After a life spent bouncing from one foster home to the next, Allison is determined to keep others at arm’s length. Adopted at sixteen, she knows better than to believe in the permanence of anything. But as she begins her third year in college, she finds it increasingly difficult to disappear into the white noise pouring from her earbuds.
One unsuspecting afternoon, Allison is roped into a social experiment just off campus. Suddenly, she finds herself in front of a crowd, forced to interact with a complete stranger for 180 seconds. Neither she, nor Esben Baylor, the dreamy social media star seated opposite her, is prepared for the outcome.
When time is called, the intensity of the experience overwhelms Allison and Esben in a way that unnerves and electrifies them both. With a push from her oldest friend, Allison embarks on a journey to find out if what she and Esben shared is the real thing—and if she can finally trust in herself, in others, and in love. (Pub Date: Apr 25, 2017)
One unsuspecting afternoon, Allison is roped into a social experiment just off campus. Suddenly, she finds herself in front of a crowd, forced to interact with a complete stranger for 180 seconds. Neither she, nor Esben Baylor, the dreamy social media star seated opposite her, is prepared for the outcome.
When time is called, the intensity of the experience overwhelms Allison and Esben in a way that unnerves and electrifies them both. With a push from her oldest friend, Allison embarks on a journey to find out if what she and Esben shared is the real thing—and if she can finally trust in herself, in others, and in love. (Pub Date: Apr 25, 2017)
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
I confess I had problems giving a genre to this book, and I'm sure this summary won't be any good either.
Basically, Allison was a late adoption, and so many years in foster care brought her too heavy a baggage. She'll only open up to her best friend, Steffi, who is also all the way in California. Things change when she meets Esben and ends up in a social experiment with him—staring each other for 180 seconds.
It's hard to pinpoint the plotline because the romance develops very quickly. So here is my first warning, if you don't like stories on relationships, as opposed to getting together, this may not be for you. I say this because it was what I liked the least about the book. It was a cute relationship, I took long but I did buy the couple eventually. Still, the book lost its shine for me.
And then there is the point that once they were together, I was unsure of the purpose. Yes, there was a lot twist, and I'll be honest, I had predicted it. Even so, it didn't get me turning pages. Perhaps, this needed restructure? Perhaps, it's just not my thing? I'm really fond of knowing what we're going about.
My other problem was Allison. Esben wasn't that interesting a character, either. But Allison was made so you wouldn't like her. At least, thanks to the speed the story took, her development worked well. Not that I fell in love. To be honest, the only character I really liked was Allison's father, Simon. He's unbelievably sweet but he still got to my heart. I'm glad we got a lot of scenes with him.
I was very excited for Park's new work because I loved Flat-out Love. Even though you do notice her style in this book, this had almost nothing of what I liked in the latter. And it did have things I didn't like at all, like the sudden psychological conflicts just there for the heck of it, a savior-of-all just like the main character in Flat-out Love, easy-to-write and even-easier-to-guess plot twists.
But it deserved being rounded up to three stars because this book has depth. It's not very enjoyable—in my opinion, obviously—but I do see why others liked it so much. I wish the use of social medias had been a little less of a wish fulfillment from the author but it was still exciting how it turned out, as surreal as it may be. Also, even though some themes were just thrown in there, most of the ones used were very well connected and developed, especially on late adoptions. Book clubs could make use of this book, for sure.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Credits for this tour:
Information
Title: 180 SECONDS
Age: NA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Jessica Park
Publisher: Skyscape
Release date: April 25, 2017
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pc7baN
Blurb:
Some people live their entire lives without changing their perspective. For Allison Dennis, all it takes is 180 seconds…
About the Author:
Jessica is the author of LEFT DROWNING, the New York Times bestselling FLAT-OUT LOVE (and the companion piece FLAT-OUT MATT), and RELATIVELY FAMOUS. She lives in New Hampshire where she spends an obscene amount time thinking about rocker boys and their guitars, complex caffeinated beverages, and tropical vacations. On the rare occasions that she is able to focus on other things, she writes.
Please visit her at jessicapark.me and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicapark and Twitter @JessicaPark24
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