sass_sass's review
5.0
Unexpected
Loved this story. It takes place in the 90's and makes a lot of references to early 90's music, which was fun! There's an age gap situation and a triangle thing happening with her sister. It's a sloooow burn with a lot of awkwardness and tension.
Lake is a good girl, a people pleaser. She studies a lot to gain her father's attention/affection, in direct contrast to her sister, Tiffany, the rebel. This hot yet nice guy enters their orbit and sort of shakes things up. The older sister wants him to make her father angry and the younger sister just wants him. Obsessively, really. And I'm reminded of my weird teenage self with uncomfortable crushes on older guys lol. Honestly, I'm not sure how I survived to reach adulthood.
I loved how the relationship between Manning and Lake walked a fine line into risky territory without plunging over the edge. It felt like a total tease and I transported myself back into my 16 year old brain and wanted to dive into Manning, though I knew it was wrong. Forbidden pleasures are so decadent.
There's a lot more to the story about family expectations and pressure from parents and class discrimination...it's a great story. And it ends on a cliffhanger. Thank goodness I'm reading this years after it came out because I'd be angry having to wait, but instead I'm downloading the next book now! Hahaha!No sleep for me tonight! I loved this book!
Loved this story. It takes place in the 90's and makes a lot of references to early 90's music, which was fun! There's an age gap situation and a triangle thing happening with her sister. It's a sloooow burn with a lot of awkwardness and tension.
Lake is a good girl, a people pleaser. She studies a lot to gain her father's attention/affection, in direct contrast to her sister, Tiffany, the rebel. This hot yet nice guy enters their orbit and sort of shakes things up. The older sister wants him to make her father angry and the younger sister just wants him. Obsessively, really. And I'm reminded of my weird teenage self with uncomfortable crushes on older guys lol. Honestly, I'm not sure how I survived to reach adulthood.
I loved how the relationship between Manning and Lake walked a fine line into risky territory without plunging over the edge. It felt like a total tease and I transported myself back into my 16 year old brain and wanted to dive into Manning, though I knew it was wrong. Forbidden pleasures are so decadent.
There's a lot more to the story about family expectations and pressure from parents and class discrimination...it's a great story. And it ends on a cliffhanger. Thank goodness I'm reading this years after it came out because I'd be angry having to wait, but instead I'm downloading the next book now! Hahaha!No sleep for me tonight! I loved this book!
ammee411's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Ended on a clifhanger. Interesting enough to go on to book 2
smilagros's review
2.0
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. Like I understand Lake is 16 and she is extremely naive and innocent but she is so selfish and infuriating that because of her actions, she harmed others. I love Jessica Hawkins but this book was a major miss for me
rachelirvin's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ezichinny's review
5.0
My goodness. A story about sacrificial love with societal obstacles such as age, financial inequality (different sides of the track) and sibling rivalry.
I really enjoyed the palpable tension between Lake (minor girl) and Manning (adult male).
The narration is the icing on the cake.
Review to come
I really enjoyed the palpable tension between Lake (minor girl) and Manning (adult male).
The narration is the icing on the cake.
Review to come
renharms's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
carleneinspired's review
5.0
ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
Lake is 16, smart, and unaware of the world around her outside of her father's reading list and her college goals of USC. While she is quiet and unassuming, her older sister is brash, beautiful, and too willing to test her boundaries. Lake doesn't understand it, she just wants her fun sister, until she sees the man working construction across the way from their house. He takes an interest in her, he defends her. The feelings she has for him are new, but even though she saw Manning first, Tiffany saw him second. Lake's summer is marked with sunshine and those first moments of desire to be an adult. With summer camp as the backdrop, Lake and Tiffany push the boundaries and Manning's feelings for one are just a little too tied to the other.
"I wanted it. The smoke, the girl. My vices."
My feelings are raw, my thoughts are jumbled, and my heart aches for Lake, for Manning, and even for Tiffany. Jessica Hawkins is my go-to for angst, she brings truth and reality to a sub-genre that's been so overplayed. Not only did I connect with Lake from the very start, but I was transported into her, seeing life through her 16 year old eyes as she had her first crush, her first moment of desire to grow up, her first moment of questioning everything she'd been told about right and wrong. She's smart and ambitious, but also far more innocent than others her age. She's unaware of her youthful beauty, only just realizing that she mustn't do everything her father has laid out for her in his grand plans of success. Manning is the older man, an adult but still so much a child himself. His life hasn't been easy, but he tries so hard to do the right thing. Tiffany broke my heart a little, despite being that A-grade student in high school I felt like she was me the entirety of my college career. Every character felt like someone I knew, someone I either saw pieces of myself in or pieces of others. The setting was even more so realistic for me, as I grew up in the 90's and 00's on the coast of Orange County.
"Some invisible tether existed between us. Nobody could see it, not even us, but I felt it. I was sure Manning did, too. As long as we both knew it, that was enough for me. For now, at least."
