By Karen Ann Hopkins
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
To Sum It Up: Rose Cameron is about to make a fresh start with her father and brothers in rural Meadow View, Ohio, which is a big change from the city life she knew in Cincinnati. The move almost instantly begins looking better for Rose when she meets her new neighbor, Noah Miller. She’s taken with him at once, and the attraction is mutual. The catch is, Noah is Amish, so a potential relationship between him and Rose is basically impossible. That does not stop them from trying to see other, despite the consequences they’ll face if either of their families finds out about them.
Review: A toughie to review, this one. I found the premise extremely interesting, and that’s what drew me to this book. I think it had a great deal of potential to tell a very unique story, but unfortunately, insta-love and two main characters whom I just could not root for, individually or as a couple, worked against it. And yet this book still managed to leave me curious about what happens next to these characters. See my dilemma?
Insta-love is a shaky foundation on which to build a “romance,” and Rose and Noah are practically professing their eternal love for each other after one meeting. Unless we’re talking about a Reese’s Peanut Butter product, I don’t believe in love at first sight. I do think it’s possible to feel an instant attraction to someone, but attraction does not equal love. When the plot revolves around a relationship that you struggle to find plausible because the couple in question barely knows each other, it’s really difficult to buy into the plot. Had the romance been a slow build, I think that would have made a huge difference here. I needed a lot more convincing that Rose and Noah had more than infatuation between them.
Rose didn’t make a very favorable impression on me from the book’s outset, and I failed to warm up to her. I thought she held a rather high opinion of herself. In the first chapter, she notes that she’s used to guys checking her out and launches into a detailed description of her appearance. From the nanosecond she meets Noah, he’s all Rose thinks about. Is Noah looking at her? If he’s not looking at her, then why isn’t he? When is Noah going to kiss her (uh, because he’s Amish and he’s not even supposed to be getting friendly with an English, i.e. non-Amish, girl?)? Why won’t he hurry up and kiss her? This latter question especially drove me crazy because Rose’s attitude made it sound as though she were entitled to a kiss or something. I also really didn’t like the way she acted toward her brothers, Sam and Justin. Rose has a hard time talking about them without using words like “bozo,” “buffoon,” and “barbarian.” I think she was supposed to come across as endearing, as in, “Look at what I have to put up with from my siblings,” but I often felt there was a mean-spiritedness to her comments, too. Overall, I found her lacking in maturity and certainly not equipped to consider the consequences of falling for an Amish guy. All that matters to Rose is her looove for Noah, and since I didn’t find that believable to begin with, I couldn’t muster much sympathy for her—or for him.
As much as I wasn’t a fan of Rose’s, I didn’t like how quickly Noah presumed that she was going to become Amish in order to be with him. He entertains the notion of becoming English for about five seconds before concluding that it couldn’t work. After all, he’d be giving up so much, including his family, and doesn’t know how to earn a living in the English world. Apparently, though, it’s okay for Rose to leave her life behind. Noah also takes issue with the clothes and makeup Rose wears but has no objection to a secret kissing session with her in his buggy. I call that hypocrisy, sir, and I find it rather irksome. Okay—very irksome.
If this had been any other contemporary novel, I would be quitting the series here. Rose and Noah do, however, face challenges that are a bit different from those of your average YA couple, and I’m oddly fascinated by that aspect of the series. It’s probably enough to get me to pick up the sequel, just to see where this story goes.
All in All: This isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, with the insta-love and all. It really wasn’t mine, but I couldn’t help being intrigued by the book’s concept and how it ended.
