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Ten Tiny Breaths #2
One Tiny Lie
Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents' tragic death and Kacey's self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would...and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.
Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?
As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.
Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?
As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 11, 2013
About the author
K.A. Tucker
64 books23.2k followersK.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge.
She is the internationally bestselling author of over thirty books, including Ten Tiny Breaths, The Simple Wild, and the Fate & Flame series, Until It Fades, Say You Still Love Me, and Keep Her Safe. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Oprah Mag, and First for Women.
Ten Tiny Breaths, The Simple Wild, and A Queen of Thieves & Chaos were Goodreads Choice award nominees.
K.A. Tucker lives outside of Toronto.
Join Tucker's Troop on Facebook! >>
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She is the internationally bestselling author of over thirty books, including Ten Tiny Breaths, The Simple Wild, and the Fate & Flame series, Until It Fades, Say You Still Love Me, and Keep Her Safe. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Oprah Mag, and First for Women.
Ten Tiny Breaths, The Simple Wild, and A Queen of Thieves & Chaos were Goodreads Choice award nominees.
K.A. Tucker lives outside of Toronto.
Join Tucker's Troop on Facebook! >>
https://www.facebook.com/groups/14685...
Signup for her newsletter >> https://www.katuckerbooks.com/newslet...
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July 4, 2024
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Fuck.
____________________________________________
I haven’t read a book this good in really, *really* long time.
And we’re not talking about oh-I-can’t-wait-to-get-home-so-I-can-read-this good.
We’re talking about reaching-for-your-kindle-while-driving good.
Out of every book I’ve read this month – shit, maybe even the YEAR – this book comes along and blew ALL OF THOSE out of the fucking water.
And you know I’ve read some pretty kickass books!
*~ But I can’t even remember any of them right now. ~*
____________________________________________
“Because you’re not a one-night girl, Irish.”
Leaning in to place a kiss on my jawline, he whispers, “You’re my forever girl.”
A story about a girl with innocent eyes who meets the boy with a savage grin and wicked hands.
I have to let go of everything.
And so I walk away.
I walk away from the voices, the shouts, the disappointment.
I walk away from my deceptions, my mistakes, my regrets.
I walk away from all that I am supposed to be and all that I cannot be.
For all of it is a lie.
____________________________________________
Oh.
And uhh... to you authors whose books I plan on reading after this one?
Good. Luck.
April 20, 2015
One Tiny Lie was nothing like I expected it to be. I think it should have been called One Giant Clusterf*ck. There were parts I genuinely LOVED, parts I HATED, but overall, the book just really stressed me out. My anxiety level was through the roof. Just think of it like this- If Ten Tiny Breaths and Thoughtless had a love child, this would be it. I was so conflicted on how to rate this one... I spent two whole days thinking about it. I thought 4, then 3, then 5... I am going with 5 Stars Why you ask, when it was a giant clusterf*ck? Well- the main issue I had with the book was , and Thoughtless had the same thing going on. And in Thoughtless, the heroine was WAY more annoying, it got 5 stars, so yeah... thats my justification lol! I loved Livie, I LOVED Ash, and the writing was brilliant so a 5 star read for me! One of the main points of this story was that Livie doesn't have to be perfect, trust me, she wasn't! But I still loved her and this book! Now that you have read my mini-rant... On to the review!!!
Ten Tiny Breaths was one of my favorite reads of 2012. It was just fantastic. If you haven’t read it, I HIGHLY recommend it. One of the main reasons I loved it so much was the main character’s little sister, Livie.
“You’re too perfect, Livie.”
Livie is not so little anymore. She is getting ready to start her freshmen year at college, Princeton to be exact. Where she has always planned on going. Livie has every thing planned out. She is as close to perfect as they come. A straight ‘A’ student, never gets in trouble, doesn’t drink, smoke, mess around with guys... she is on the straight and narrow. But all of that is about to change. And it’s dr’s orders. Dr. Stayner and Kacey both agree that Livie needs to loosen up, have some fun, find herself. She is just too perfect and she is about to crack.
Her first night at Princeton changes everything. Kacey takes her, unwillingly, to a college party. She indulges with many jello shots, and she meets Ash.
Ash wants Livie, but he needs to stay with his girl, for reasons you don’t yet know. Let me just say, as much as I loved Ashton, he is the KING OF MIXED SIGNALS!!!! Tell someone to stay away from you, that she is better off with Connor, then you give her notes like this:
1- I’m brilliant
2- I’m charming
3- I’m hung like a thoroughbred
4- I’ve stopped all philandering
5- I’m highly skilled, as you’ve learned the other night
P.S. Stop staring at my hands. I know what you want me to do with them.
Confusing, right???? Livie wants to end it with Connor, she wants to be with Ash, but its complicated. Ashton has reasons for the things that he does. Reasons for pushing Livie away. If he could be with her, he would.
My biggest issue with the book, and I’m sure many would agree:
It’s undeniable that Ashton and Livie have something special. She sees a part of him that no one else does, and he shows her that its okay to not be perfect. But with all the complications, will this One Tiny Lie make everything around them crumble?
I laughed, I cried, I was stressed out to the MAX. It was great catching up with the old crew. Kacey, Trent, Storm, Dr. Stayner. Livie wasn’t perfect, but I think that was THE POINT of the book. It’s okay to make mistakes, screw up, change your mind. Life goes on. And you all know I fell in love with Ashton. Come on, the boy is damaged, and he is a jerk, with a side of man whore. What is not to love??? I am glad we got to the bottom of what was going on with him, it made me feel better. Enjoyed the ending.
K.A. Tucker’s writing is marvelous. This woman has a way with words. If you enjoyed Ten Tiny Breaths, and you don’t mind some crazy angst, a love triangle, with a side of anxiety, check this one out! If you can’t handle any of the above, it may not be for you. With all that said, it wasn’t perfect, the main characters were flawed, but THAT’S THE POINT! I still loved it and it gets 5 stars from this reader!!!!!
*ARC provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Ten Tiny Breaths was one of my favorite reads of 2012. It was just fantastic. If you haven’t read it, I HIGHLY recommend it. One of the main reasons I loved it so much was the main character’s little sister, Livie.
“You’re too perfect, Livie.”
Livie is not so little anymore. She is getting ready to start her freshmen year at college, Princeton to be exact. Where she has always planned on going. Livie has every thing planned out. She is as close to perfect as they come. A straight ‘A’ student, never gets in trouble, doesn’t drink, smoke, mess around with guys... she is on the straight and narrow. But all of that is about to change. And it’s dr’s orders. Dr. Stayner and Kacey both agree that Livie needs to loosen up, have some fun, find herself. She is just too perfect and she is about to crack.
“You are one of the kindest souls I’ve ever met, Livie. You respond to human heartache so acutely. It’s like you absorb other’s pain. Despite your extreme shyness, you will do just about anything not to fail. It’s time to find out who you really are.”
Her first night at Princeton changes everything. Kacey takes her, unwillingly, to a college party. She indulges with many jello shots, and she meets Ash.
“And he’s pretty much the hottest guy at this school. And also a giant ass. And a bit of a man whore.”I pretty much loved Ash from the start. He’s a jerk, an ass, a man whore, and just perfect. Except for one little thing... he has a girlfriend. Livie finds out about that only after she spends the evening drunk and wild with him. She tries to avoid him at all costs, even meets someone else. Connor. Connor is a nice guy. Just the type of guy she SHOULD be dating, but there is something missing there. He’s not Ashton. Ashton and Connor are best friends, things get complicated. The more time Livie spends with Ash, the more she learns about him. She see’s the real him. At least the parts he will let her see. Ashton doesn’t have the perfect easy going life he shows to the outside.
Ash wants Livie, but he needs to stay with his girl, for reasons you don’t yet know. Let me just say, as much as I loved Ashton, he is the KING OF MIXED SIGNALS!!!! Tell someone to stay away from you, that she is better off with Connor, then you give her notes like this:
1- I’m brilliant
2- I’m charming
3- I’m hung like a thoroughbred
4- I’ve stopped all philandering
5- I’m highly skilled, as you’ve learned the other night
P.S. Stop staring at my hands. I know what you want me to do with them.
Confusing, right???? Livie wants to end it with Connor, she wants to be with Ash, but its complicated. Ashton has reasons for the things that he does. Reasons for pushing Livie away. If he could be with her, he would.
Life’s all about trial and error.
My biggest issue with the book, and I’m sure many would agree:
It’s undeniable that Ashton and Livie have something special. She sees a part of him that no one else does, and he shows her that its okay to not be perfect. But with all the complications, will this One Tiny Lie make everything around them crumble?
“Irish, if there’s one thing I’ve never been able to forget, it’s a single second with you.”
I laughed, I cried, I was stressed out to the MAX. It was great catching up with the old crew. Kacey, Trent, Storm, Dr. Stayner. Livie wasn’t perfect, but I think that was THE POINT of the book. It’s okay to make mistakes, screw up, change your mind. Life goes on. And you all know I fell in love with Ashton. Come on, the boy is damaged, and he is a jerk, with a side of man whore. What is not to love??? I am glad we got to the bottom of what was going on with him, it made me feel better. Enjoyed the ending.
