Name: Flavia Machado's review of The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
Item: The Infinite Moment of Us
Rating: 2
Author: Flavia Machado

Lauren Myracle

For as long as she can remember, Wren Gray's goal has been to please her parents. But as high school graduation nears, so does an uncomfortable realization: Pleasing her parents once overlapped with pleasing herself, but now . . . not so much. Wren needs to honor her own desires, but how can she if she doesn't even know what they are? Charlie Parker, on the other hand, is painfully aware of his heart's desire. A gentle boy with a troubled past, Charlie has loved Wren since the day he first saw her. But a girl like Wren would never fall for a guy like Charlie--at least not the sort of guy Charlie believes himself to be. And yet certain things are written in the stars. And in the summer after high school, Wren and Charlie's souls will collide. But souls are complicated, as are the bodies that house them . . . Sexy, romantic, and oh-so-true to life, this is an unforgettable look at first love from one of young adult fiction's greatest writers.

The Infinite Moment of Us

Flavia Machado

Savannah Garrit

** spoiler alert **
            I suggest that you grab some popcorn 🍿 and maybe a drink because this might take a while.

the story starts as Wren is nearing the end of HS and graduating when she locks eyes with Charlie Parker. She goes to a party where she talks to him, kisses him, and they then start going out. Pretty quickly into the book, their relationship forms, and things are happening very fast. Charlie has a very different past and Starlla is part of that and continuously tries to butt into their relationship. She doesn't succeed most times and other times she does things like putting notes into Wren's windshield and barbies on her lawn. One night when wren was talking to Charlie on the phone, he had to hang up quickly because he had "family problems" but in reality went to check up on Starlla. He of course doesn't tell Wren this but Wren is still upset about the fact that he puts his family before her when she thinks she should come first. He later tells her that it was Starlla that he went to but he explains everything and they make up. Later on in the book, Wren, Charlie, Tessa (her best friend), and P.G. (Tessa's boyfriend) have a dinner party and Starlla shows up with this big dude the size of a bodyguard and professes that Charlie is the one and only person that understands her and goes on to tell Wren about his troubled past. She then hurts herself and Charlie goes running to her to help, which any sane person would do. But Wren is upset about this and doesn't think that she knows Charlie as well as she should and doesn't think that Charlie can trust her enough to tell her about his past himself. They fight and don't make up until the very end of the book. Then the book ends in THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE. On like a cliffhanger sorta. The author doesn't tell us anything about what happens with them except saying "this isn't the end of their story, just the beginning" which I don't think is a good way to end a book.

Okay, so im gonna make a pros and cons list because while i don't think the book was nearly as bad as others are proclaiming it to be, it was no bestseller either. 

PROS:
- I loved charlie. while there were some things I would change about him and some of the inner dialogue he has, I really enjoyed his character and backstory(though it wasn't a happy one)
- wren was a lot like me in certain ways. she was always trying to please her parents and believed for the longest time that she had to be perfect and put school before anything including boys and social life. 
- wren and charlie's relationship was good at some points and the writing was really smooth and easy to get through.
- I really liked Tessa's character and how outgoing she was.
- the book flowed nicely and was a pretty easy read.

CONS:
- this book was way too "graphic" I guess you could say for young adults or teenagers, and definitely not what I expected from a simple summer read.
- I hated the way the book ended and the way the author left the readers hanging on how their story actually ended.
- I absolutely DESPISED Starla.

Amanda Kordeliski

I really enjoyed this book, Wren and Charlie are great characters. I usually prefer more closure on my endings, but overall a great read.

Denise La Greca

Simple like a tale, but I'm not a child and I wanted more.

Alexis Rader

WHY DID IT HAVE TO END LIKE THAT? *CRIES*

b.andherbooks

Wren is the 'perfect' straight A student and only daughter to her overbearing parents; Charlie is a foster-kid with a dark, past but a bright future. When their lives collide after their graduation, will love be able to overcome all the odds?

Very steamy YA title. Very focused on the physical relationship between the two main characters. I understood their chemistry, but found a lot of it pretty superficial. I really enjoyed Charlie's character and struggles, whereas Wren came off more as a 'poor rich girl' with parent problems.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

3.5 stars!

First off, I absolutely adore this cover. It’s what first drew me in, solidifying the fact that I needed this book. Then I read the synopsis – teen graduating high school, riddled with guilt around her constant obsession to please her parents… summer romance… complicated souls colliding… I knew I wanted to read this book. I had a feeling it would be more than just a crush… and boy was I right. This was much bigger than what we normally see in YA novels. This was two souls colliding.

I really adored the concept of this story, but right off the bat I had a major problem… I had a very difficult time connecting with these characters. I’m not sure if it was the alternating third person POV’s or the slight lack of character development, but I never related to these characters. I would have loved to have gotten inside their heads.

Charlie was super sweet and I did grow to like him by the end, but Wren was another story. She was more annoying to me than anything. I could definitely sense her difficulty with her inner struggles… but I never related to her or really felt for her. She made terrible decisions that I just couldn’t rationalize in my head. She struggled hardcore with her own personal desires, while trying to consistently please her parents (and others) at her own personal detriment. I was happy to see her FINALLY start to live a little as the story progressed, and even make a few choices for herself that didn’t revolve around everyone else. I was beyond frustrated with her for at least half of the story, so that took away from the enjoyment factor a bit.

This book does have a few sexy scenes, which I really didn’t expect to be quite honest, so I was a little thrown off guard. But Myracle did a great job of making them emotional and sexy, yet not overboard. They were actually a really great addition to the underlying story. It made the story come to life for me. I struggled with the constant telling of what was happening, or what happened in the past, rather than showing us. The few times I was really pulled into the story seemed to surrounding the romantic scenes where the emotions shined through.

With a summer setting, this was the perfect beach read. The difficulties Wren and Charlie faced in their separate lives were realistic and portrayed nicely. If it wasn’t for the lack of character interest at all, I think I really would have loved this one. I so felt for Charlie, with his horrific upbringing and pained past. Wren had her own parental struggles, but I almost felt like she brought them on herself. I was happy to see her inner growth throughout the story. This is one of those stories that I wish had a second installment as I would love to see where this story goes from here.

(Thanks to Amulet Books and Netgalley for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

Flavia Machado &
The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

Reviews

Join the club

Flavia Machado &The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

Reviews

Join the club

Flavia Machado &
The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle