A Disappointment // ARC Review: As She Fades by Abbi Glines

Title: As She Fades
Author: Abbi Glines
Publication Date: April 3rd 2018
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Macmillan INTL (Thank You!)
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Foyles || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: On the night of her high school graduation, Vale McKinley and her boyfriend Crawford are in a terrible car accident that leaves Crawford in a coma. They were supposed to spend the summer planning for college, for a bright future full of possibility. Together. Instead, Vale spends long days in the hospital, hoping Crawford will awaken.
Slate Allen, a college friend of Vale's brother, has been visiting his dying uncle at the same hospital. When he and Vale meet, she can't deny the flutter of an illicit attraction. She tries to ignore her feelings, but she's not immune to Slate's charm. Slowly, they form a cautious friendship.
Then, Crawford wakes up . . . with no memory of Vale or their relationship. Heartbroken, Vale opts to leave for college and move on with her life. Except now, she's in Slate's territory, and their story is about to take a very strange turn.

DISCLAIMER: I read from an ARC and as I have no access to a finished copy, I'm unable to check if any of the quotes from below have changed.  

*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*

THIS BOOK LET ME DOWN.

No, let me correct that statement – this book MORE THAN LET ME DOWN.

In all honestly, As She Fades MADE ME ANGRY, and BORED ME ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Angry because these characters were NOT well developed, the writing was SO AWKWARD AND STILTED AND UNBELIEVABLE and also BORED me because the story was predictable, the characters felt 2-d and unrealistic and THIS JUST WAS NOT A BOOK I ENDED UP ENJOYING.

In fact, it got SO BAD that by the time I was at around page 180, I just flipped to the end and read the last chapter, just to be done with it all.

THINGS I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK:

1.       THE WRITING:

“I watched as he walked out of the room. He really did have his own special swagger. It was hard not to watch. The bad-boy persona fit him well. But now I had been given a peer into his heart. And apparently it was pretty big. Not self-centred like I had thought."

IT JUST DOESN’T READ WELL, YOU KNOW? The writing made me not like the plot and the characters (BOTH OF WHICH I WILL GET TO LATER)

It was like the concept of commas, semicolons or hyphens were LOST on this book. It might have changed in the finished copy, but I simply couldn’t get into this stilted writing.

2.       THE CHARACTERS (The Vale Edition):

This story is told from ‘GOOD GIRL’ Vale and ‘BAD BOY’ Slate’s points of view. And, quite honestly, I couldn’t like either of them.

Even when things were told from Vale’s point of view, I just couldn’t connect with her. She made major life decisions within one page, and they held almost no emotion. She was jealous, petty and when the plot twist came to life, I JUST DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLE BE A “CHANGED” PERSON WHEN YOU’VE SPENT OVER A MONTH IN A COMA, LITERALLY UNCONSCIOUS? It just felt like such a cop-out story, the way the narrative changed purely for the ‘shock’ factor even though it didn’t make any sense.

3.       THE BAD BOY TROPE (The Slade Edition):

If I read this book six to eight years ago, I probably would’ve liked it. But, as my feminist side has evolved. HORRIBLE TROPES LIKE THE ALMOST EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE BAD BOY TROPE are things I’ve come to HATE.

SLATE: “I didn’t need a verbal answer. Your eyes told me. Now I’m asking you why.”

?? EYES DO NOT GIVE OUT ANSWERS, RIGHT??

SLATE: “…Vale asked. She had a really good voice. The sadness in her eyes was hard not to look at. It bothered me. A girl like her should be protected. Not have to face hard shit.”

I CANNOT EVEN EXPLAIN ALL THE THINGS WRONG WITH THAT LINE. So BOYS can face “hard shit” but girls are delicate princesses that just need to sit on their feather beds all day? WHAT EVEN.

In my honest opinion, I don’t think this book is worth it. I can see how some people MIGHT think it is romantic, and I would’ve thought so too, almost a decade ago, but it’s JUST NOT. TREAT GIRLS EQUALLY. CONSENT AND VERBAL CONSENT ARE IMPORTANT.

I didn’t have a good time reading this book. 1.75 Stars. 

Abbi Glines is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Rosemary Beach, Sea Breeze, Vincent Boys, Field Party and Existence series. She never cooks unless baking during the Christmas holiday counts. She believes in ghosts and has a habit of asking people if their house is haunted before she goes in it. She drinks afternoon tea because she wants to be British but alas she was born in Alabama. When asked how many books she has written she has to stop and count on her fingers. When she’s not locked away writing, she is reading, shopping (major shoe and purse addiction), sneaking off to the movies alone, and listening to the drama in her teenagers lives while making mental notes on the good stuff to use later. Don’t judge.

You can connect with Abbi online in several different ways. She uses social media to procrastinate.

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