K.A. Tucker’s writing is marvelous. This woman has a way with words. If you enjoyed Ten Tiny Breaths, and you don’t mind some crazy angst, a love triangle, with a side of anxiety, check this one out! If you can’t handle any of the above, it may not be for you. With all that said, it wasn’t perfect, the main characters were flawed, but THAT’S THE POINT! I still loved it and it gets 5 stars from this reader!!!!!
*ARC provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
June 14, 2013
I love this book!!! 4.5 stars
If you loved Ten Tiny Breaths, you'll love this one too! It was different in many ways and definitely stood on it's own but it had that same spark! I just could not put it down!
I have to say this story really surprised me. It went in a really different direction than I was expecting and I just LOVED that about it! See, it was actually a bit of a forbidden romance. Here's the set up:
Livie was always mature for her age and after the tragedies her family suffered through, she grew up too fast too soon. Her shrink just wanted her to to let loose and LIVE a little and so her sister, Kasey, takes her out partying. She wakes up the next day with very fuzzy memories, a brand new tattoo on her back and in a room full of people, one of whom happens to be Ashton.
To her horror, Ashton seems to remember everything but... seems more than happy to forget it. Much to her disappointment. At this point, she meets his best friend Connor who is pretty much perfect, gorgeous, Irish and totally the kind of guy she could see herself with while Ashton is gorgeous, mysterious, but more than a bit of a man-whore and is hiding something underneath it all. But even with this perfect guy in front of her, she can't stop thinking about the one who shouldn't be on her mind.... Ashton.
"... you're not a fuck-buddy kind of girl and he's not boyfriend material. Clearly."
As the story goes on, Ashton keeps insisting that they shouldn't be together, that he isn't good for her... and something about it makes her wonder if there's more to his story than meets the eye.
"Why?"
"He looks away for a minute and I watch his jaw clench... "Because you're not a one-night-stand girl, Irish." Leaning in to place a kiss on my jawline, he whispers. "You're my forever girl."
Ashton was just the kind of hero I love. Broken/tortured heroes just break my heart in a way that just makes me fall even harder for them and Ashton was definitely one of those characters. Between that and just his whole attitude and all the swoony and sweet things he did, I found it impossible not to fall in love with him.
It was all about the little things... flirty comments, a glance that has so much meaning, a little touch that lingers too long, a glimpse into something deeper behind the carefree exterior.
But I have to say that when his back story came out, it seriously just made my heart hurt. It's bad, guys. Really bad. I was trying to think and figure out what exactly his reasons could be for staying away but nothing that I came up with made sense. But when the reason was brought out into the open, it totally and completely explained EVERYTHING. It was very well put together, took me by surprise and ended up being fully believable given the context of the story.
As for Livie, I really liked watching her journey as she figured out what she wanted most out of her life. Up until now, she'd always taken the safe road. The right road. Connor was safe, right, perfect. And Ashton wasn't. This story was about her letting go, learning to live, and learning to choose with her heart over her head.
"Life has a funny way of creating it's own tests. It throws curve balls that make you do and think and feel things that are in direct conflict with what you had planned and don't allow you to operate in terms of black and white."
I loved watching Livie and Ashton dance around each other a bit in the beginning. The reason I called this a forbidden romance is that there were genuine reasons why they couldn't be together at first and so everything between then was in these little, emotionally charged stolen moments.
I'm not usually a fan of love triangles but the reason I was totally okay with this book was that you could tell right from the start that Livie and Ashton were right for each other. There was really no question there. It was just a matter of figuring out how they'd end up together.
The entire book was really well-written but I also have to say that the scene where Livie figured out what had happened to Ash in his past was just phenomenal. I felt like I discovered it right alone with her and came to the realization at the same moment that she did. That moment? Omg I was just right THERE. I teared up, got chills. It was really emotional and I loved it.
The story wasn't a fast build but I enjoyed the pacing. Around 50% in, my heart really started to race as the layers built. The detailing and character development was so engaging that honestly I just wanted to read this in one sitting. Add that to the fact that broken/tortured heroes are just my all-time favorite and really this book just hit all the right marks with me. I cared, really CARED about the characters and the story.
There is definitely steam in this book but it's very tastefully written and not graphic. But trust me, you'll feel it!
I also loved that we got to see quite a bit of Kasey and Trent in this. I think it's wonderful when, in sequels, the characters from the first book are remembered and included. It gives the whole story a really wonderful, well-rounded feeling.
Oh and yes, there is a happy ending! Fully resolved, no cliffhanger!
I love the whole interconnected sort of family network that has been built between this book and the first one. I've heard that the next book will be about Cain (he's so mysterious! I want to know more!) and then Ben. I really can't wait!!
Each of the books in this series can technically be read as stand alones but I do suggest reading them in order if you can.
I highly recommend this series!
BLURB -->
Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents' tragic death and Kacey's self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would...and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.
Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?
As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.
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September 9, 2016
3 Stars!
This book is all about Livie Cleary, the sister of Kacey Cleary from Ten Tiny Breaths. Unlike her sister, she grew up with a different outlook in life. She's intellectual and so much in control with everything. When she went to Princeton University to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a pediatrician, her meek and virginal lifestyle changed. She was introduced to lots of college drunken parties which were new to her. The first time she was exposed to a party, she met the gorgeous college manwhore Ashton Henley and had an unforgettable one night hook-up with him. There's certainly an attraction going on between them. But when she met Irishman Connor, she decided that he's the right one for her because he is different compared to Ashton. Connor is the exact opposite and he's uncomplicated. But of course she soon realized that she's more attracted to Ashton because of their undeniable sexual tension whenever they see each other.
There was certainly an angst in this book. It wasn't a normal college romance book where majority falls into the flirty side. This one dealt with certain issues but it wasn't as heavy as Ten Tiny Breaths.
The problem I had with this book was the heroine. I have nothing against Livie. I think she's a good and likable character. I just didn't really connect with her POV and her giggles and blushes that she always did in this book. Her mannerisms were kind of annoying. Sometimes she also overreacts to certain things and over-analyze them and it made me face palm myself at least a couple of times.
The thing that I loved here, though, was Ashton. One with a playful charm but with deep issues underneath the amused smiles, he's the kind of male lead that interests me. I've always rooted for him since the first time he was introduced in the book.
The romance was good and there were delightfully sexy times, too. I loved that the author delved into a different theme this time. I have always been a sucker for college romance books and the college air in this story was something that drew me in. Yes, there was a little bit of love triangle that happened but it was obvious who's the love interest here.
I found the story, as a whole, okay but it didn't capture me like I would have hoped. There wasn't really something that's remarkable and special in this book. I must say I enjoyed Ten Tiny Breaths more because of the amazing storyline that came with a perfect, mind-blowing plot twist. Still, One Tiny Lie wasn't a bad read. I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the series more.
This book is all about Livie Cleary, the sister of Kacey Cleary from Ten Tiny Breaths. Unlike her sister, she grew up with a different outlook in life. She's intellectual and so much in control with everything. When she went to Princeton University to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a pediatrician, her meek and virginal lifestyle changed. She was introduced to lots of college drunken parties which were new to her. The first time she was exposed to a party, she met the gorgeous college manwhore Ashton Henley and had an unforgettable one night hook-up with him. There's certainly an attraction going on between them. But when she met Irishman Connor, she decided that he's the right one for her because he is different compared to Ashton. Connor is the exact opposite and he's uncomplicated. But of course she soon realized that she's more attracted to Ashton because of their undeniable sexual tension whenever they see each other.
There was certainly an angst in this book. It wasn't a normal college romance book where majority falls into the flirty side. This one dealt with certain issues but it wasn't as heavy as Ten Tiny Breaths.
"Because you’re not a one-night girl, Irish. You’re my forever girl."
The problem I had with this book was the heroine. I have nothing against Livie. I think she's a good and likable character. I just didn't really connect with her POV and her giggles and blushes that she always did in this book. Her mannerisms were kind of annoying. Sometimes she also overreacts to certain things and over-analyze them and it made me face palm myself at least a couple of times.
The thing that I loved here, though, was Ashton. One with a playful charm but with deep issues underneath the amused smiles, he's the kind of male lead that interests me. I've always rooted for him since the first time he was introduced in the book.
The romance was good and there were delightfully sexy times, too. I loved that the author delved into a different theme this time. I have always been a sucker for college romance books and the college air in this story was something that drew me in. Yes, there was a little bit of love triangle that happened but it was obvious who's the love interest here.
I found the story, as a whole, okay but it didn't capture me like I would have hoped. There wasn't really something that's remarkable and special in this book. I must say I enjoyed Ten Tiny Breaths more because of the amazing storyline that came with a perfect, mind-blowing plot twist. Still, One Tiny Lie wasn't a bad read. I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the series more.
February 9, 2017
After reading Ten Tiny Breaths I became a fan of K.A.Tucker mainly because of the message she sends to readers. I always enjoyed a book with a strong message, that raises awareness of a social problem and managed to make you reconsider about certain ideas you may had and thought they were correct.
