Review: The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

Title: The Unwritten Rule
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 224
Release date: May 16th 2010
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought

Find out more: Amazon ; Goodreads

Goodreads description:

Sarah and Brianna have always been friends, and it's always gone like this: guys talk to Sarah in order to get closer to Brianna. So even though Sarah met Ryan first, she's not surprised that he ends up with Brianna (even though Sarah has a massive crush on him). The three of them hang out, and Sarah and Ryan's friendship grows until one night an innocent exchange between them leads to a moment that makes Sarah realize that Ryan might be interested in her after all. But if there's one unwritten rule, it's this: you don't mess around with a friend's boyfriend. So Sarah tries to resist temptation. But with the three of them thrown together more and more, tension builds between Sarah and Ryan, and when they find themselves alone together at one point, they realize they just can't fight how they feel anymore...

First sentence:

I liked him first, but it doesn't matter.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I love Elizabeth Scott, but I was a little worried about this book. Even when they're well-done, I often don't like books where the main character is cheating on her boyfriend or knows the guy she's with has a girlfriend and is cheating by being with her, just because I have a really strong opinion about that kind of thing, especially if the two girls are friends, like in The Unwritten Rule. However, I ended up really enjoying this one!

What made this book work are the characters. I didn't think I'd be able to connect with Sarah because, well, she's kissing her best friend's boyfriend, but she turned out to be easy to relate to. She's just a normal girl, and she feels really, really bad for liking Ryan. It's not like she starts liking Ryan as Brianna's boyfriend - she's had a crush on him for years! I loved her as a character, and the thing with the sneakers is adorable. I'm split on Ryan's character. I didn't think I could like him because he's a cheater, but I loved the scenes he has with Sarah. They're adorable together. I have to say, though, I was a little frustrated with him at times - he should have just told both Sarah and Brianna the truth from the beginning on, then they wouldn´t be having any of these problems. Brianna...wow, she's such a complex character. I kept going back and forth between hating her and sympathizing with her, just like Sarah. At times she really frustrated me with the way she treats Sarah, basically saying no worthwhile guy could ever like her because she's not pretty, but at times I felt for her - she can´t help being like that, considering what her parents are like. That conflict made Sarah´s conflict about Ryan all the more real.

The writing and whatnot is all great, but I'm not going to say much more about that - I'd just be repeating what I´ve said in all my Elizabeth Scott reviews.

***This paragraph contains spoilers!***
There is one part where Sarah and Ryan really frustrated me, though. After Ryan and Brianna break up, Sarah and Ryan immediately spend the night together, and Sarah doesn't really feel bad about it, since Brianna and Ryan broke up. I thought that was kind of strange - isn´t there also an "unwritten rule" about going out with your best friend's ex? At the very least, they should have waited a while. I was disappointed that the issue of being with your friend´s ex wasn´t touched at all - the entire time, Sarah and Ryan assume that once he breaks up with Brianna, they can be together without a problem, which I think is wrong.

***This paragraph also contains spoilers - sorry for being so spoiler-ish in this review!***
I'm split on the ending. One the one hand, I'm happy Sarah and Ryan end up together because they're an adorable couple. On the other hand, I really don't like the message the ending sends - no matter what, being with your best friend's boyfriend is still wrong. It's so sad to see Brianna and Sarah's friendship end, but I like that not everything works out for Sarah - even though I could understand her, she should have to live with the consequences of what she did.

I don't have much more to say about this - The Unwritten Rule is another great, quick, enjoyable read by Elizabeth Scott, who is quickly turning into one of my favorite authors (I can't believe I hadn't read any of her books until this year)!

One more random, unimportant thought: This cover freaks me out! When you have the book the right way around, so that the face is up-side-down, the model looks content and pretty. When you hold the book up-side-down, so that the model is the right way around, the model looks sad and mad, and, well, not as pretty. Am I going crazy, or has anyone else noticed that?