A review by rlisaacs
Storm by Carian Cole
3.0
Like a 3.25. There are certain parts of this that I liked... but also certain parts that didn't sit well with me.
I like these two together. Let's start with that. Evie and Storm are good for each other... in the end. But the road they took to get there was full of all these hurdles (some big and some little). And honestly, I didn't really see them all as necessary... or even all that believable. Or maybe there were just some that I didn't like.
Anyway, it wasn't necessarily the book for me, and I don't think I'll be reading the others of this particular series. I still want to read "Torn", which is a spin off of this series. (I listened to a podcast about that one, but after reading this one I'm going to go into that one a bit warier. Just depends on how similar of a read it is. We'll see.)
For those wanting specifics, AKA spoiler-type reasons why this wasn't my favorite read, check out the spoilers below.
Anyway, I'm not remembering specifics of all of their 'sexy times' in the beginning... but in the beginning, I know that there is no moment when she explicitly says that he can do the things he ends up doing to her. And yeah, she doesn't end up putting up that big of a fight. But guess what? If a woman that you're trying to feel up or trying to give pleasure to or get pleasure from says "stop"... you freaking stop! You don't say 'no'. You don't say 'wait'. You don't keep doing whatever it is like you know better than her. You don't!
And honestly, if he'd just paused in those moments, taken a minute to look at her and just asked, "Do you really want me to stop?" And then if she'd suddenly decided that no, she didn't want him to stop... I could've gotten on board with all of this. Even if she still ended up regretting the decision immediately after, I could've been more on Team Storm if that had been his approach. But it was not, and so I... I just can't.
Something else I can't stand, is how wishy-washy the heroine appears to be. At least, that's what it felt like to me. And I'm sorry, because maybe I'm just not understanding something about it. But she lets Storm do these things to her, and then feels immediate regret. Like, I get it, you're kind of getting lost in the moment. But Evie is also a person who is always thinking. She's always careful to do the right thing. And a person like that... I just don't see them, not even a full day after meeting a complete stranger, just diving off the deep end and not putting up more of a fight to stick to her guns and tell him to back off. She has a boyfriend! She's in a relationship already! Granted, not a great one, and we find out that he's a douche by the end of it. I mean, really, how she put up with him and his behavior at all is a complete other can of worms that we won't get into. But she is still with him when this stuff starts going down with Storm! And she just keeps letting it happen! Again... I just can't.
So basically, it's the beginning stuff that doesn't sit well with me. Because yes, I get that Evie isn't in a great relationship when she meets Storm. And he is all that and a bag of chips... kind of. But cheating, is cheating, is cheating. I don't care if they didn't go 'all the way'. I don't care if the first time it happened, they were still fully clothed. It's cheating! (My opinion anyway. Other people might feel different, but that's my opinion.)
One last thing that bothered me, and brace yourself because this is definitely a spoiler. But... she goes to one of his concerts, he drags her into a supply closet or something, and basically goes to town on her. (By the by, she never actually gave him consent here either. I don't think she told him to stop, but she definitely didn't say he could.) Anyway, afterwards, she gets mad (which I thought was understandable since she is STILL WITH THE OTHER GUY). He gets mad at her too, which I kind of understand but at the same time I feel like he set himself up there for her reaction to the whole thing. And then, at the end of the night... even though he's supposed to be falling in love with Evie... he goes off with some other girl associated with the band and has her give him a blow job! I... WHAT?!
I'm sorry. I'm a girl, so maybe I'm not understanding the male logic to the scenario. Or maybe other guys think that's as crazy as it sounds to me. But if you are supposed to be falling for someone else, talking about dedicating yourself to someone else and wanting to chase after and try and start a life with someone... you don't go off on a temper tantrum and have some other skank get you off because you had an argument and didn't see eye-to-eye. (Again, I get that she kind of left him high and dry. But I restate that she never asked for what he did to her in that supply closet, nor did she once say she was alright with it. She didn't fight it... but just because she didn't say 'no' doesn't mean she was freaking saying 'yes'. He shouldn't checked that crap before he got carried away.)
Anyway... after that is when things start looking up for our main characters. (Granted, the trip to his Gram's for Christmas happened before this, and that was a nice scene as well.) But after that whole incident is when they sort of agree to come to a middle-ground of understanding. She admits she wants him, he's already admitted he wants her. They agree from then on to not have relations with any other people, and she starts figuring out how she's going to break up with and get away from Michael (her still current boyfriend whom she is now planning to dump). From here on, I like their dynamic. And that's kind of what saved the book for me. Storm is sweeter, Evie is coming out of her shell. Storm is pushing her to experience things she'd never tried before, and Evie is working on things and keeping him updated on the status of her figuring her stuff out so she can be with him officially. It was good.
I had no problem whatsoever with Evie's insecurities. I just want to point that out. She has them, and by the end of it, she's owned them. I have no problem with her doubts and fears. I had a problem with her wishy-washy behavior in the first half of the book when she was still lamenting that she did still love Michael, her current boyfriend. That was what I didn't like about her, which I don't associate with her insecurities. Wanting to stay with Michael, I understand based on those insecurities. Constantly letting Storm getaway with doing stuff to her and not fighting him hard enough on it? That had nothing to do with insecurities, and I didn't like it.
Okay, I ranted a bit more than I thought I would, so I'm gonna stop now. Other people should definitely give this a try if the above mentioned things wouldn't bother them. And like I said, by the end of it, I was happy with them and where they ended up. It was the beginning that turned me off. (I did briefly consider not finishing it... but for me, the book has to be genuinely terrible for me to actually stop and not finish it, and this book didn't fall into that category, so I did finish it. Do with that what you will, people!)
