anasmith7186896

Kate and Charlie are two strangers. Their lives so far have been far away from sunshine and rainbows. But when they meet something changed.

Kate is so alone, true she has friends, but there's no one whom she loves and who loves her back. Her entire life has been one betrayal after other, from her parents, her abusive boyfriend and lastly a guy who courted her and proposed to her as a bet. Waiting in your wedding dress for your fiancee to show up and finally accepting that he won't is traumatic. And that's the last straw.

Charlie, on the other hand, is completely to blame for his current circumstances. He's an extremely popular actor (before that he was an extremely popular singer) who simply can't deal with the price of fame. He hates all the people who think they know him because they watch him in movies or read about him in the gossip rags. He drinks, smokes, does drugs and sleeps with a lot women. Things take a really bad turn when a sixteen year old girl with whom he slept with overdoses on the coke he gave her. He has no one to care for him anymore.

First of all I have to admit that the book was riveting. I simply couldn't put it down (stayed up till 3am to finish it). It put me trough an emotional wringer. Kate and Charlie's lives are so tragic but seeing them come to love each other is incredible. I actually cried at some points.

On the other hand, there's a lot of drama in the book. The stuff that happens to them - hard to believe. From insane stalkers, paparazzi, and bunch of other things that are spoilerish. It was simply too much.

Kate I mostly liked. She had a hard life, but she mostly managed to be if not happy, then at least content. Charlie's the problem.

The stuff he did (the incident with the teenager I already mentioned), he managed to sleep with a mother and two daughters (not at the same time, but still), he was cruel to an unattractive girl that asked him for an autograph - and that's only during the book, who knows what else he did in the past. If I read something like that about an actor in RL, I would've been truly disgusted, even in fiction it wasn't pleasant. He's not a strong man, he's not capable of saving himself. He needs Kate.

I like the days they spent together in the beginning (before all the drama and misunderstandings). Opening up to each other (well, Charlie mostly, it took Kate longer), being playful, falling a tiny bit in love.

If I started to think about everything that happened, everything that disturbed me on some level, I would probably lower the rating, but I simply can't remember the last time a book made me feel this much. So I'm sticking to my original rating.

I'm not sure how much my review makes sense, but even several hours after I finished the book, I can't crystallize my thoughts. *still confused*

Rating:

4.5 stars