The one important thing that reading thought me was not to judge, to look deeper into someone's personality and try to identify what makes them click and act that way. And there are a lot of books that simply give you reality on a plate, making you discover that underneath the exterior comes a great story.
I learned that with Kacey and I was convinced that with Livie it will be the same experience. The story chicks off 3 years after Ten Tiny Breaths, when Livie is 18 and ready to go to Princeton. Yes, our little sister has grown up into a beautiful lady, smarter and more determined to follow her father's footsteps. The only problem with our dear girl is that she is so focused on pleasing others that she forgot to live for herself. Her life is kind of boring, without fun or extra activities, making her kind of geeky. So, Kacey decides to celebrate her baby sister going to Princeton and have some fun, just the 2 of them. We all know Kacey's wild side and there are no surprises something unforgettable will happen that night. At that party, Livie meets Ashton, a gorgeous guy who surprises her with his witty, charming and egomaniac personality. What happens that night will be a crazy chain of events, that will lead Livie and Ashton closer, although their relationship will initially be cat and mouse like. But you know what they say, opposites attract and this 2 are living proof.
So, a very delicious beginning for our dear couple, but once you really get the feel of the story, it will get better. Certain problems occur, like Ashton's girlfriend or Connor, Ashton's best friend, who will date Livie, but that just adds the salt and pepper to our story. As you know from Ten Tiny Breaths, not everything is what it seems and there will be motives behind our character's behavior. You just have to be patient enough to discover them and remember not to judge.
I loved Livie from the very first word I read about her in Ten Tiny Breaths. I liked the way she stood by her sister, cared for her, making her the center of her universe. They only had each other and this connection was overwhelming for me. But nobody actually thought much about Livie when Kacey had that accident. All focus was on Kacey because she actually lived it, but what about her sister? She suffered a terrible lost too and not to mention that she had to witness every day the destructive path Kacey was taking. The breakdown she had in the hospital in Ten Tiny Breaths only indicated the suffering and hurt she felt and it was only a matter of time until she would break. I liked that she was so innocent, the kind of sweet innocence that made you want to hug her and be there for her.
Ashton was exactly the guy she needed to get her out of her comfort zone. But, they were alike in so many ways, because they had hidden many feelings inside and it was hard to figure after a while what was true and what was pretending. I liked him as a hero, despite that he kept on telling Livie he was not OK for her. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into, but at a certain point he didn't care, because it is impossible to resist Livie. Although he was the one to push her away, he also pulled her in many times, and it kind of confused me at times. Adding Connor in the equation was exciting, because this was the perfect example that life is not all the times meant to be lived by rules and fixed ideas. Livie thought the perfect guy for her has to be sweet, respectful, cute and nice, and she ended up falling in love with the complicated but gorgeous bad boy. How about that? This was a perfect way of her growing up, realizing things and taking decision for her own well, not for the acceptance of others. She managed after meeting Asthon to take chances, and although she suffered a lot, she also gained a lot, that made her more stronger and independent.
So this was a sweet story about 2 different persons who realize they have a lot in common and as a bonus, K.A.Tucker managed once more to insert a strong social message that made me cry a little because of its intensity and frequency in families around the world.
4 stars!
For more reviews please check https://readwithloveblog.wordpress.com
The one important thing that reading thought me was not to judge, to look deeper into someone's personality and try to identify what makes them click and act that way. And there are a lot of books that simply give you reality on a plate, making you discover that underneath the exterior comes a great story.
I learned that with Kacey and I was convinced that with Livie it will be the same experience. The story chicks off 3 years after Ten Tiny Breaths, when Livie is 18 and ready to go to Princeton. Yes, our little sister has grown up into a beautiful lady, smarter and more determined to follow her father's footsteps. The only problem with our dear girl is that she is so focused on pleasing others that she forgot to live for herself. Her life is kind of boring, without fun or extra activities, making her kind of geeky. So, Kacey decides to celebrate her baby sister going to Princeton and have some fun, just the 2 of them. We all know Kacey's wild side and there are no surprises something unforgettable will happen that night. At that party, Livie meets Ashton, a gorgeous guy who surprises her with his witty, charming and egomaniac personality. What happens that night will be a crazy chain of events, that will lead Livie and Ashton closer, although their relationship will initially be cat and mouse like. But you know what they say, opposites attract and this 2 are living proof.
So, a very delicious beginning for our dear couple, but once you really get the feel of the story, it will get better. Certain problems occur, like Ashton's girlfriend or Connor, Ashton's best friend, who will date Livie, but that just adds the salt and pepper to our story. As you know from Ten Tiny Breaths, not everything is what it seems and there will be motives behind our character's behavior. You just have to be patient enough to discover them and remember not to judge.
I loved Livie from the very first word I read about her in Ten Tiny Breaths. I liked the way she stood by her sister, cared for her, making her the center of her universe. They only had each other and this connection was overwhelming for me. But nobody actually thought much about Livie when Kacey had that accident. All focus was on Kacey because she actually lived it, but what about her sister? She suffered a terrible lost too and not to mention that she had to witness every day the destructive path Kacey was taking. The breakdown she had in the hospital in Ten Tiny Breaths only indicated the suffering and hurt she felt and it was only a matter of time until she would break. I liked that she was so innocent, the kind of sweet innocence that made you want to hug her and be there for her.
Ashton was exactly the guy she needed to get her out of her comfort zone. But, they were alike in so many ways, because they had hidden many feelings inside and it was hard to figure after a while what was true and what was pretending. I liked him as a hero, despite that he kept on telling Livie he was not OK for her. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into, but at a certain point he didn't care, because it is impossible to resist Livie. Although he was the one to push her away, he also pulled her in many times, and it kind of confused me at times. Adding Connor in the equation was exciting, because this was the perfect example that life is not all the times meant to be lived by rules and fixed ideas. Livie thought the perfect guy for her has to be sweet, respectful, cute and nice, and she ended up falling in love with the complicated but gorgeous bad boy. How about that? This was a perfect way of her growing up, realizing things and taking decision for her own well, not for the acceptance of others. She managed after meeting Asthon to take chances, and although she suffered a lot, she also gained a lot, that made her more stronger and independent.
So this was a sweet story about 2 different persons who realize they have a lot in common and as a bonus, K.A.Tucker managed once more to insert a strong social message that made me cry a little because of its intensity and frequency in families around the world.
4 stars!
For more reviews please check https://readwithloveblog.wordpress.com
March 26, 2016
I've always wanted to read this when I accidentally saw a picture quote few weeks ago and I totally don't regret doing so.
It's another beautiful story between two teenagers, Livie and Ashton. Both of them experienced something that left scars deeply inside their hearts, but what I liked most is the fact that this time, it was the male character who'd been abused instead of the female. I don't know why, but there are way too many similar stories that always described the young ladies as someone entirely broken or too vulnerable to live their lives, and I'm glad it isn't what's going on with this book.
Since I simply skimmed through the book within several hours, all I can say is that the ending was the BEST part of the story. The author kind of threw out many questions about Ashton to keep the readers wondering the truth behind them and he never gave a complete answer to them, so it's pure perfection that he did spill them out eventually. That was really something worth waiting for and made this book more valuable. :)
Last but not least, thanks to my great friend, Jasmin, for recommending this one. I know it's been awhile since you finished this, but thanks so much for bringing another satisfying NA novel in my reading life. :>
It's another beautiful story between two teenagers, Livie and Ashton. Both of them experienced something that left scars deeply inside their hearts, but what I liked most is the fact that this time, it was the male character who'd been abused instead of the female. I don't know why, but there are way too many similar stories that always described the young ladies as someone entirely broken or too vulnerable to live their lives, and I'm glad it isn't what's going on with this book.
Since I simply skimmed through the book within several hours, all I can say is that the ending was the BEST part of the story. The author kind of threw out many questions about Ashton to keep the readers wondering the truth behind them and he never gave a complete answer to them, so it's pure perfection that he did spill them out eventually. That was really something worth waiting for and made this book more valuable. :)
Last but not least, thanks to my great friend, Jasmin, for recommending this one. I know it's been awhile since you finished this, but thanks so much for bringing another satisfying NA novel in my reading life. :>
August 6, 2016
**2.5 stars**
Cheater, cheater pumpkin eater! Livie, you disappoint me.
I was in the camp that liked Ten Tiny Breaths. I excused Trent's stalker behavior, and I just sat back and enjoyed the chemistry between Trent and Kasey. When I heard that Livie was getting her own book to tell her story, I was pretty excited. I expected this book to be great and went into it with high hopes. It had a beautiful cover and a lot of hype- what could go wrong?! And for the first 50% or so, I really enjoyed "One Tiny Lie". However, soon after it took a turn for the worst and I dropped my star-rating like a hot potato.
Livie enters her freshman year at Princeton feeling the pressure to be perfect. She wants to make her deceased parents proud and so she is determined to study hard so she can go on and be the pediatric oncologist that they always wanted her to be. However, at her first college party, with the influence of Kasey (naughty sister!), she gets wasted and makes out with the very hot captain of the crew team, Ashton. Though she feels chemistry between them, Livie decides that Ashton isn't boyfriend material and tries to move on with a nice boy that she meets later on campus (Connor). However, avoiding Ashton and her feelings for him are not as easy as Livie originally though.