I like these two together. Let's start with that. Evie and Storm are good for each other... in the end. But the road they took to get there was full of all these hurdles (some big and some little). And honestly, I didn't really see them all as necessary... or even all that believable. Or maybe there were just some that I didn't like.
Anyway, it wasn't necessarily the book for me, and I don't think I'll be reading the others of this particular series. I still want to read "Torn", which is a spin off of this series. (I listened to a podcast about that one, but after reading this one I'm going to go into that one a bit warier. Just depends on how similar of a read it is. We'll see.)
For those wanting specifics, AKA spoiler-type reasons why this wasn't my favorite read, check out the spoilers below.
Spoiler
Just gonna dive right in and put my biggest gripe with this book out there. And that is... CONSENT! It's a thing, people! It's real and it needs to be taken note of! (I know you're already aware of this, so don't get mad about the yelling. It's not at you. It's at the universe in general, more-like.)Anyway, I'm not remembering specifics of all of their 'sexy times' in the beginning... but in the beginning, I know that there is no moment when she explicitly says that he can do the things he ends up doing to her. And yeah, she doesn't end up putting up that big of a fight. But guess what? If a woman that you're trying to feel up or trying to give pleasure to or get pleasure from says "stop"... you freaking stop! You don't say 'no'. You don't say 'wait'. You don't keep doing whatever it is like you know better than her. You don't!
And honestly, if he'd just paused in those moments, taken a minute to look at her and just asked, "Do you really want me to stop?" And then if she'd suddenly decided that no, she didn't want him to stop... I could've gotten on board with all of this. Even if she still ended up regretting the decision immediately after, I could've been more on Team Storm if that had been his approach. But it was not, and so I... I just can't.
Something else I can't stand, is how wishy-washy the heroine appears to be. At least, that's what it felt like to me. And I'm sorry, because maybe I'm just not understanding something about it. But she lets Storm do these things to her, and then feels immediate regret. Like, I get it, you're kind of getting lost in the moment. But Evie is also a person who is always thinking. She's always careful to do the right thing. And a person like that... I just don't see them, not even a full day after meeting a complete stranger, just diving off the deep end and not putting up more of a fight to stick to her guns and tell him to back off. She has a boyfriend! She's in a relationship already! Granted, not a great one, and we find out that he's a douche by the end of it. I mean, really, how she put up with him and his behavior at all is a complete other can of worms that we won't get into. But she is still with him when this stuff starts going down with Storm! And she just keeps letting it happen! Again... I just can't.
So basically, it's the beginning stuff that doesn't sit well with me. Because yes, I get that Evie isn't in a great relationship when she meets Storm. And he is all that and a bag of chips... kind of. But cheating, is cheating, is cheating. I don't care if they didn't go 'all the way'. I don't care if the first time it happened, they were still fully clothed. It's cheating! (My opinion anyway. Other people might feel different, but that's my opinion.)
One last thing that bothered me, and brace yourself because this is definitely a spoiler. But... she goes to one of his concerts, he drags her into a supply closet or something, and basically goes to town on her. (By the by, she never actually gave him consent here either. I don't think she told him to stop, but she definitely didn't say he could.) Anyway, afterwards, she gets mad (which I thought was understandable since she is STILL WITH THE OTHER GUY). He gets mad at her too, which I kind of understand but at the same time I feel like he set himself up there for her reaction to the whole thing. And then, at the end of the night... even though he's supposed to be falling in love with Evie... he goes off with some other girl associated with the band and has her give him a blow job! I... WHAT?!
I'm sorry. I'm a girl, so maybe I'm not understanding the male logic to the scenario. Or maybe other guys think that's as crazy as it sounds to me. But if you are supposed to be falling for someone else, talking about dedicating yourself to someone else and wanting to chase after and try and start a life with someone... you don't go off on a temper tantrum and have some other skank get you off because you had an argument and didn't see eye-to-eye. (Again, I get that she kind of left him high and dry. But I restate that she never asked for what he did to her in that supply closet, nor did she once say she was alright with it. She didn't fight it... but just because she didn't say 'no' doesn't mean she was freaking saying 'yes'. He shouldn't checked that crap before he got carried away.)
Anyway... after that is when things start looking up for our main characters. (Granted, the trip to his Gram's for Christmas happened before this, and that was a nice scene as well.) But after that whole incident is when they sort of agree to come to a middle-ground of understanding. She admits she wants him, he's already admitted he wants her. They agree from then on to not have relations with any other people, and she starts figuring out how she's going to break up with and get away from Michael (her still current boyfriend whom she is now planning to dump). From here on, I like their dynamic. And that's kind of what saved the book for me. Storm is sweeter, Evie is coming out of her shell. Storm is pushing her to experience things she'd never tried before, and Evie is working on things and keeping him updated on the status of her figuring her stuff out so she can be with him officially. It was good.
I had no problem whatsoever with Evie's insecurities. I just want to point that out. She has them, and by the end of it, she's owned them. I have no problem with her doubts and fears. I had a problem with her wishy-washy behavior in the first half of the book when she was still lamenting that she did still love Michael, her current boyfriend. That was what I didn't like about her, which I don't associate with her insecurities. Wanting to stay with Michael, I understand based on those insecurities. Constantly letting Storm getaway with doing stuff to her and not fighting him hard enough on it? That had nothing to do with insecurities, and I didn't like it.
Okay, I ranted a bit more than I thought I would, so I'm gonna stop now. Other people should definitely give this a try if the above mentioned things wouldn't bother them. And like I said, by the end of it, I was happy with them and where they ended up. It was the beginning that turned me off. (I did briefly consider not finishing it... but for me, the book has to be genuinely terrible for me to actually stop and not finish it, and this book didn't fall into that category, so I did finish it. Do with that what you will, people!)