And so begins the story of Jubilee Jenkins, a young woman with a rare and debilitating medical condition: she’s allergic to other humans. After a humiliating near-death experience in high school, Jubilee has become a recluse, living the past nine years in the confines of the small town New Jersey house her unaffectionate mother left to her when she ran off with a Long Island businessman. But now, her mother is dead, and without her financial support, Jubilee is forced to leave home and face the world—and the people in it—that she’s been hiding from.
One of those people is Eric Keegan, a man who just moved into town for work. With a daughter from his failed marriage who is no longer speaking to him, and a brilliant, if psychologically troubled, adopted son, Eric’s struggling to figure out how his life got so off-course, and how to be the dad—and man—he wants so desperately to be. Then, one day, he meets a mysterious woman named Jubilee, with a unique condition... (Pub Date: Mar 7, 2017)
Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. I want to also thank the publisher for giving me this opportunity.
I'd give 3.5 to this.
Jubilee has a rare kind of allergy—to humans. Due to an incident back at school, and her mother leaving her for another man, she hasn't left home for nine years. Upon receiving news of her mother's death and the end of the monthly checks that kept her, she needs to get out in the world and find a job. Eric has just moved to the same town, and he is in trouble as he fails yet another kid.
Well, this story wasn't only focused on allergies. It also touched topics like family, communicating with one's own children, grieving, the importance of having emotional support, among others. In my opinion, that was where the plot felt richer.
I wasn't fond of Eric and most of the supporting characters read a little too shallow to me. On the other hand, Aja, who is Eric's adopted son, made up for everything. Not that Jubilee wasn't great just as much. For many and many pages I kept hoping the two would meet and was delighted that they hit it off so well. So this isn't a book that failed me character-wise—then again, Eric was just so pushy and yet so over himself he got on my nerves every time. He did have some nice points. I don't condone how willing he is to stalk his daughter—albeit the unconventional way, by reading her book reports along with reading the books themselves—, but the effort he put in getting to know her made me pity his predicament. Also, he basically ignored Aja's red flags but he eventually did his best. He is as oblivious as I don't know what but he works hard to compensate, which was refreshing to read.
I think that the problem was exactly what made me pick this book—the allergies plot. Being more than a romance novel, and not even YA, I hadn't considered it could be a mere plot device. All the parts of Jubilee being afraid of going outside, in addition to her past traumas, and her issues with her mother, had great descriptions, making the beginning very easy to relate. As the story advanced, however, the allergies sounded less and less real. For some reason, they would just kick in when it was most convenient, and basically to represent a barrier between her and Eric. To the very end, the disease only existed to be the drama in the way of their love story.
Also the resolution wasn't bad but it was so weird... I can't explain without spoilers so you will have to trust me on this. After realizing the allergy to human meant so little, I had my hopes on a well-thought ending. I mean, okay, she didn't want to analyze this deeper but at least she must have a good conclusion from all this. Only she didn't. To be honest, she got close to something that wasn't ideal but at least it didn't feel predictable, only to suddenly go back on that, which was even worse because of how sudden the change was. I wonder what happened there...
Closing this, the book was good to read. The narration flew well, all characters had their voices, there were all sorts of emotions going on and the story was the heartwarming type that leaves you a silly smile. However, the allergy was nothing but a plot device, which made this book lose not only points but also its singularity to becoming just a romance. A cute one, at least. So I can't give a 4 as I thought I would for half of the book but this should be enjoyed by people who like easy-to-read stories.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
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