Though I should be sick of it by now, the trope of the virginal girl and the bad boy player still has some draw for me. I don't mind reading about how the good girl changes a player's ways. However, this isn't quite what this book is about. It is more about Livie's inability to make a decision and grow a pair.
I am not a girl who can't read about cheating. I don't mind a little cheating in books as long as it is nipped in the bud early on, and the girl breaks up with the guy she was originally dating, giving him full disclosure. Full out affairs are NOT my jam. When Livie starts hooking up with Ashton as she is dating Connor, at first I excused her. However, as it progressed and Connor was used, abused, and ignored, I grew increasingly irritated with Livie. I mean, COME ON. You knew what you were doing girl, it is just bad behavior at this point. Connor was an upstanding, nice guy and I hated to see him get treated the way that Livie treated him. She honestly didn't even seem to like him at all, so stringing him along just seemed cruel.
In addition, Livie just lets Ashton walk all over her. Each time they hooked up and he left her a little note that he didn't want to see her anymore, she never got angry. She just kind of accepted it and didn't ever bring it up to him... and they kept on hooking up! Doormat alert! I was spitting mad when He deserved to stew in the naughty corner for a few months at least for that one.
However, though the cheating was a big issue for me, a bigger issue was the unbelievable character of Dr. Stayner. He did things that even the most cutting edge, experimental psychologists would never dream of doing. Starting with doing weekly therapy sessions pro bono (come on!), he did the oddest things with Livie. Popping in on her unexpectedly, encouraging dangerous behavior, and meddling HUGELY in her affairs- the stuff that he did just didn't ring true. And don't get me started on what he did at the end of the book that involved Ashton. It just went so far beyond what would be considered normal.
Also, I think many people would be annoyed with the back and forth between Ashton and Livie. It was a constant yo-yo that gave me a headache. I didn't like all of the games between the two of them.
To top everything off, the ending wrapped up way too neatly and quickly for my tastes. It was like conflict and angst to the Nth degree until the ending... then a buttery smooth resolution.
I think the twist with Ashton and his parents was an interesting one (I see twists are kind of K.A. Tucker's thing), and I stayed up until 1:30 am to see what would happen in the end. However, overall this book was a bit of a disappointment.
**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Cheater, cheater pumpkin eater! Livie, you disappoint me.
I was in the camp that liked Ten Tiny Breaths. I excused Trent's stalker behavior, and I just sat back and enjoyed the chemistry between Trent and Kasey. When I heard that Livie was getting her own book to tell her story, I was pretty excited. I expected this book to be great and went into it with high hopes. It had a beautiful cover and a lot of hype- what could go wrong?! And for the first 50% or so, I really enjoyed "One Tiny Lie". However, soon after it took a turn for the worst and I dropped my star-rating like a hot potato.
Livie enters her freshman year at Princeton feeling the pressure to be perfect. She wants to make her deceased parents proud and so she is determined to study hard so she can go on and be the pediatric oncologist that they always wanted her to be. However, at her first college party, with the influence of Kasey (naughty sister!), she gets wasted and makes out with the very hot captain of the crew team, Ashton. Though she feels chemistry between them, Livie decides that Ashton isn't boyfriend material and tries to move on with a nice boy that she meets later on campus (Connor). However, avoiding Ashton and her feelings for him are not as easy as Livie originally though.
Though I should be sick of it by now, the trope of the virginal girl and the bad boy player still has some draw for me. I don't mind reading about how the good girl changes a player's ways. However, this isn't quite what this book is about. It is more about Livie's inability to make a decision and grow a pair.
I am not a girl who can't read about cheating. I don't mind a little cheating in books as long as it is nipped in the bud early on, and the girl breaks up with the guy she was originally dating, giving him full disclosure. Full out affairs are NOT my jam. When Livie starts hooking up with Ashton as she is dating Connor, at first I excused her. However, as it progressed and Connor was used, abused, and ignored, I grew increasingly irritated with Livie. I mean, COME ON. You knew what you were doing girl, it is just bad behavior at this point. Connor was an upstanding, nice guy and I hated to see him get treated the way that Livie treated him. She honestly didn't even seem to like him at all, so stringing him along just seemed cruel.
In addition, Livie just lets Ashton walk all over her. Each time they hooked up and he left her a little note that he didn't want to see her anymore, she never got angry. She just kind of accepted it and didn't ever bring it up to him... and they kept on hooking up! Doormat alert! I was spitting mad when He deserved to stew in the naughty corner for a few months at least for that one.
However, though the cheating was a big issue for me, a bigger issue was the unbelievable character of Dr. Stayner. He did things that even the most cutting edge, experimental psychologists would never dream of doing. Starting with doing weekly therapy sessions pro bono (come on!), he did the oddest things with Livie. Popping in on her unexpectedly, encouraging dangerous behavior, and meddling HUGELY in her affairs- the stuff that he did just didn't ring true. And don't get me started on what he did at the end of the book that involved Ashton. It just went so far beyond what would be considered normal.
Also, I think many people would be annoyed with the back and forth between Ashton and Livie. It was a constant yo-yo that gave me a headache. I didn't like all of the games between the two of them.
To top everything off, the ending wrapped up way too neatly and quickly for my tastes. It was like conflict and angst to the Nth degree until the ending... then a buttery smooth resolution.
I think the twist with Ashton and his parents was an interesting one (I see twists are kind of K.A. Tucker's thing), and I stayed up until 1:30 am to see what would happen in the end. However, overall this book was a bit of a disappointment.
**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
June 6, 2013
Disclaimers: This is probably going to be more rant then review. This book sent my blood pressure skyrocketing. I was cursing at the characters, I wanted to slap a couple of people and shake the heck out of Livie more than once.
I have to start off saying I loved Ten Tiny Breaths. I mean I LOVED it. It's one of my top books of last year. One of the big reasons I loved it? Livie. She was a fantastic character. I adored everything about her, and I could not have been more thrilled for her to get her own book. So, saying my expectations where high is putting it mildly.
I also need to disclose that cheating is a HUGE no-no for me (in real and book life :). It can ruin a good book for me faster than any insta-love or triangle.
Ok, on to the review ....
I'm going to attempt to do this without putting forth any untagged spoilers. This could be a problem, since my issues were plot related, and not "writing" related, but I'm going to do my best to keep it generic. *and note my tagged spoilers, are REAL spoilers, so don't click unless you really want to know *. Seriously, I'm not kidding, don't do it!
The book opens with Livie getting ready to head off to Princeton. Kacey is sure that Livie is just "too good" and is on the verge of "cracking" so she spends the summer talking to Dr. Stayner. He does his best to bring her out of her shell by getting her to perform tasks over the summer to take her out of her comfort zone.
The whole idea was to get her to think outside of the life she has had planned for herself since she was nine. To try and get her to realize she doesn't have to be perfect. Well, I think it worked, because she gets to college, and "perfect" gets left so far in the dust you can't even see it anymore.
The first time she meets Ashton is at an off campus party, before classes start. Kacey is there, and she is encouraging her (with Dr. Stayner's approval) to get drunk, and perhaps even get "under" someone. (Please do not get me started about this guys methods of therapy. I know this is a book,and he's supposed to be "unconventional" , but the dude would have lost his license so fast in real life it's not even funny).
They don't do the nasty, but they do hook up. The next day he asks her to keep it quite, and tells her he regrets doing it. Yeah, OUCH. So begins the push pull that characterizes the entire novel. Ashton pursues her - seeks her out, says something sweet, maybe starts the seduction, and Livie, she falls for it, only for him to turn around and squash her like a bug. Every.single.time.
She eventually meets Connor (who happens to be Ashton's best friend). This doesn't stop the cycle. Hell, it makes it worse, oh so much worse, because we get to add layers of guilt along with the nice little mind-fuck.
You slowly learn that there is a reason that Ashton keeps pushing her away. And, I get it. I get why he had to keep up his current life. At the same time, it doesn't change my feelings that he was a selfish bastard for continuing to string Livie along when he had NO intention of changing anything. I'm sympathetic to his predicament, but it's not enough for me to forgive him.
I think, maybe, I could have forgiven Ashton, until the Halloween party, but after that, there was no coming back for me.
I was also horribly disappointed in Livie. I tried to give her a pass because she was just so darn inexperienced, but Connor is a nice guy. There was no reason to string him along It wasn't even like she was really torn between the two of them - there was no point in continuing to date Connor.
The ending felt rushed to me. We tied out all the lose ends (with some very... unrealistic intervention of some other characters) at warp speed. All the sudden everything was ok. It didn't feel real to me. The epilogue was nice, but it didn't give me enough warm and fuzzies to overcome all the nasty that came before it.
Now, to be fair, the book is not all bad. I liked that Livie does learn to forge her own path. Ashton was, despite his flaws, hot as all hell, and had some seriously swoon-worthy lines. I loved seeing Kacey, Trent, Ben and Cain again. (I really want a Cain book!!!). The whole thing was certainly emotionally engaging (even if my emotions were mostly rage and frustration).
