The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine Review

Name: The Promise of Amazing
Author: Robin Constantine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: December 31st, 2013
Format: E-Book ARC
Buy the book on Amazon

371 pages

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how. 

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

Goodreads

My Review:
Ugh I really really wanted to like this book but it just wasn't working for me. While the overall premise of The Promise of Amazing was very original, this one just fell flat for me :(

First things first; the writing of this book was all over the place. While I did really like the alternating perspectives between Wren and Grayson, the writing was very confusing and hard to follow. Some of the side plots literally made no sense to the overall plot of the novel which was confusing and frustrating to read. I thought they weighed the story down and made things a lot more confusing for the reader. I think the author should have stuck with one clear storyline, instead of adding four different subplots that made this book a tangled mess. What also really bothered me was that some of the plots she didn't even end up resolving-which was annoying because I wanted to know what happened!

I also wasn't a fan of the instalove in this book at all. While I really thought Grayson and Wren were a cute couple, the instalove in this book just wasn't that great. I definitely think the fact that Wren saved Grayson's life definitely made their relationship flourish-but it still felt super rushed and didn't feel real. What also bothered me was some of the side characters-especially Luke. I really thought he was jerk and did absolutely nothing to the plot. One more thing that really really bothered me was the epilogue!! It fell so flat and I didn't think it resolved anything! 

Overall, The Promise of Amazing really didn't work well for me. What started as an awesome contemporary romance-ended up falling flat and leaving me super confused.