I’m pleasantly surprised, and almost eager to write this review. When I started Love Bites, I had…a hard time. Not that it wasn’t good, not that it wasn’t sweet or romantic enough, not that it wasn’t a great story. It just wasn’t grabbing me, and that made me so very sad because I was really excited to read it. I’ll be the first to admit this – If I don’t love a book by 30%, I’m done. No more. My opinion is that there are way too many books on my TBR to spend time on something I might not like. So I’ll DNF a book in a heartbeat if I don’t feel it. But something with this one…I just couldn’t stop even though I wasn’t hooked. It’s like I NEEDED to know what happened to Justine, and how she dealt with the issues in her life. I’m beyond thrilled that this was a rare exception and that I kept pushing, because I absolutely adored this book by the end. Completely in love with it.
As I mentioned, the first half seemed very slow for me. I wasn’t in love with the abundance of flashbacks. I know they were necessary, and it shows why Justine made the choices in the present that she has. It almost seemed like maybe too much. Too many, too often, although every flashback was important. It’s such a weird thing trying to explain. It’s like I didn’t want to read that many flashbacks, but can’t imagine not having them. Does that make sense? No, it doesn’t to me either. BUT…then I hit that 50% mark, and it all changed. I can’t even tell you what it is that changed, but I started enjoying it so much more. At that point, you’ll feel for Justine and want the best for her. You’ll be rooting for her to make the right choices, and want to scream at her when she doesn’t.
As I mentioned, the first half seemed very slow for me. I wasn’t in love with the abundance of flashbacks. I know they were necessary, and it shows why Justine made the choices in the present that she has. It almost seemed like maybe too much. Too many, too often, although every flashback was important. It’s such a weird thing trying to explain. It’s like I didn’t want to read that many flashbacks, but can’t imagine not having them. Does that make sense? No, it doesn’t to me either. BUT…then I hit that 50% mark, and it all changed. I can’t even tell you what it is that changed, but I started enjoying it so much more. At that point, you’ll feel for Justine and want the best for her. You’ll be rooting for her to make the right choices, and want to scream at her when she doesn’t.