However, none of that was enough to get me past my sticking points. I still think that K.A. Tucker is a fantastic author. I'll be first in line to preorder whatever her next book is, but this one just wasn't for me.
ARC provided by Atria books via NetGalley
I have to start off saying I loved Ten Tiny Breaths. I mean I LOVED it. It's one of my top books of last year. One of the big reasons I loved it? Livie. She was a fantastic character. I adored everything about her, and I could not have been more thrilled for her to get her own book. So, saying my expectations where high is putting it mildly.
I also need to disclose that cheating is a HUGE no-no for me (in real and book life :). It can ruin a good book for me faster than any insta-love or triangle.
Ok, on to the review ....
I'm going to attempt to do this without putting forth any untagged spoilers. This could be a problem, since my issues were plot related, and not "writing" related, but I'm going to do my best to keep it generic. *and note my tagged spoilers, are REAL spoilers, so don't click unless you really want to know *. Seriously, I'm not kidding, don't do it!
The book opens with Livie getting ready to head off to Princeton. Kacey is sure that Livie is just "too good" and is on the verge of "cracking" so she spends the summer talking to Dr. Stayner. He does his best to bring her out of her shell by getting her to perform tasks over the summer to take her out of her comfort zone.
The whole idea was to get her to think outside of the life she has had planned for herself since she was nine. To try and get her to realize she doesn't have to be perfect. Well, I think it worked, because she gets to college, and "perfect" gets left so far in the dust you can't even see it anymore.
The first time she meets Ashton is at an off campus party, before classes start. Kacey is there, and she is encouraging her (with Dr. Stayner's approval) to get drunk, and perhaps even get "under" someone. (Please do not get me started about this guys methods of therapy. I know this is a book,and he's supposed to be "unconventional" , but the dude would have lost his license so fast in real life it's not even funny).
They don't do the nasty, but they do hook up. The next day he asks her to keep it quite, and tells her he regrets doing it. Yeah, OUCH. So begins the push pull that characterizes the entire novel. Ashton pursues her - seeks her out, says something sweet, maybe starts the seduction, and Livie, she falls for it, only for him to turn around and squash her like a bug. Every.single.time.
She eventually meets Connor (who happens to be Ashton's best friend). This doesn't stop the cycle. Hell, it makes it worse, oh so much worse, because we get to add layers of guilt along with the nice little mind-fuck.
You slowly learn that there is a reason that Ashton keeps pushing her away. And, I get it. I get why he had to keep up his current life. At the same time, it doesn't change my feelings that he was a selfish bastard for continuing to string Livie along when he had NO intention of changing anything. I'm sympathetic to his predicament, but it's not enough for me to forgive him.
I think, maybe, I could have forgiven Ashton, until the Halloween party, but after that, there was no coming back for me.
I was also horribly disappointed in Livie. I tried to give her a pass because she was just so darn inexperienced, but Connor is a nice guy. There was no reason to string him along It wasn't even like she was really torn between the two of them - there was no point in continuing to date Connor.
The ending felt rushed to me. We tied out all the lose ends (with some very... unrealistic intervention of some other characters) at warp speed. All the sudden everything was ok. It didn't feel real to me. The epilogue was nice, but it didn't give me enough warm and fuzzies to overcome all the nasty that came before it.
Now, to be fair, the book is not all bad. I liked that Livie does learn to forge her own path. Ashton was, despite his flaws, hot as all hell, and had some seriously swoon-worthy lines. I loved seeing Kacey, Trent, Ben and Cain again. (I really want a Cain book!!!). The whole thing was certainly emotionally engaging (even if my emotions were mostly rage and frustration).
However, none of that was enough to get me past my sticking points. I still think that K.A. Tucker is a fantastic author. I'll be first in line to preorder whatever her next book is, but this one just wasn't for me.
ARC provided by Atria books via NetGalley
August 12, 2014
*Warning: This book contain cheating*
One Tiny Lie is the story of Livie Cleary, Kacey’s little sister from Ten Tiny Breaths, which by the way is a fantastic book that I highly recommend!
Kacey’s little sister Livie is preparing to head off to college…Princeton to be exact. Kacey is concerned about her “too fucking perfect” little sister and enlists the help of Dr. Stayner to chat with Livie.
”He simply said, “So I hear you’re a ticking time bomb.”
The good doctor rattles Livie’s world with the idea that her goals and life plans aren’t her own but her parents.
Kacey and Reagan (Livie’s roommate) bring Livie to her first college party…a toga party! Jell-o shots are being downed when suddenly a Jello-thief strikes…not only stealing Livie’s shot but her first kiss!
The thief…Ashton Henley the captain of the Princeton Heavyweight rowing team, who happens to be the hottest guy at school and also a man whore.
"Don't worry. When my baby sister gets laid for the first time, it won't be with you."
The party was CRAZY and the morning after is just as CRAZY. What follows days later…a brush off from Ashton!
Classes start Livie’s begins her volunteer work at the hospital and quickly starts to question whether she can handle working with children with cancer.
Livie meets Connor, a fantastic nice guy who asks her to a party and guess who his roommate is? You guessed it! We have a love triangle readers!
Oh you thought Ashton was gone? Nope, he can’t stay away from Livie. Ashton tells Livie to stay with Connor because he has a girlfriend and can’t be what she deserves.
"This can't work, Irish. Stick with Connor."
Ashton is a broken and trapped. A reader will be both cursing him and loving him at different stages of the story.
"Because you're not a one-night girl, Irish." Leaning in to place a kiss on my jawline, he whispers, "You're my forever girl."~ Ashton
Livie follows the good doctor’s advice and through trial and error and A LOT of mistakes, she breaks some hearts, fails some tests, and finds what will make her happy and…REMARKABLE.
* ARC provided by Atria book via Netgalley*
July 14, 2013
I could not wait for Livie's story! I loved her so much inTen Tiny Breaths but unfortunatelly this book did not work for me.
This is one of the most painful reviews I have ever written. I absolutely adore K.A. Tucker's writing style an dall her previous books were 5 STARS read for me. So obviously I went to reading this book with very high expectations. However, this story contents quite intense love triangle and it truly did not sit well with me. There is no doubt that writing was superb, it was storyline and heroine's and hero's behaviour that did not work for me.
One Tiny Lie reminded me a soap opera, I just did not feel the angst of main characters and whole ending was too fairy-tale like and quite unrealistic. Saying that, I am not giving up on this author. On contrary, I cannot wait for her next book since I truly love her ideas and style of writing!
*ARC provided by Netgally as an exchange for honest review*
MORE REVIEWS ON MY BLOG Reading Is My Breathing
This is one of the most painful reviews I have ever written. I absolutely adore K.A. Tucker's writing style an dall her previous books were 5 STARS read for me. So obviously I went to reading this book with very high expectations. However, this story contents quite intense love triangle and it truly did not sit well with me. There is no doubt that writing was superb, it was storyline and heroine's and hero's behaviour that did not work for me.
One Tiny Lie reminded me a soap opera, I just did not feel the angst of main characters and whole ending was too fairy-tale like and quite unrealistic. Saying that, I am not giving up on this author. On contrary, I cannot wait for her next book since I truly love her ideas and style of writing!
*ARC provided by Netgally as an exchange for honest review*
MORE REVIEWS ON MY BLOG Reading Is My Breathing
June 26, 2013
More reviews - > Jacqueline's Reads
5 STARS! Spoiler FREE Review
Oh.my.word…. one word to describe One Tiny Lie is ONE BIG FANTASTIC YES!
Seriously people, if you haven’t picked up a KA Tucker read, you.need.to.do.it.NOW!
I LOVED LOVED LOVED Ten Tiny Breaths. One Tiny Lie isn’t anything like Ten Tiny Breaths and you would think that would upset me huh? Oh.No. Makes me love One Tiny Lie even more. One Tiny Lie is book 2 of Ten Tiny Breaths series and is a completely new and different novel from the first book BUT you still need to read Ten Tiny Breaths so the story isn’t ruined for you.
[Summary]
Its two years later and Livie is 18, I jump for joy on this. I am happy she is legal. Anyhow, Livie is always the responsible one and has her future planned out for her. She attends her first year at Princeton and everyone wants Livie to loosen up and enjoy her college years. Livie finds this difficult, but with the help of Ashton, it might not be so difficult for Livie to be a little reckless, even though predicable, yet safe Connor seems like the obvious choice.
[Disclaimer]
If I read the blurb prior to reading, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. I am always a little apprehensive of love triangles, it’s a difficult story line for me to get into, however, this just goes to show what a fabulous writer Tucker is, because I was hooked from page one.
[Livie]
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Livie. If Livie and I went to college together, she would be my best friend. I love Livie so much because I see myself in her. I mean, never getting anything lower than an A, oh yeah, I feel for ya girl! She’s a great Heroine. Livie is young, independent, smart, yet emotional, caring and a really great character. If you looking for a coming of age kind of character, she’s your girl. I even like that she cries so much, it’s very cute.
[Ashton]
Ashton is swoon-drool-panties-down-my-leg kind of Hero.
Oh boy. Oh boy. Why do we “good” girls love these bad boys?! It’s just too much and I LOVE IT!
