Sunday, November 9, 2014

Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack


Title: Losing It (Losing It #1)
Author: Cora Carmack
Genre: New Adult
Publication Date: October 12, 2012
Synopsis:
Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, Bliss Edwards decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible - a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.


My Review:


As you may know, I mostly review Young Adult books on this blog, but I do read other genres. New Adult was still something I hadn't tried before. I've heard the voices are still very similar to YA, so I figured I'd get around to it one day. I gave it a try when I found this book for free online, but I really think that it wasn't the best book to introduce me to new adult.

For some strange reason, I just couldn't take Bliss seriously. Yes, she's twenty-two and in her senior year of college. I felt like she was acting like a girl in middle school instead of someone who is about to graduate college and go into the real world. I get that she has some issues about not wanting to leave college with her v-card in tact, but to scheme with her friend just seemed unrealistic and insulting to women. 

Then there's the friend, Kelsey... She's supposed to be Bliss' best friend? If you ask me, she's a pretty terrible one at times, especially the beginning of the book. Like if you're really someone's best friend, you'll let them do things on their own... when they're really ready. 

Oh... the man. His name is Garrick, and Bliss pretty much swoons for him as soon as she sees him reading Shakespeare in a bar, even though she tries to play it cool. Alright... now I love Shakespeare, but I would never, ever read his sonnets or plays in a bar. Garrick isn't actually a bad character, and I'd say that I tolerated him better than the rest of the characters, but even he didn't seem fully developed.

The rest of the friends in the book are pretty static and boring. I felt like Cormack could have characterized them all a little better to give the book a little more variety. It's like they all had the same personalities.

I don't know... I think this book could have been a lot better if a little more thought was put into it. And a little more editing. There were so many mistakes in it that I really couldn't take it seriously. There were missing commas. There were commas in places where they shouldn't have been. Oh, and what editor missed "every once and a while" so many times? I know it was originally a self published book, but stuff like that really isn't that hard.

I'm glad I didn't pay for this book. I kind of enjoyed the plot, but there were just a few issues that bothered me.



6 comments :

  1. I've never understand the whole New Adult genre, to me is just YA with explicit sex and it seems stupid to me. I mean, I'm not asking for YA books to all of a sudden include sex, which some of them do, but I just have the feeling that sometimes authors just are very opaque about it and I don't really get it, know what I mean?
    Anyhow, I hate when 20-something year old characters behave like little girls, it's insulting. And for what I can gather from your review is that we have a book with not very special characters and a plot around losing the v-card... Well, I know I'm not gonna read this. Thanks for the honest review Erin!

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    1. I don't get it, either, Noelia. I know the genre supposed to appeal to the older readers of YA, but I'm just not into it. I've already read quite a few YA books with sex scenes in them this year, and this one read pretty much just like them.

      My friend told me that I should give Ugly Love a try, so she sent me it. I'll eventually read it, but it might be my last book I read in the genre.

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  2. I actually read a Twilight fan fiction (back in the day) with an identical plot, so when I first heard of this book I was supremely uninterested. New Adult, to me, seems just like a buzzword they slap on books to use as a lure for those not yet comfortable with plain adult reads. I've read some NA that has been indistinguishable from adult books.
    I feel your pain with the bland characters- and I hope this isn't a revamped version of the fanfic I read. Great review!
    ~Litha Nelle

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    1. It actually wouldn't surprise me if this was stolen from a fanfic, especially with how easy it is to do that and still get published.

      I'm not really getting New Adult, but it is the next big thing, and I've read that many YA authors are getting into the territory. I'd rather just read an adult fiction book.

      Thank you, Litha! :)

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  3. It sounds like it was a weak book with weak characters. If I ever saw a guy in a *bar* reading Shakespeare, I would judge so hard. I can understand a coffee house or something but a bar? Sounds like he was looking for attention.

    The NA/YA lines have been blurring lately and I don't mind when it is well done but when characters are still acting like teenagers but just happen to have sex, it makes me want to throw my kindle. (Not really)

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    1. Yes... Reading Shakespeare in a coffee shop/cafe makes sense. Not a bar. I literally had to re-read that line a few times. And then it got worse.

      I'm still glad I tried it, but I wish I would have read something different. I'll read Ugly Love, and I'll probably look into other NA books, but I won't be reading Cora Carmack again.

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