YUP. I don't like being in the dark. Avoiding this one is smart, Pili!

      Delete
  2. I read one recently that I double checked to make sure if it was part of a series, a spin-off or loosely connected to another series b/c of the way it made me feel. This sounds like something similar. I don't mind being carried along by a mysterious tone, but in the end, yeah, I want some answers. Sorry it frustrated you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Answers are important! I almost wish there were a sequel, I might have read it. Thank you, Sophia!

      Delete
  3. The synopsis scared me off within the first two sentences. ;) Oh well, your next read will be better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HA! And the book I read after this one was... Remember Me by Romily Bernard, which was good. Thank you, Kel!

      Delete
  4. "The romance is very steamy and very evocative..." Ha ha, that reminds me of Christina Lauren's adult series.
    I actually attended one of Christina and Lauren's signings for Sublime and completely forgot what they said exactly, but I do know that you were supposed to understand the concept of the book and that they left a kind of open ending? I don't know if that helps you any.
    As for the insta-love I witnessed, I AM STILL MENTALLY GAGGING.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha. Hahaha. There open endings, and then there's THIS O_O This was like, an OCEAN of open ending, instead of a pool or something.

      And right?! Maybe they were trying to go for that whole connection thing, or one true pair, or whatever, but it wasn't really working for me though.

      Delete

I love comments! I will always try and reply to your comments, as well as leave some comment love on your blog! :)

Also, this an award and tag free blog. While I am flattered that you would think of me, I really do not have the time to follow up. Thank you!