I’m sure most girls do everything in their power to stage a run-in with Ashton Henley after getting drunk and making out with him on a random street corner.
But I am not most girls
Ashton could be considered an anti-hero in away. When we first meet Ashton, he’s this bad-boy party guy who is pretty laid back, yet when you get to know him more, there’s something about him that makes you just ache. He has a lot of past issues and it’s slowly uncovered throughout the read. And let me tell you, his secrets… wow.
My very honest emotions throughout
At 1%.... I was just like oh, I need to allocate 6 hours for his because I don’t want to put it down
At 27%... I was like OH.MY.GAH. NO!!!!! BUT secretly oh yes
At 42% … I am just swooning over Ash
At 70%... I am grabbing on to my tablet for dear life, b/c the tension is just killing me!
At 86%... I am about to explode
At 100%... I just felt like I had the best orgasm of my life! No joke girls. The ending… EPIC
I think what makes One Tiny Lie such a powerful and wonderful read to me is it’s so relatable. We all face hardships and we all have our coping mechanism, but sometimes, it just good to let go. You know? I adore this read, I truly do.
I love the story, I love the cover, I love the characters and I love you KA Tucker
KA Tucker has made it to my favorite authors list. I am so excited and happy for her visit to Houston, Texas. I just can’t wait!!!!
5 HUGE STARS!!!!
ARC provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
For more reviews click - > Jacqueline's Reads
5 STARS! Spoiler FREE Review
Oh.my.word…. one word to describe One Tiny Lie is ONE BIG FANTASTIC YES!
Seriously people, if you haven’t picked up a KA Tucker read, you.need.to.do.it.NOW!
I LOVED LOVED LOVED Ten Tiny Breaths. One Tiny Lie isn’t anything like Ten Tiny Breaths and you would think that would upset me huh? Oh.No. Makes me love One Tiny Lie even more. One Tiny Lie is book 2 of Ten Tiny Breaths series and is a completely new and different novel from the first book BUT you still need to read Ten Tiny Breaths so the story isn’t ruined for you.
[Summary]
Its two years later and Livie is 18, I jump for joy on this. I am happy she is legal. Anyhow, Livie is always the responsible one and has her future planned out for her. She attends her first year at Princeton and everyone wants Livie to loosen up and enjoy her college years. Livie finds this difficult, but with the help of Ashton, it might not be so difficult for Livie to be a little reckless, even though predicable, yet safe Connor seems like the obvious choice.
[Disclaimer]
If I read the blurb prior to reading, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. I am always a little apprehensive of love triangles, it’s a difficult story line for me to get into, however, this just goes to show what a fabulous writer Tucker is, because I was hooked from page one.
[Livie]
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Livie. If Livie and I went to college together, she would be my best friend. I love Livie so much because I see myself in her. I mean, never getting anything lower than an A, oh yeah, I feel for ya girl! She’s a great Heroine. Livie is young, independent, smart, yet emotional, caring and a really great character. If you looking for a coming of age kind of character, she’s your girl. I even like that she cries so much, it’s very cute.
[Ashton]
Ashton is swoon-drool-panties-down-my-leg kind of Hero.
Oh boy. Oh boy. Why do we “good” girls love these bad boys?! It’s just too much and I LOVE IT!
I’m sure most girls do everything in their power to stage a run-in with Ashton Henley after getting drunk and making out with him on a random street corner.
But I am not most girls
Ashton could be considered an anti-hero in away. When we first meet Ashton, he’s this bad-boy party guy who is pretty laid back, yet when you get to know him more, there’s something about him that makes you just ache. He has a lot of past issues and it’s slowly uncovered throughout the read. And let me tell you, his secrets… wow.
My very honest emotions throughout
At 1%.... I was just like oh, I need to allocate 6 hours for his because I don’t want to put it down
At 27%... I was like OH.MY.GAH. NO!!!!! BUT secretly oh yes
At 42% … I am just swooning over Ash
At 70%... I am grabbing on to my tablet for dear life, b/c the tension is just killing me!
At 86%... I am about to explode
At 100%... I just felt like I had the best orgasm of my life! No joke girls. The ending… EPIC
I think what makes One Tiny Lie such a powerful and wonderful read to me is it’s so relatable. We all face hardships and we all have our coping mechanism, but sometimes, it just good to let go. You know? I adore this read, I truly do.
I love the story, I love the cover, I love the characters and I love you KA Tucker
KA Tucker has made it to my favorite authors list. I am so excited and happy for her visit to Houston, Texas. I just can’t wait!!!!
5 HUGE STARS!!!!
ARC provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
For more reviews click - > Jacqueline's Reads
August 12, 2014
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*chuckles to self* that gif gets me every time . . .
Anyways, I really wanted to like this one. Really. And to some extent I did, but it wasn't everything I thought it was going to be.
REACTION BEFORE READING
REACTION UPON FINISHING
So the basics before I commence ranting . . .
To some degree I liked the book. At some points, I was so interested and captivated with the story that I couldn't even think about putting it down . . . and then there were other times were I felt kind of bored and I started lightly skimming. When I put the book down, I didn't have that all-consuming urge to pick it back up again :(
I didn't feel a connection with the characters, especially Livie. She was just . . . there for me. Really innocent and really uptight. She just needed to relax, take a chill pill and:
I enjoyed reading about the characters. but I didn't feel in the story. I read about some heartbreaking things that have happened to them, and don't get me wrong, I felt bad. You never want to hear about that happening to a person. But at the same time, I didn't take their pain as my own, you know? I just didn't feel it.
On to the rant . . . spoilers ahead (they will be tagged).
I definitely should have done my research on this book because holy hell was I blindsided.
Ashton. First impression: he's a dick. Who thinks with his dick. And after a while I was ready to:
Then, a train wreck caring his comes my way. I don't like it . . . well, I pretty much hate it. But I can sometimes, maybe, look past it . . . ? Or at least make an attempt to understand. I get that sometimes, shit happens. It sucks, but it does. But here's when I really went WTF?
Really, Ashton? Do you feel the judging coming from me?
Another quote by Ashton that gave me the warm and fuzzies <-- heavily laced with sarcasm.
Now you'd think I'd like Livie because of how she called him out on his shit. Well, she says one thing, but her actions say something else. I was kinda disappointed.
But in true Destini fashion, I ended up feeling a little bad for the guy. When I heard his full story, my heart went out to him. It doesn't change what he did, because he definitely could've handled thing with more finesse, but now I don't see him as just an asshole. Now I see him as an emotionally scarred asshole.
On top of that, One Tiny Lie also had My top two most hated things in one book.
In the end,
My heart said 3.5 stars
& my head said 2.5 stars
So 3 stars it is.
August 26, 2015
I need to preface my
When I first met Livie in One Tiny Lie, I really liked her. I couldn't wait to read the book where she was the heroine. As I began reading this, I began to get cold-sweat flashbacks to Keira from Thoughtless. (I was one of the few people that did NOT enjoy that book).
This was me for the majority of this book
I did not expect for this book to have a bit of a love triangle. Love triangles, yeaaaa.....
But I digress. When Ashton is first introduced, I was all over that!
"He's pretty much the hottest guy at the school." She takes a sip of her beer. "And also a giant ass."
"That much I gathered."
"And a bit of a man whore."
Those are the magic words for me, and a recipe for a great hero, but sadly it just didn't last.
There was a whole lot of angst, which I normally don't mind. The constant push-pull, back and forth dance between Ashton and Livie drove me bat sh!t crazy. It was a whole bunch of
followed by
Over and over and over and over...well you get the point
Livie was a big let down for me as well.
I get that they're in college and Livie is only 18. But like I said, this is a huge hot button for me. I hate it. So it just killed the whole vibe of the book for me.
The 85% mark of this book was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
Yes there are reasons behind all this that we find out in the very last chapter of the book. For me, I already had such a solidified dislike for both of these characters, that it was a case of too little too late.
I can go on and on, but I need to cut myself off, or this will be the review that never ends.
Majority of the book is filled with this angst. We do get a HEA, but I thought the ending was very glossed over and rushed.
Don't get me wrong, there were still parts of the book that I enjoyed. I loved getting to catch up with Kacey and Trent. The interactions between Livie and her sister were hilarious. I also really liked the banter between Livie and Dr. Stayner. I loved his character. We also get more glimpses at the old gang, Ben, Storm, Dan and *swooning* Cain. Livie roommate, Reagan was also a riot to read.
Sadly that just wasn't enough to bring this book up to anything above 3 stars for me.
I just didn't find the title, One Tiny Lie, to be appropriate to what I read (there was nothing tiny about it).
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July 24, 2017
The second book in the Ten Tiny Breaths series features Kacey's younger sister, Livie Cleary. She handled the loss of their parents better than Kacey. She's resilient, coolheaded, mature and organized. Getting a glimpse of reality at the age of eleven, she took the responsibility of keeping themselves together when Kacey can't. If not for her love, care and patience, Kacey will further spiral into self-destruction.
