Books, Bad Boys & Tattoos

1.5 out of 5 stars.

Sometimes, a book's premise can be deceiving.

I'll admit this book has a very promising premise but...THE CONTENT RUINED EVERYTHING! I don't recall ever rolling my eyes at practically every chapter since I started reading books. Sex, raging hormones, perverted minds...I guess this is where the story revolved and not the characters' stories per se.

This book is SUPPOSED TO BE about two "damaged" teenagers. I have to say, when I read the synopsis, I can't help but compare it to Katie Mcgarry's Pushing The Limits. If you've read my review on PTL, you'll know how much I loved the depth it contained and whatnot. Plus, I'm a fan of books about "damaged" teenagers not because I'm a sadist or something like that but somehow I learn from these kinds of stuff considering that I grew up in an almost perfect environment.

So the synopsis talks about Kayden, the male protagonist, finding comfort in Callie, the female protagonist, when she saves him from yet another almost-death experience from the hands of his own father. Everything is expected to have a great twist when they discover that they're going to the same university. Since then Callie has sought refuge in Kayden and that one person she has learned to trust the most after her very traumatic experience when she was twelve, Seth. 

The first part of this book made me send my heart out to Kayden and Callie. Who can't not feel sympathy towards a teenage guy who gets beaten up by his own father which kills him on the inside that he just receives the hits without bothering to stand up for himself and then a girl who gets raped at the age of twelve? But then again, I saw something that really pissed the heck out of me...this line: “wanting nothing more than to rip her clothes off and bury my dick deep inside her.” It then elicited my very first eye-roll at this book.

Kayden's supposed to be broken on the inside, as he claims himself to be. His father's been beating him up since he was seven up until now that he's in college and eighteen. And despite this HE STILL MANAGES TO WORK UP HIS PERVERTED MIND ON A GIRL HE HADN'T BOTHERED GLANCING AT IN HIGH SCHOOL AND HAD JUST GIVEN A GOOD VIEW THE NIGHT SHE STOPPED HIS FATHER FROM KILLING HIM?! Way to go, emotionally-damaged guy! Maybe your father's severe beatings had rattled your brain that you don't know how to contain your raging hormones even when you claim that you're broken and all secretive and crap.

And then there's Callie who's SUPPOSED TO BE A RAPE VICTIM. The experience was traumatic enough for her that a mere touch on her hand, the mere contact with a guy, heck even the mere scent of her hair, is already enough to elicit fear from her. But just one good-looking guy whom she had a crush on in grade school was all it took to make her forget about her trust issues?! Just one eye contact, one night that she had a glimpse on his scars and his vulnerable moment under his father's hand had already made her less-traumatized...horny, even? I understand that she thinks she could trust him because they're both "damaged" since that's basically how she and her friend Seth had become close, enough to tell each other everything. But really, now? One second she claims that in six years, six whole years, she hadn't been able to trust a guy, any guy for that matter and then just because Kayden's really attractive she doesn't even hesitate to join him somewhere much less be alone with him? What happened to the "supposedly" scarred girl? I doubt rape victims in real life will be at so much ease with a guy however attractive he is after a trauma-inflicting experience. And don't tell me it could be a character and plot development because if that were the case, then it's a stupid way to create such.

They claim that they're damaged teenagers with daunting pasts but instead of dealing with their life issues, they deal with quenching their hunger for each other's bodies. Instead of telling the audience that there are people out there who're suffering these kinds of life, they tell us that they're just like what society deems most teenagers nowadays to be, people who feed off on alcohol and sex. Instead of telling us that there might be hope for victims like the characters, they tell us that you can run away from these experiences by running your hands and mouths on someone else's body and orgasm your way out. Instead of eliciting sympathy for them, the only feeling it elicited from me is hatred and the need to whack their heads to make them focus on moving their way out of the agony and not on each other's body. 

The only reason I'm giving this a 1.5 rating is because the introduction was able to earn my sympathy for them and somehow, in the dark, when they finally face the people who have inflicted severe pain upon them, I actually feel sorry. Unfortunately, that's just it.