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Deeper (by Robin York) Main Discussion (SPOILERS)
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Beth
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Jan 31, 2014 08:03AM
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Holy crap, why did you do this to me? I just devoured this and the next one doesn't come out until JULY. I need to process...
Ok, actual thoughts. I didn't even know there was such a thing as NA until all of the buzz surrounding Beautiful Disaster. At the time I was all, what is this "not applicable" fiction genre? Being not all that impressed with Beautiful Disaster, I haven't really read much NA since then, so someone in the know clue me in; is the good girl/bad boy/small college thing a big NA trope?
This book, for me though, was so much better, so much ... deeper (*snerk*) than Beautiful Disaster. West manages that all important balancing act where he is a believable bad boy but not an abusive, controlling asshole. West and Caroline felt like they had a real relationship, one I wouldn't call the police about if I witnessed it in real life. Is my bar too low here?
I don't know, when I try to break it down there's really not much going on in this book that I haven't seen elsewhere. I just got so swept up in it; I truly couldn't put the story down.
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I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that they didn't have smart phones and all this social media when I was in college. As a 30 something old we barely had cell phones let alone cameras on them. And also am glad I live in the great state of New Jersey that has laws against 'revenge porn'
I devoured this in one night. I actually really like all the characters, which is rare for NA. Except for Nate, for obvious reasons. Literally wanted to throw my book every time he appeared, because he's just such a pathetic ass. Which is a good thing, since he IS the villain of the story.The premise of the story is so relevant for the time we live in, which is a scary, scary thing. I think that's what made this book stand out from other NA. Having the female lead with an actual real back story instead of it just being the usual girl meets boy, insta-love, sex, lame drama, the end.
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http://thats-normal.com/2014/02/boozy...
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Things I liked:
- Some of the sex scenes
- West when not in his POV
- Addressing revengeporn
- Caroline in the last 1/4 of the story
Things I sorta hate:
- Caroline for 3/4 of the story
- Alternating POVs
- West's POV
- Feeling like I'm reading fan fiction
- The cover to this book
I definitely feel you on some of that Jamie (the cover...ugh). What specifically did you not like about West's POV, though, if you don't mind my asking? I actually thought it helped make him seem less like a jerk, which I appreciated. I think alternating POVs are really hard to do well, so I'm wondering if I'm maybe being a little too forgiving.
Too much licking. Otherwise I liked it.
Julia wrote: "Too much licking. Otherwise I liked it."I'm a pretty big stats nerd + I'm bored at home on a snow day, so I investigated.
A word search on my kindle indicates 24 incidences of the word lick or licking (plus what seem to be an abnormally large sampling of flicking and slicking). The book clocks in at 402 pages, so that is one lick per 16.75 pages
For comparison sake, I pulled up a couple of other romance novels on my kindle:
Nalini Singh's Heart of Obsidian: 8 licks, 384 pages (1 lick per 48 pages)
Courtney Milan's Proof By Seduction: 12 licks, 347 pages (1 lick per 28.9 pages)
Sherry Thomas's Luckiest Lady in London: 4 licks, 298 pages (1 lick per 74.5 pages)
So a preliminary sampling shows that, yes, Deeper does indeed have a higher than normal rate of licking.
... God, I need to go back to work.
Ha! That's amazing, Anne. I'm so glad my opinion has statistical merit! It's really the only thing that bothered me in the book. At one point Caroline is trying to say words while West is supposedly licking her lips and In my mind I just saw lots of slobber and maybe an SNL skit...
Anne wrote: "Julia wrote: "Too much licking. Otherwise I liked it."I'm a pretty big stats nerd + I'm bored at home on a snow day, so I investigated. "
Anne, You are the best ever.
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Our google hangout for Deeper will have a special guest!! The author Robin York will be joining us, so if you have particular questions for her, post them here!
http://thats-normal.com/2014/02/actua...
zomg...ask her what happens next!!1!(I was fine with the ending as it was -- it felt very complete -- until I read the snippet of the next book at the back of my kindle edition. I don't do well with suspense)
Ok, real question. I'm curious as to if/how she approaches writing NA differently from her classics romance titles; both the sexytimes and the overall plot. in her mind, does the NA genre demand anything different storywise other than the protagonists' ages?