Attending Princeton to pursue medicine is one of her lifelong dreams. She's going to dedicate herself to studies and stay out of trouble. Kacey say otherwise: Relax, have fun and live a little. One night, they get drunk on a party before the classes starts. Livie loosened up a little and had an intense drunk make-out session with the Princeton's Rowing team captain, Ashton Henley. He's a hot, egotistical womanizer who undeniably makes her heart beat faster. Later on, she meets his best friend and roommate Connor who happens to be her ideal guy.
What if her attraction to her ideal guy isn't as strong as she expected?
What if she wants Ashton more than ever but keeps pushing her away?
What if her dreams was actually not the one she really wanted?
There comes a point in life you feel lost and question everything. Your wants, goals, and expectations. I like Livie and Ash's story because they faced downfalls and rose up in the end. It's okay to make mistakes as long as you've learned from it and it's definitely okay to follow what you want than what others want you to be. It gives you freedom and happiness. As for the romance, I think their chemistry is good and not over the top. I just wish there's more flare to them.
Here are things I've encountered that gave me mixed feelings:
- I don't like Ashton constantly gives mixed signals to Livie. Both are mutually attracted with each other. I can't stand Ashton hurting and confusing her feelings. Like, c'mon man.
- Dr. Stayner's overfamiliarity. I don't know if it's just me. I understand he's like a guardian to the Cleary sisters but he shouldn't overstepped a line. Plus, his advices… nah. There are many things to have fun than going to a party. Also, what kind of shrink knocks on a dorm room early in the morning?!
- Kacey should tone down her wild side. Jesus C. Chill down woman!
- Most of the time, Livie overreacts on many things. It gets on my nerves.
I think the highlight in this book is Ash's backstory. That one is heartbreaking. Overall, I like it despite of my issues on it.
Attending Princeton to pursue medicine is one of her lifelong dreams. She's going to dedicate herself to studies and stay out of trouble. Kacey say otherwise: Relax, have fun and live a little. One night, they get drunk on a party before the classes starts. Livie loosened up a little and had an intense drunk make-out session with the Princeton's Rowing team captain, Ashton Henley. He's a hot, egotistical womanizer who undeniably makes her heart beat faster. Later on, she meets his best friend and roommate Connor who happens to be her ideal guy.
What if her attraction to her ideal guy isn't as strong as she expected?
What if she wants Ashton more than ever but keeps pushing her away?
What if her dreams was actually not the one she really wanted?
There comes a point in life you feel lost and question everything. Your wants, goals, and expectations. I like Livie and Ash's story because they faced downfalls and rose up in the end. It's okay to make mistakes as long as you've learned from it and it's definitely okay to follow what you want than what others want you to be. It gives you freedom and happiness. As for the romance, I think their chemistry is good and not over the top. I just wish there's more flare to them.
Here are things I've encountered that gave me mixed feelings:
- I don't like Ashton constantly gives mixed signals to Livie. Both are mutually attracted with each other. I can't stand Ashton hurting and confusing her feelings. Like, c'mon man.
- Dr. Stayner's overfamiliarity. I don't know if it's just me. I understand he's like a guardian to the Cleary sisters but he shouldn't overstepped a line. Plus, his advices… nah. There are many things to have fun than going to a party. Also, what kind of shrink knocks on a dorm room early in the morning?!
- Kacey should tone down her wild side. Jesus C. Chill down woman!
- Most of the time, Livie overreacts on many things. It gets on my nerves.
I think the highlight in this book is Ash's backstory. That one is heartbreaking. Overall, I like it despite of my issues on it.
October 18, 2015
3.5 and 4.5 Stars!
So I HATE a love triangle book! Hate it I tell you! I also hate it even more when the girl KNOWS that she only has feelings for one of the guys but still holds onto the other. I also hate cheating! I will say that the only thing that kept me going was that she wasn't screwing them both.
So this book just fucked me up! I had a love/hate relationship with it. I found myself growling through the entire book. lol
The book starts off with Livie moving into a dorm at Princeton. Kacey is there and dragging her to a toga party. Livie is to go to this party and she is under strict orders from the good Dr Stayner to let loose and have some fun. Kacey is there to make sure it happens. The drink of the night just happens to be Jell-O shots. After Livie has several and feeling the affects she's just sucked one in her mouth when the sexy beast Ashton slips his tongue in her mouth and steals it and also steams Livie up with a kiss that rocks her world. After Livie recovers she punches Ashton in the face. She's pissed that he just stole her first kiss. After Kacey blurts out that Livie is a virgin of everything Ashton and Livie do a lot of firsts. When she wakes up her head is a mess trying to remember everything that happened.
Livie gets dragged to another party with her roommate and there she sees Ashton with a beautiful girl who is his girlfriend. She is not happy that she was kissing on a guy that has a girlfriend. She hates Ashton's cheating ass! She then catches the eyes of Ashton's best friend Connor. Connor is the complete opposite of Ashton. He's sweet, smart and wants to take things slow with Livie. He's the perfect guy that her parents would of approved of her dating. He's not a cheating manwhore like Ashton.
So throughout most of the book (85%) Livie is dating sweet Connor but lusting over Ashton. Ashton also has a girlfriend that only visits on breaks.
Now Connor didn't give me goosebumps ever. He was nice and sweet but I didn't feel anything when him and Livie were together. But Ashton. Oh my! He gave me goosebumps! This tatted up muscle bulging sexy man was yummy! He was closed up tight. He didn't talk about his past but yet you just knew it wasn't filled with rainbows. I was dying for him to open up.
When Livie started to get him to open up my heart was breaking for him. Ashton is what made me love this book! Even though I couldn't figure out why the hell he kept telling Livie to stay with Connor. I knew Connor was going to end up getting his heart broke. They were suppose to be best friends.
Livie was the one I had a problem with. I needed her to tell Connor that they couldn't be together. Even if Ashton told her to stay with him. I needed her to man up and cut Connor loose. She grated my nerve with the thoughts she had about telling Connor and if he would break up with her. Then when it all came to a head how she acted toward him. I was growling I tell you!
So anyway I'm done ranting about that. lol I will tell you that this one had more smexy in it than TTB. I did say smexy not smutty. Haha!
I loved Ashton and Livie together. I loved that he called her Irish. I loved that we got more of the crazy Dr Stayner. I loved that we got more of Kacey and the rest of the gang. I also loved Livies roommate Reagan.
I did NOT love that throughout almost all of the book Ashton had a girlfriend and Livie had a boyfriend.
That's why my rating is like it is.
Thank you for never giving me any details of Ashton and his girlfriend. I probably would of moved on to the next book if I had gotten even a hint that he was sleeping with her.
I'm off to read the next book. Yes! Because I'm loving this series!
So I HATE a love triangle book! Hate it I tell you! I also hate it even more when the girl KNOWS that she only has feelings for one of the guys but still holds onto the other. I also hate cheating! I will say that the only thing that kept me going was that she wasn't screwing them both.
So this book just fucked me up! I had a love/hate relationship with it. I found myself growling through the entire book. lol
The book starts off with Livie moving into a dorm at Princeton. Kacey is there and dragging her to a toga party. Livie is to go to this party and she is under strict orders from the good Dr Stayner to let loose and have some fun. Kacey is there to make sure it happens. The drink of the night just happens to be Jell-O shots. After Livie has several and feeling the affects she's just sucked one in her mouth when the sexy beast Ashton slips his tongue in her mouth and steals it and also steams Livie up with a kiss that rocks her world. After Livie recovers she punches Ashton in the face. She's pissed that he just stole her first kiss. After Kacey blurts out that Livie is a virgin of everything Ashton and Livie do a lot of firsts. When she wakes up her head is a mess trying to remember everything that happened.
Livie gets dragged to another party with her roommate and there she sees Ashton with a beautiful girl who is his girlfriend. She is not happy that she was kissing on a guy that has a girlfriend. She hates Ashton's cheating ass! She then catches the eyes of Ashton's best friend Connor. Connor is the complete opposite of Ashton. He's sweet, smart and wants to take things slow with Livie. He's the perfect guy that her parents would of approved of her dating. He's not a cheating manwhore like Ashton.
So throughout most of the book (85%) Livie is dating sweet Connor but lusting over Ashton. Ashton also has a girlfriend that only visits on breaks.
Now Connor didn't give me goosebumps ever. He was nice and sweet but I didn't feel anything when him and Livie were together. But Ashton. Oh my! He gave me goosebumps! This tatted up muscle bulging sexy man was yummy! He was closed up tight. He didn't talk about his past but yet you just knew it wasn't filled with rainbows. I was dying for him to open up.
When Livie started to get him to open up my heart was breaking for him. Ashton is what made me love this book! Even though I couldn't figure out why the hell he kept telling Livie to stay with Connor. I knew Connor was going to end up getting his heart broke. They were suppose to be best friends.
Livie was the one I had a problem with. I needed her to tell Connor that they couldn't be together. Even if Ashton told her to stay with him. I needed her to man up and cut Connor loose. She grated my nerve with the thoughts she had about telling Connor and if he would break up with her. Then when it all came to a head how she acted toward him. I was growling I tell you!
So anyway I'm done ranting about that. lol I will tell you that this one had more smexy in it than TTB. I did say smexy not smutty. Haha!
