Deeper

3.5

“Promise me,” I say, even though I wasn’t going to. Even though I swore to myself I wouldn’t make a single demand. “Promise me you’ll be my friend. Promise me you’ll call me, text me, tell me what’s going on with you. Promise if you’re awake in the middle of the night, if you’re alone, if you need somebody—” He lifts his head and wipes my tears away again, this time with his thumbs. “I promise.” “You’re going to need a friend.” “Yeah.” “I want to be your friend, West.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “You’re already my friend, Caroline Piasecki.” I'm not even fucking sure if this book deserves five stars but I'm kinda under a spell of giving every romance book best rating so

There are a lot of great things about this book, including the awesome characters, important messages, and an interesting storyline. Caroline is a bright student with good friends and a supportive family. But sometimes, scandals happen to good people and her future starts looking dimmer when her ex posts pictures of her in "compromising" positions (compromising not being a strong enough word). West is a shady, drug dealing awesome guy just trying to make ends meet for not only himself but his family. As far as their relationship goes, Caroline and West aren't friends, they're just two people who hang out and talk (and secretly have feelings for each other). Unfortunately, everything is extremely complicated with West's family and Caroline's scandal, neither are ready or even able to commit. The author does a great job showing that people are not what they appear to be on paper, they can be so much more. The crappy things that happen to people or even the things that people do don't necessarily define them. We are more than what we look like on paper, and that's what's important. Revenge porn is a huge deal, no matter what law-makers/people/crappy exes say. It's a way of making someone feel violated and small. Like too many other crimes, revenge porn makes people blame the victim instead of the one who posted it to hurt that person. We all got the warnings, but when it comes down to it, this could happen to just about anyone. It may seem harmless or even a joke but its anything but. The laws need to change. All in all, I was pleased with this book. My only complaint is the ending but luckily there should be another one (at least according to goodreads...). I can't wait! *I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.*

Deeper by Robin York is actually a tricky one to review for me. I am torn with my feelings on it. At first it took me days to actually get into the story. However, once I got to the halfway point in the story I couldn't put it down. Deeper is about the after math of "Revenge Porn". Caroline's ex boyfriend posts sex pictures of her online and Caroline is completely damaged by this. She loses all her confidence. However, as she is trying to cope she ends up befriending West. As they grow closer Caroline grows as person and tries to move forward from the online pictures. But it's not an easy ride. Read full review: http://totally-bookalicious.blogspot....

Find this review and more at kimberlyfaye reads . Do you see that? "Caroline and West #1"… Best. News. Ever. I didn't realize this was part of a series when I began reading, but holy crap, I could do cartwheels because I'm so happy about it. I'm not ready to let these characters go yet. "When you've got a shot at deeper, you have to fist your hands in its T-shirt and pull it closer. Tug until fabric rips. Yank at it, reel it in until it's naked up against your belly and you're starving and full, desperate and satiated, dizzy and grounded." Deeper was an incredible book. It was deep and beautifully written. It dealt very honestly with some very deep issues. It was raw. The chemistry between Caroline and West was powerful. There were elements about their relationship that reminded me so much of Katja Millay's The Sea of Tranquility – one of my all-time favorite books. The friendship between Caroline and Bridget was fantastic. I'm absolutely in awe of this book. "You arm yourself with love, friends, knowledge. You figure out who you are. What you want. You figure it out, and you go after it with everything you've got." There's just so much about this book that is fantastic. Everything from the characters and their development to the writing itself and the up and downs of the plot to the brilliant dialogue is absolute perfection. I devoured it in an evening, staying up way past my bedtime because I just couldn't think of putting it down until I found out what happened. The storyline was robust. There were so many different elements that I couldn't begin to predict what would happen next. "Girls like me – or I guess, girls like the one I was last August – we eat approval. We live for it. So when we do something dumb – or, say, when we do something really monumentally idiotic – we know." Caroline was a good girl. A good girl who dated the wrong guy. A guy who ended up posting "revenge porn" photos of her, along with her name and contact info, all over the internet. Now her future plans of being a judge and eventually being in public office are hanging in the balance of one dumb decision. I felt such deep sympathy for Caroline because of the mess she was dealing with. What her ex-boyfriend Nate did to her had to be one of the most heinous betrayals possible. The abuse that she dealt with - the phone calls and rude comments and everything else - was disgusting. It's so difficult for me to believe that someone would be capable of doing something like that to a person they once cared about, but I know it happens. I just can't wrap my head around it. "Love is what fucks people up. Love is the undertow." West, a baker, drug dealer and waiter with a very colorful past, isn't perfect- far from it actually - but it didn't matter. He was a beautifully broken man who wants to fix other people. He was fiercely protective, mysterious and sexy as hell. There was an intensity to him that just jumped off the pages, regardless of who he was interacting with. But there was something magical about his scenes with Caroline, whether they were pretending to be not friends, friends or something in between. The sexual tension leaped off the screen and when they finally gave in to their desires, I thought my iPad might combust. "Bridget likes to pretend West and I have a silent, simmering affair going on. I like to pretend he and I are complete strangers. The truth is somewhere in the middle." Because the book is told from dual perspectives, readers get a great look into the minds and motivation of both Caroline and West. They were both broken, complex characters. I desperately wanted them to fix each other… and themselves along the way. I know the term "emotional roller coaster" can be overused when it comes to describing books, but it's a perfect way to describe this one. I connected deeply with these characters and the author's writing was so realistic and beautiful that I felt like I was experiencing everything with them. This book grabbed me immediately, held on tight and didn't let go until the last page. I wanted it to go on forever and to say I can't wait for the next installment of Caroline and West's story would be a gross understatement. I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All quotes come from the review copy and may differ from the final version.