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(I was fine with the ending as it was -- it felt very complete -- until I read the snippet of the next book at the back of my kindle edition. I don't do well w..."
great question Anne! I have SO many questions about NA. I have a feeling we will talk about that as thoroughly as time allows.
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I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm a lot more able to suspend disbelief and accept unrealistically devoted/emotional men in true fantasy stories as opposed to those set in college. Anyone else?
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ABSOLUTELY. Fantasy changes and alters all the rules of reality, so I can accept almost anything. How many guys in college are super into finding and obsessing over THE girl? But a 200 year old werewolf? Yeah, he needs his mate. Pronto.
Elise wrote: "I liked this book despite myself, which is probably true for a lot of the books we read here, haha. West seems like yet another unrealistic fictional guy dreamed up by a female author. But then I s..."I think along with the tendencies towards creating these unrealistic guys,a lot of NA authors tend to do the complete opposite with the female lead. A lot try and make them so super relatable, but most of the time it just induces a huge eye roll at their so-called flaws. Like, I'm not going to go "hey, she's not a morning person, just like me! Now I can totally forgive her for being such a lame pushover!" However, I don't think this applied to Caroline too much. She has a spine.
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Oh this gave me a much-needed laugh. You're so right.
I liked this book but judging from the excerpt from the next book, I think I'm going to love it! West never felt believable to me until his life started unraveling. He had too much wrong with him (drug dealer, former gigolo, abused father, caregiver for him mom/sister, etc) to be living a happy little life. I think seeing him at a low point will make him more interesting and believable. And maybe he licks less now :)
For starters, I really liked this book. I enjoyed the story and the arc of Caroline and West's friendship - him pulling her back out of her shell at the bakery. It almost felt a little fast (the voices disappearing) but I think it was more the time frame being glossed over. (Plus, I think it would take me longer and I doubt I would ever be able to do a blow job shot again let alone in public.)West sort of made me think of an amalgamation of guys from 80s films - I feel like there was a bad boy sleeping with a mom in Valley Girl - or maybe just bad boys of film. A movie character. (I realize they are fictional but Caroline felt more like a RL person.)
I'm looking forward to seeing Caroline's fight in book 2 (loved her confronting Nate at his house with his mom hopefully listening in the background cause damn right she should disown him!) but I'm also really curious about West based on the exerpt. Because there wasn't much of Deeper West in that guy so I need an explanation about that Ms. York!
Oh, also, I have to point out the Bella Swan/Twilight reference (pg 88?) Holla! Although, since I think that's been a discussion on TN, there's really a question in there for Robin about referencing current events and does that date books and make them less relatable/appealing to readers in the future? And since it was mentioned above, did she get to choose the cover or did the publisher?
One more: Has she considered writing about revengeporn in a YA format? (Or has someone already done that?) During my read I was thinking about how this should really be a cautionary tale for younger girls without all the graphic sex scenes. When I was 15, I was hearing about sexcapades of classmates but not many had cameraphones yet and Facebook certainly wasn't around. I know many parents talk about what is acceptable to post but the other issue is what photos others are taking of you. Or are teens up to speed on all this already? Like, HEY, TEENAGER WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING. READ THIS BOOK. IT COULD HAPPEN. I skimmed the author's notes and she referenced that only two states have laws for revengeporn (is she working with any lobbying groups??) and with a kid under 18 there are obviously laws already but better if it doesn't happen in the first place.
Sorry so long again - I have trouble being concise. :) Looking forward to the Hangout tonight!
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Wow, such a good call there. You're totally right - he had that slightly campy so-bad-he's-almost-textbook vibe about him.
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I will do my best to get the revenge porn into YA question in tonight, Kathryn. I agree. I would love for younger teens to read the cautionary aspect of this (along with Caroline's strength) but YEESH the sex words. THE SEX WORDS!!!! I'm still coming to grips with how I feel about that. I had trouble recommending this one to my ADULT friends.