Something in the Way is a bit of what I expected, but a lot more of what I didn't expect. It's a slow burn romance that truly feels like I remember it being when I was 16. That first crush, the blurred lines of right and wrong, and the truth of how image really can change everything, especially in the eyes of the law. Told from the dual POV's of Lake and Manning, we see the story from all sides. It's a coming-of-age story with well developed characters and the full gamut of emotions. Jessica Hawkins perfectly captured that moment in every teens life where they teeter between youthful, childhood fun and the realities of adulthood and the maturity that is slowly developing with each significant interaction in life. There's so many questions at that time, confusing feelings, and excitement that overwhelms it all. From start to finish, Something in the Way is that perfect glimpse at youth, summer, and first love. That cliffhanger? It just made me desperate for more, for answers, to see how life will turn out for all three.
"My world had been so dark before her. It worried me how far I'd go to keep that light in my life."
I've been listening to Jessica's Something in the Way playlist for about a month now, turns out she and I share very similar music tastes. Then I listened to it again while I read this book and it changed everything, transporting me back into the 90's and into the mindset I had at sixteen years old. There's nothing like that tightrope between being a child and being an adult, and all the feelings that come with it. Jessica Hawkin's brings it all to life with her beautiful prose and her delicate handling of emotions as she weaves this story together. Something in the Way is the first in a trilogy and it promises to be the kind of story that changes you, leaving a mark in your mind and in your heart.
Lake is 16, smart, and unaware of the world around her outside of her father's reading list and her college goals of USC. While she is quiet and unassuming, her older sister is brash, beautiful, and too willing to test her boundaries. Lake doesn't understand it, she just wants her fun sister, until she sees the man working construction across the way from their house. He takes an interest in her, he defends her. The feelings she has for him are new, but even though she saw Manning first, Tiffany saw him second. Lake's summer is marked with sunshine and those first moments of desire to be an adult. With summer camp as the backdrop, Lake and Tiffany push the boundaries and Manning's feelings for one are just a little too tied to the other.
"I wanted it. The smoke, the girl. My vices."
My feelings are raw, my thoughts are jumbled, and my heart aches for Lake, for Manning, and even for Tiffany. Jessica Hawkins is my go-to for angst, she brings truth and reality to a sub-genre that's been so overplayed. Not only did I connect with Lake from the very start, but I was transported into her, seeing life through her 16 year old eyes as she had her first crush, her first moment of desire to grow up, her first moment of questioning everything she'd been told about right and wrong. She's smart and ambitious, but also far more innocent than others her age. She's unaware of her youthful beauty, only just realizing that she mustn't do everything her father has laid out for her in his grand plans of success. Manning is the older man, an adult but still so much a child himself. His life hasn't been easy, but he tries so hard to do the right thing. Tiffany broke my heart a little, despite being that A-grade student in high school I felt like she was me the entirety of my college career. Every character felt like someone I knew, someone I either saw pieces of myself in or pieces of others. The setting was even more so realistic for me, as I grew up in the 90's and 00's on the coast of Orange County.
"Some invisible tether existed between us. Nobody could see it, not even us, but I felt it. I was sure Manning did, too. As long as we both knew it, that was enough for me. For now, at least."
Something in the Way is a bit of what I expected, but a lot more of what I didn't expect. It's a slow burn romance that truly feels like I remember it being when I was 16. That first crush, the blurred lines of right and wrong, and the truth of how image really can change everything, especially in the eyes of the law. Told from the dual POV's of Lake and Manning, we see the story from all sides. It's a coming-of-age story with well developed characters and the full gamut of emotions. Jessica Hawkins perfectly captured that moment in every teens life where they teeter between youthful, childhood fun and the realities of adulthood and the maturity that is slowly developing with each significant interaction in life. There's so many questions at that time, confusing feelings, and excitement that overwhelms it all. From start to finish, Something in the Way is that perfect glimpse at youth, summer, and first love. That cliffhanger? It just made me desperate for more, for answers, to see how life will turn out for all three.
"My world had been so dark before her. It worried me how far I'd go to keep that light in my life."
I've been listening to Jessica's Something in the Way playlist for about a month now, turns out she and I share very similar music tastes. Then I listened to it again while I read this book and it changed everything, transporting me back into the 90's and into the mindset I had at sixteen years old. There's nothing like that tightrope between being a child and being an adult, and all the feelings that come with it. Jessica Hawkin's brings it all to life with her beautiful prose and her delicate handling of emotions as she weaves this story together. Something in the Way is the first in a trilogy and it promises to be the kind of story that changes you, leaving a mark in your mind and in your heart.
shanbreads's review
4.0
loved the whole book, I wanted it to last forever.
A rollercoaster of emotions that had me ready to throw my kindle one minute, beat someone up and cry the next and swoon a heartbeat later.
The writing style and the angst in this book is just brilliant, you can feel the love and the pain in every word.
A definite must read for anyone who loves an angst filled emotional ride
A rollercoaster of emotions that had me ready to throw my kindle one minute, beat someone up and cry the next and swoon a heartbeat later.
The writing style and the angst in this book is just brilliant, you can feel the love and the pain in every word.
A definite must read for anyone who loves an angst filled emotional ride
naaanceers's review
5.0
Best forbidden romance
One of the best forbidden romanced. I have ever read, it brought my anxiety to another level. But it a good way, couldn’t set it down without knowing what was going to happen.
One of the best forbidden romanced. I have ever read, it brought my anxiety to another level. But it a good way, couldn’t set it down without knowing what was going to happen.