Allow me to begin by saying I spent the first three quarters of the book wanting to headbutt Lindsey, the main character. She makes decisions and clearly understands the possible negative repercussions but goes through with them, anyway. I really respect the author for being so true to Lindsey’s personality and her faults. Lindsey makes decisions that are honest to who she is and her character is clearly defined throughout the story. While this didn’t work for me, individually, I think this is a real pull for many people looking to connect to the heroine of a story. She isn’t perfect and she makes decisions that aren’t the best but are what she’s capable of doing at the time. It may be a somewhat polarizing technique in writing as some readers are looking to relate to their heroines and others are looking to see the heroine they want to be. However, the technique doesn’t mean the book isn’t enjoyable.
It does mean, however, that it took me a little extra effort to make it to the action of the book because I kept yelling “why would you do that?”. It’s easy for me, the reader, to say this given I see more of her universe than Lindsey does. I acknowledge that. But in real life, I don’t have that capability and that’s what Ms. Langston is writing about.
This is, perhaps, the absolute best part of the book, as a whole. Ms. Langston, the author, never once sugar coats a character or makes him or her palatable. Rather, she has a character and she makes him or her absolutely real. You expect character archetypes in books. This is a book with no archetypes, just real people. Every character has a real flaw and some equal strengths, as well. Granted, the slicked-back dark-haired stock broker may be a type of stereotype and the blonde-haired golden-skinned surfer-beach-bum may strike you as a classic concept, their personalities are neither good nor good, but unique. She shows that each character identifies themselves with a particular stereotype in society, but maintain their individual selves, with equally unique intentions and traits. This adds a depth to all characters I don’t commonly see in similar books. These are now people, not characters, all of whom are as easily predictable as they are unpredictable.
There is no firm line between antagonist and protagonist. Just like in real life. Granted, from our perspective of the story through Lindsey, we are aware of who to consider the protagonist, Ms. Langston works hard to show the good and the bad in them, and it’s up to the reader to decide.
The professional growth of Lindsey is actually quite interesting and Ms. Langston is either an expert in market research and analysis or did some serious researching, herself. I was drawn into Lindsey’s professional discoveries without being overloaded with data. Ms. Langston did a truly remarkable job of not wasting words. They may not seem necessary at the time, but generally they applied at some point or another and drove the plot along.
Perhaps the only exception to this rule was the prologue. I understood Lindsey’s character enough from her breakdown (where the story actually begins) and her decisions from then on. It was a bit more than I needed and I kept expecting Steve to show up again at some point to provide the pivotal moment of emotional maturation.
This is a good segue into what I didn’t particularly enjoy in the story: character growth. Or lack thereof. The story seems somewhat half-finished. Even at the end of the book, Lindsey is making decisions and facing consequences near identical in concept to those in the beginning of the book. The plot ending was perfect and I loved it! However, the lack of character growth was notably anticlimactic. There was no real resolution because we never quite hit the actual character conflict.
The book is worth the read and I hope it does well among its contemporary peers. It’s smooth, easy-going, and realistic. It may not rank among my favorite books, but tastes aside, I think it deserves the TV show founded on it and I admit to being interested in watching.
I’m looking forward to the second book in the series with my fingers crossed that we see Lindsey’s growth into the unique strong woman we’ve seen hints is lurking inside.