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lmrivas54's review
3.0
With a great plot and a slow pace, the story of Grayson and Savannah is tragic. They were best friends since they were 5 years old, fake-married when they were 10 years old, and wrenched away from each other soon after that.
Grayson and his family left town , his father was imprisoned for fraud and later killed in a raid. Ten years later, Gray is back in town, back in their posh private high school with revenge in his mind and the victim is Savannah.
After Gray left, Savannah’s life took a turn for the worst life imaginable. Her father turned into this monster, addicted to booze and drugs, and they had to move from their beautiful house into a derelict shack in the bad part of town. She’s still going to the same posh high school, thanks to the generosity of her dance teacher, who is also the mother of her current and only best friend Brady.
Savi keeps all other friends away from her existence so they don’t learn about her downturn in circumstances. This makes for a very lonely existence with only dance as her motivation and the goal for a scholarship in Juilliard, away from her father.
When Gray starts attending school, he’s at first hateful, vengeful, totally cruel. As the weeks pass, he starts to get conflicted because he really loved Savi and missed her. The author presents Savi and Gray like a couple who have loved each other deeply since childhood and their love surpasses absence and heartache.
There’s a long and protracted description of their days in school, the many ways that Gray humiliated Savi, how she responded, repeat and repeat. It got old after a while and I just wanted to know why the heck Gray hated her so much and to get over it already. They were both ten years old when they parted, what kind of nefarious deed could a little girl do that would ruin his life?
The plot was great but the pace was slow and it got especially slow midway through the story. I got tired soon with Gray’s pettiness, and saw no progress on the resolution of the story. Most of the forward action happens in the second part of the story when things got more dramatic, Savi took a more decisive participation and reunited with old friends. There were great emotional parts, a tad too much bullying, pace too slow, and not enough resolution of the problems.
It was a fantastic plot that sort of got stuck in the small details and didn’t move forward with the main purpose of the story. The final resolution was a little underwhelming and unexpected. I was not convinced with Gray’s issue with Savannah, it was a non issue for me, and didn’t justify the enmity. In the end, I loved how he eventually manned up and faced his issues.
I also had problems reconciling a Savannah that was so incisive at school, very snarky and assertive at school, with the submissive and downtrodden daughter at her home with her father. Eventually, she was shown as a kinder friend at school at more assertive at home and it balanced her personality for me. In the end, I would say that the first part of this book was a 3 star read and the second part was a 4 star.
Grayson and his family left town , his father was imprisoned for fraud and later killed in a raid. Ten years later, Gray is back in town, back in their posh private high school with revenge in his mind and the victim is Savannah.
After Gray left, Savannah’s life took a turn for the worst life imaginable. Her father turned into this monster, addicted to booze and drugs, and they had to move from their beautiful house into a derelict shack in the bad part of town. She’s still going to the same posh high school, thanks to the generosity of her dance teacher, who is also the mother of her current and only best friend Brady.
Savi keeps all other friends away from her existence so they don’t learn about her downturn in circumstances. This makes for a very lonely existence with only dance as her motivation and the goal for a scholarship in Juilliard, away from her father.
When Gray starts attending school, he’s at first hateful, vengeful, totally cruel. As the weeks pass, he starts to get conflicted because he really loved Savi and missed her. The author presents Savi and Gray like a couple who have loved each other deeply since childhood and their love surpasses absence and heartache.
There’s a long and protracted description of their days in school, the many ways that Gray humiliated Savi, how she responded, repeat and repeat. It got old after a while and I just wanted to know why the heck Gray hated her so much and to get over it already. They were both ten years old when they parted, what kind of nefarious deed could a little girl do that would ruin his life?
The plot was great but the pace was slow and it got especially slow midway through the story. I got tired soon with Gray’s pettiness, and saw no progress on the resolution of the story. Most of the forward action happens in the second part of the story when things got more dramatic, Savi took a more decisive participation and reunited with old friends. There were great emotional parts, a tad too much bullying, pace too slow, and not enough resolution of the problems.
It was a fantastic plot that sort of got stuck in the small details and didn’t move forward with the main purpose of the story. The final resolution was a little underwhelming and unexpected. I was not convinced with Gray’s issue with Savannah, it was a non issue for me, and didn’t justify the enmity. In the end, I loved how he eventually manned up and faced his issues.
I also had problems reconciling a Savannah that was so incisive at school, very snarky and assertive at school, with the submissive and downtrodden daughter at her home with her father. Eventually, she was shown as a kinder friend at school at more assertive at home and it balanced her personality for me. In the end, I would say that the first part of this book was a 3 star read and the second part was a 4 star.
averyjcmie's review against another edition
there is no fucking way a sane individual wrote this and sane individuals liked it. if you liked this book in any shape or form get help!!!!!
kirillsashas's review against another edition
5.0
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Sinner by Kelsey Clayton is the book that made me a fan of Kelsey. I can't even describe how much in love I am with this book. Like seriously, I couldn't even remember how much I have reread this book for the past year. It was extremely good that I can't help but enjoy every single page of this story. It got me hooked from the beginning till the end that I was able to finish everything in one night.
Let me just say that I'm a sucker for childhood friends to enemies to lovers. All the intensity, sexual tensions, and angst are just *chef kiss*. That's what I truly enjoy about the relationship between Savannah and Grayson. We can truly see their deep connection and how much they love each other until a misunderstanding happens that ended up causing their bonds to be broken. Ngl, the drama in this book definitely won me over. There were parts that are pretty heartwrenching but at least the groveling was done excellently.
