Review: The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden
Series: The Coincidence #1
Author: Jessica Sorensen
Published: December 13th 2012
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating: 4/5
Rating: 4/5
“It's amazing how the things you remember forever are the things you'd rather forget and the things you desperately want to grasp onto seem to slip away like sand in the wind.” -Callie
BLURB:
There are those who don’t get luck handed to them on a shiny platter, who end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, who don’t get saved.
Luck was not on Callie’s side the day of her twelfth birthday when everything was stolen from her. After it’s all over, she locks up her feelings and vows never to tell anyone what happened. Six years later her painful past consumes her life and most days it’s a struggle just to breathe.
For as long as Kayden can remember, suffering in silence was the only way to survive life. As long as he did what he was told, everything was okay. One night, after making a terrible mistake, it seems like his life might be over. Luck was on his side, though, when Callie coincidentally is in the right place at the right time and saves him.
Now he can’t stop thinking about the girl he saw at school, but never really knew. When he ends up at the same college as Callie, he does everything he can to try to get to know her. But Callie is reserved and closed off. The more he tries to be part of her life, the more he realizes Callie might need to be saved.
***Mild Spoilers***
THE GOOD:
The story:
After both Kadyen & Callie experience different traumas as teenagers, they both struggle to continue living normal happy lives. It is only when they leave home to go to college that they start to learn how to be happy. Callie meets a new friend Seth, who experienced serious bullying in high school over his sexuality, and together they help each other to move outside their comfort zone. Enter Kayden. We get to follow both Kayden & Callie as they break down each other walls & learn to trust each other. Callie struggles with her emotions along the way, and has many setbacks along the way, but Seth & Kayden are always there to help her.
The characters:
It was interesting how all the main characters are dealing with different problems in their lives - some more serious than others. How each of them deal with these issues gives a real insight into each character. Both Kayden & Callie punish themselves.
Kayden denies himself any meaningful relationships believing he's too damaged to be worthy of anyone. He's been in a long term relationship with Daisy (who is still in high school) even though he's not in love with her. He wants an empty emotionless relationship so he can't hurt anyone or get hurt himself. It's not until Callie comes along that he is able to open up.
Callie is still very traumatised by her assault & she hurts herself by purging - the one way she feels she can have control over her life & feelings. But we got to watch her grow throughout the book with the help of her new friend Seth. They both have a list of things they want to do that pushes them outside their comfort zone. Callie does have some setbacks along the way, but has definitely come a long way since high school.
I also have to mention Seth - I adored him. He was always there for Callie, helping her and giving her that little push of encouragement when she needed it most. He is the most amazing friend anyone could ever wish for & I loved that Callie didn't just rely on Kayden to help her overcome her issues.
The romance:
It was a very sweet romance between Callie & Kayden - I like that they both have relationship issues to deal with, it makes the romance less of an unhealthy 'damsel in distress' type romances. They start out as friends, which slowly develops into something more, which made this such a realistic relationship.
Their love scenes were also really beautifully written - it was nice to see that Sorensen didn't shy away from describing a realistic experience for Callie's first time, instead her suddenly turning into some sex goddess (seriously I just don't get why authors write about girl loosing her v-card and having several earth shattering orgasms in a row - so not realistic!)
The Writing:
After reading a few self-published e-books lately I was quite impressed with the writing (not to say that self published books are bad, but many do lake the refinement that professional editing & publishing provide).
I also liked how she handled dialogue & in particular the swearing. Often authors think if they cram in as many swear words as possible it makes the characters more realistic & tough - but usually it just interrupts the flow of dialogue. Sorensen has each of her characters swear differently - eg. Kayden drop f-bombs all the time like most teenage guys, while Callie doesn't really swear much, but when she did it showed how upset she really was.
THE BAD:
The ending:
I don't mind cliff hanger endings, but there is a difference between cliff hangers & unfinished. I just felt like it ended so abruptly basically in the middle of a scene. We're left hanging <spoiler>unsure if Kayden will survive</spoiler>, and that's fine to leave the story there, but I feel the scene needed to have some form of a conclusion.
FINAL WORD:
Despite the abrupt ending I really enjoyed this one. It was emotionally charged, painful but beautiful & I'm desperate to find out what happens next.
CONTENT:
Sexuality: strong / descriptive sex scenes, sexual assault
Violence: medium-strong / descriptive domestic violence, flashbacks of sexual assault, fist fight
Language: medium-strong / frequent use of f**k, occasional c**t
Drugs & alcohol: medium-strong / frequent underage drinking at parties & nightclubs, two secondary characters are smokers
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Amy! I've had this on my Nook forever, but haven't found the time to get to it! Clearly, that needs to change! Awesome review. :D And thank you! I love what you said about her first time actually being realistic. I can't stand when authors glam it up and make it something its usually not.
ReplyDeleteJessica@Lovin' Los Libros
YES you should read it for sure!!! And it's perfect timing to get into the series because book #2 comes out in August, so you won't have to wait forever after the massive cliff hanger ending :)
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