Review: Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

Title: Through to You
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release date: July 8th 2014
Pages: 256
Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance
Source: Edelweiss - I received a free eGalley of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!
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It starts with a scribbled note in class: I like your sparkle. Harper had casually threaded a piece of blue and silver tinsel through her ponytail in honor of school spirit day. And that carefree, corny gesture is what grabs Penn Mattingly’s eye. Penn—resident heartbreaker of the senior class. Reliably unreliable. Trouble with a capital “T.” And okay, smolderingly sexy.
Harper’s surprised by Penn’s attention—and so is Penn. The last thing he needs is a girlfriend. Or even a friend-with-benefits. The note is not supposed to lead to anything.
Oh, but it does. They hang out. They have fun. They talk. They make out. And after a while, it seems like they just click. But Penn and Harper have very different ideas about what relationships look like, in no small part because of their very different family backgrounds. Of course they could talk about these differences—if Penn knew how to talk about feelings.
Harper and Penn understand their attraction is illogical, yet something keeps pulling them together. It’s like a crazy roller coaster—exhilarating, terrifying, and amazing all at once. And neither knows how to stop the ride…

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Good-girl/bad-boy romances are very hit-or-miss for me - I'm not a huge fan of the story art, but when it's well done, I do enjoy it. Sadly, Through to You does not belong in the well-done category: it exemplifies every issue I take with the story arc, and then some, making this a very frustrating read for me.

I'm just going to say it: the way Penn treats Harper is emotionally abusive. I know there are lots of people who won't take this claim seriously and call my use of the world abuse exaggerated, but I firmly believe that this relationship is an abusive one. Penn is irrational and has outbreaks of anger during and after which he completely ignores and disrespects Harper. Harper needs to walk on coals to make sure not to set him off. The power balance is completely in Penn's favor: he calls the shots and decides when to ignore Harper and when to expect her to be at his beck and call. The two of them talk about Penn's life exclusively, and Penn gets annoyed whenever Harper tries to bring up whatever is going on with her. None of these things are okay, and to market this unhealthy relationship as a romance is problematic in so many ways. I understand that this is the point of the novel and that they (supposedly) figure their issues out over the course of the story, but Penn apologizing and promising to do better does not make his behavior okay. Presenting his apology as a happy ending for the couple is problematic to say the least, and I don't even want to think about what kind of message this novel sends about gender roles, relationships, and power dynamics.

With an emotionally abusive relationship presented as a romance, I really couldn't enjoy any part of this novel. The characters frustrated me so much - I understand that Penn's going through a lot, but that does not justify the way he treats Harper, or some of the other people in his life. I couldn't see him as the "hero" of the story because his behavior is simply unacceptable. Harper's character had a lot of potential: I really liked her, but I kept hoping for her not to go back to Penn, so of course I was disappointed. The characters outside of this relationship seemed interesting and had potential, but the story focuses so much on the "romance" that their stories are never fully explored.

I don't have anything else to say: there's nothing technically "wrong" with the novel, and I did enjoy Lauren Barnholdt's writing. But an emotionally abusive relationship that isn't addressed as one is kind of a dealbreaker for me, and I cannot consider this a romance. Because of the highly problematic portrayal of relationships and power dynamics, I cannot recommend Through to You. I did really enjoy Lauren Barnholdt's Two-Way Street, though, and I've heard good things about her other novels, so I'd recommend reading one of those instead.

Review: Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Title: Two-Way Street
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 288
Release date: June 26th 2007
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought at The Book Depository

Find out more: Amazon ; Goodreads

Goodreads description:

There are two sides to every breakup.
This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.
Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet. It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care.
But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot. Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other.

First sentence:

I'm a traitor to my generation.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I have no idea how I'm going to justify my 4-star-rating.This book is definitely flawed, and it's not as good as the other books I've given 4 stars to, but I honestly don't care - Two-Way Street is just so much fun!

The humor is what I liked best about this book. The character's voices and especially Courtney's narration is hilarious, just like the way Courtney and Jordan treat each other. The witty comments had me laughing out loud several times.

Courtney is a great character. No, she's not the best-written or most complex character I've ever read about, but she's so, so easy to relate to. Her thoughts and feelings are ones I've experienced myself, and I think other teenaged girls have, too. I don't mean I know exactly what happens (I've never been on a roadtrip with my ex or anything like that), just the way she thinks and handles the situations. Courtney's narration is great and I really liked her.

Jordan, however, never really grew on me. Basically, all he talks about is sex, and that got pretty annoying. At some parts of the novel, he seemed sweet, like the way he cared for Courtney. For the most part, though, he just annoyed me. Especially in the flashbacks, it seemed to me like the only thing he wanted from Courtney (or girls in general) was sex, so I never really liked Jordan. The swearing in Jordan's narration is a little too extreme, in my opinion. I don't generally have a problem with curse-words, but he uses them so often they don't really mean anything anymore.

I'm split on what to make of Courtney and Jordan's relationship since I liked Courtney but didn't really like Jordan. At some parts, their romance is cute, but sometimes I just couldn't enjoy it because of my dislike for Jordan. Courtney's feelings for Jordan and the way she doesn't want to show them are adorable, though.

I love the supporting characters. Again, they're not the best-written ones, but B.E. and Jocelyon are hilarious. I loved their relationship with each other, and also B.E.'s friendship with Jordan and Jocelyn's friendship with Courtney. B.E.'s and Jocelyn's lines are what had me laughing out loud most of the time.

The plot is, well, predictable to say the least. The description makes it seem like there's some big secret. Jordan is keeping a big secret from Courtney, but not from the reader - we find out what the problem with their relationship is after the first few chapters. That made it very easy to know how their relationship would develop over the course of the novel.

I know, I know - what I said in my review is mainly negative, and I did not do a good job of justifying my 4-star-rating. No, if you're looking for something with a deep, meaningful message and great, lyrical writing, Two-Way Street is not the book for you. But Two-Way Street is definitely fun! It's hilarious, and Courtney is easy to relate to, which is always important for me. So if you're looking for a cute, quick read with great humor and romance, Two-Way Street is perfect for you! And really - who doesn't need something quick and fun every once in a while?