Overall, it was a fantastic read for me since Kelsey has done a remarkable job in delivering the story of Grayson and Savannah. The storyline is really engaging and well developed. Not to mention that I love Kelsey's writing style. If you're a fan of new adult romance, then you definitely don't want to miss this. Believe me, this book is totally worth a read.
The Sinner by Kelsey Clayton is the book that made me a fan of Kelsey. I can't even describe how much in love I am with this book. Like seriously, I couldn't even remember how much I have reread this book for the past year. It was extremely good that I can't help but enjoy every single page of this story. It got me hooked from the beginning till the end that I was able to finish everything in one night.
Let me just say that I'm a sucker for childhood friends to enemies to lovers. All the intensity, sexual tensions, and angst are just *chef kiss*. That's what I truly enjoy about the relationship between Savannah and Grayson. We can truly see their deep connection and how much they love each other until a misunderstanding happens that ended up causing their bonds to be broken. Ngl, the drama in this book definitely won me over. There were parts that are pretty heartwrenching but at least the groveling was done excellently.
Overall, it was a fantastic read for me since Kelsey has done a remarkable job in delivering the story of Grayson and Savannah. The storyline is really engaging and well developed. Not to mention that I love Kelsey's writing style. If you're a fan of new adult romance, then you definitely don't want to miss this. Believe me, this book is totally worth a read.
evywohlman's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
almog_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
booklovershangout's review against another edition
4.0
Kelsey Clayton is a new to me author, but I am completely addicted to bully romance stories, so I knew I had to read this. I am so glad I did. It is so different from any that I have read before and I absolutely enjoyed it. I will be going back and looking for more. It is intense and emotional and held me captive the entire read. I could not put this book down. I will definitely be looking forward to reading more from this author and this series.
carlanicole's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
blvelances's review against another edition
2.0
i picked up this book because savannah and grayson were referenced in other books by this author and i thought they were cute. boy was i wrong.
when writing enemies/vendetta/bullying whatever tropes it’s better when both sides have spunk. here, savannah is just a doormat, trying to survive her abusive father and hiding her secrets while she starts being bullied by her former best friend... and she does nothing. she doesn’t even refuse to blow him when he’s mentioning hooking up with her ‘friend’ before and after.
she’s also disappointed he didn’t take advantage of her when she was drunk when she wakes up not even remembering the night before (wtf)
no woman deserves to be with an abusive man, but here, she already has an abusive father... and you’re telling me her soulmate is a guy who choked her at school, treated her like shit, called her his propriety, punches walls when she refuses to sleep with him and jumps guys in the street because he thinks savannah is dating them? that’s a guy i’m supposed to be rooting for ???
i hope people realize that violent men who think about hurting people all day long, and even act on it. men who bully, manipulate and want to control their partner, are not people you should stay with. they’re the real villains.
and once again with this author, the girl is a virgin, waiting to “give herself” to the guy... while he’s a manwhore and you even get scenes of him hooking up with chicks within the book. it’s time to let go of this fantasy or whatever it is because it’s harmful.
there’s so much more wrong with this book and i’m so disappointed because i genuinely didn’t expect savannah to be such a doormat and gray to be such an asshole.
and the biggest problem is that his behavior isn’t called out, it’s even PRAISED. this author likes her toxicity and obviously doesn’t believe women deserve much. a woman’s worth is her virginity, guys can have sexual partners but girls should wait, girls have to be doormat for terrible guys who treat them like shit but “love them” and it’s okay to be violent constantly. awesome
when writing enemies/vendetta/bullying whatever tropes it’s better when both sides have spunk. here, savannah is just a doormat, trying to survive her abusive father and hiding her secrets while she starts being bullied by her former best friend... and she does nothing. she doesn’t even refuse to blow him when he’s mentioning hooking up with her ‘friend’ before and after.
she’s also disappointed he didn’t take advantage of her when she was drunk when she wakes up not even remembering the night before (wtf)
no woman deserves to be with an abusive man, but here, she already has an abusive father... and you’re telling me her soulmate is a guy who choked her at school, treated her like shit, called her his propriety, punches walls when she refuses to sleep with him and jumps guys in the street because he thinks savannah is dating them? that’s a guy i’m supposed to be rooting for ???
i hope people realize that violent men who think about hurting people all day long, and even act on it. men who bully, manipulate and want to control their partner, are not people you should stay with. they’re the real villains.
and once again with this author, the girl is a virgin, waiting to “give herself” to the guy... while he’s a manwhore and you even get scenes of him hooking up with chicks within the book. it’s time to let go of this fantasy or whatever it is because it’s harmful.
there’s so much more wrong with this book and i’m so disappointed because i genuinely didn’t expect savannah to be such a doormat and gray to be such an asshole.
and the biggest problem is that his behavior isn’t called out, it’s even PRAISED. this author likes her toxicity and obviously doesn’t believe women deserve much. a woman’s worth is her virginity, guys can have sexual partners but girls should wait, girls have to be doormat for terrible guys who treat them like shit but “love them” and it’s okay to be violent constantly. awesome
vlccjdv's review against another edition
5.0
Great story!
A slow burn bully romance with passion and excitement. Savi and Grey are definitely one of my favourite couples! 5 big fat stars!!
A slow burn bully romance with passion and excitement. Savi and Grey are definitely one of my favourite couples! 5 big fat stars!!