I loved Ashton and Livie together. I loved that he called her Irish. I loved that we got more of the crazy Dr Stayner. I loved that we got more of Kacey and the rest of the gang. I also loved Livies roommate Reagan.
I did NOT love that throughout almost all of the book Ashton had a girlfriend and Livie had a boyfriend.
That's why my rating is like it is.
Thank you for never giving me any details of Ashton and his girlfriend. I probably would of moved on to the next book if I had gotten even a hint that he was sleeping with her.
I'm off to read the next book. Yes! Because I'm loving this series!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2013
While Ten Tiny Breaths was about one person obviously spinning out of control, this book is the opposite. Livie is very much in control or so it seems. Kacey is always looking out for her sister and this time, she's enlisted the help of Dr. Stayner to help Livie actually live.
WOW...this book had all the elements I love but most especially, it had all the emotional drama. I could not put it down and literally read it in one day. I'm not really sure why I loved it so much more than Ten Tiny Breaths because they are similar. I guess I just loved seeing Livie come out of her shell.
When I heard Livie was getting her own book, I wasn't really excited. I mean, she was a sweet girl in Kacey's book and I just couldn't imagine what KAT could do that could make me enjoy the book. I'm sooo happy I decided to read it.
Livie is three years older and off to Princeton to go to college. As I mentioned before, Kacey got Dr. Stayner's help in bringing Livie out of her shell so all summer they have been doing crazy things and that doesn't end with Livie going to Princeton. Kacey is there to see her off in style and almost one of the first things is getting her drunk at a toga party.
Enter Ashton...aka Jello thief, aka rowing captain, aka has a girlfriend, aka man whore, aka majorly broken, aka wants "Irish". Ashton is everything Livie's heart wants but nothing her brain says she should have so she fights it all the way. Ashton doesn't let her get away easily...even thought he really tries to push her away!
I loved Livie and Ashton together. Something about them just worked. Yes...they have A LOT of roadblocks and they both don't do the right thing. I guess that's it...the pull they have on each other and that they just can't stay away. Ashton gives Livie quite the education...I wish things were a bit more detailed though! And he was sooo romantic! I loved the five reasons and the picture and of course, how he always called Livie "Irish". ~sigh~
I loved all the characters in the book. Livie's dorm mate, Rachel, was hilarious and Ashton's roommates were great too. Dr. Stayner really shined in this book and I have a feeling that will continue. But mostly, I loved the relationship between Kacey and Livie and of course, reading more about Kacey and Trent! ♥
We do get lots of drama and a lot of people won't like it. If you really want to know.... I'm always torn about that but it was a big part of how Ashton dealt with being so broken...and that's quite a story! :(
There are a lot of other sad issues in this book...child abuse, death, cancer and Alzheimer's. The twins were really sweet though and I loved what they brought to the story.
Probably the only thing that bothered me was the ending. Just like the epilogue in Ten Tiny Breaths, I felt things tied up too perfectly!
The next book is Four Seconds To Lose and it's supposed to be Cain's book. Again, I'm not sure how I feel about that since we don't know Cain very well but...after this book, I'm going to trust KAT to do her magic! I heard there will be a fourth book and it will be Ben's....now, that's one I will be looking forward to!
Favorite quotes:
♦ Ashton “I Regret You” Henley.
♥ "Irish loves Ashton"
♥ “Because you’re not a one-night girl, Irish.” Leaning in to place a kiss on my jawline, he whispers, “You’re my forever girl.”
♥ 1. I’m brilliant
2. I’m charming
3. I’m hung like a thoroughbred
4. I’ve stopped all philandering
5. I’m highly skilled, as you’ve learned the other night.
P.S. Stop staring at my hands. I know what you want me to with them.
♥ "It was . . . incredible. It feels right in a way that nothing else has ever felt right."
♦ “He’s five hundred for two hours!” Swinging her hand Ashton’s way, she adds, “Seven-fifty for him because he’s young. You should hear how he makes my sister scream!”
WOW...this book had all the elements I love but most especially, it had all the emotional drama. I could not put it down and literally read it in one day. I'm not really sure why I loved it so much more than Ten Tiny Breaths because they are similar. I guess I just loved seeing Livie come out of her shell.
When I heard Livie was getting her own book, I wasn't really excited. I mean, she was a sweet girl in Kacey's book and I just couldn't imagine what KAT could do that could make me enjoy the book. I'm sooo happy I decided to read it.
Livie is three years older and off to Princeton to go to college. As I mentioned before, Kacey got Dr. Stayner's help in bringing Livie out of her shell so all summer they have been doing crazy things and that doesn't end with Livie going to Princeton. Kacey is there to see her off in style and almost one of the first things is getting her drunk at a toga party.
Enter Ashton...aka Jello thief, aka rowing captain, aka has a girlfriend, aka man whore, aka majorly broken, aka wants "Irish". Ashton is everything Livie's heart wants but nothing her brain says she should have so she fights it all the way. Ashton doesn't let her get away easily...even thought he really tries to push her away!
I loved Livie and Ashton together. Something about them just worked. Yes...they have A LOT of roadblocks and they both don't do the right thing. I guess that's it...the pull they have on each other and that they just can't stay away. Ashton gives Livie quite the education...I wish things were a bit more detailed though! And he was sooo romantic! I loved the five reasons and the picture and of course, how he always called Livie "Irish". ~sigh~
I loved all the characters in the book. Livie's dorm mate, Rachel, was hilarious and Ashton's roommates were great too. Dr. Stayner really shined in this book and I have a feeling that will continue. But mostly, I loved the relationship between Kacey and Livie and of course, reading more about Kacey and Trent! ♥
We do get lots of drama and a lot of people won't like it. If you really want to know.... I'm always torn about that but it was a big part of how Ashton dealt with being so broken...and that's quite a story! :(
There are a lot of other sad issues in this book...child abuse, death, cancer and Alzheimer's. The twins were really sweet though and I loved what they brought to the story.
Probably the only thing that bothered me was the ending. Just like the epilogue in Ten Tiny Breaths, I felt things tied up too perfectly!
The next book is Four Seconds To Lose and it's supposed to be Cain's book. Again, I'm not sure how I feel about that since we don't know Cain very well but...after this book, I'm going to trust KAT to do her magic! I heard there will be a fourth book and it will be Ben's....now, that's one I will be looking forward to!
Favorite quotes:
♦ Ashton “I Regret You” Henley.
♥ "Irish loves Ashton"
♥ “Because you’re not a one-night girl, Irish.” Leaning in to place a kiss on my jawline, he whispers, “You’re my forever girl.”
♥ 1. I’m brilliant
2. I’m charming
3. I’m hung like a thoroughbred
4. I’ve stopped all philandering
5. I’m highly skilled, as you’ve learned the other night.
P.S. Stop staring at my hands. I know what you want me to with them.
♥ "It was . . . incredible. It feels right in a way that nothing else has ever felt right."
♦ “He’s five hundred for two hours!” Swinging her hand Ashton’s way, she adds, “Seven-fifty for him because he’s young. You should hear how he makes my sister scream!”
July 1, 2014
4.25 Stars
Short and sweet - because I am a slacker, and my ADD is acting up. I really enjoyed this one. I'm an angsty romance addict and this one left me satisfied. The writing was brilliant and it was well paced. The characters are great - honest, damaged and flawed, just like I like 'em. One Tiny Lie was an emotional NA read with a good mix of drama, steam, and humor. I definitely recommend it.
Short and sweet - because I am a slacker, and my ADD is acting up. I really enjoyed this one. I'm an angsty romance addict and this one left me satisfied. The writing was brilliant and it was well paced. The characters are great - honest, damaged and flawed, just like I like 'em. One Tiny Lie was an emotional NA read with a good mix of drama, steam, and humor. I definitely recommend it.
June 8, 2013
3.5 STARS
"Go forth, and make thy mistakes."
So I gave Ten Tiny Breaths pretty much the same rating but I might just like this a smidge better. So much so that the latent soap opera watcher in me may have enjoyed this a little too inappropriately that I've been sorely tempted to give it an outright 4. But where this book fell short, it fell a little too hard. So much so that I can't really find it in myself to rave and recommend it to anyone without expecting some backlash.
Livie Clearey's lived her life following the path and structure her parents seem to have designed for her. Straight A's in high school. Pre-med at Princeton. Med-school to get into Pediatric Oncology (which, sidenote, is all sorts of warning signs because nobody in pre-med and and very few in medschool wants to get on that depressing train). That was until her sister Kacey and her therapist intervenes who through a series of (ridiculous) non-therapy sessions eventually lands her smack in the middle of the bermuda triangle of her, Ashton (the wrong kind of right guy) and Connor (the right kind of wrong guy).
You really want to recommend THAT trope to anyone without some Xanax handy?
The Good
✔ One of the reasons why I jumped this ARC is because while I wasn't the biggest fan of TTB's plot twist towards the end, KA Tucker's writing fits this genre very well. Very easy on the eyes and the brains, no unnecessary whoring of adjectives or excessive scene exposition. The storytelling feels clean, the dialogue sharp (most of the time) and the characters consistent (again, most of the time) which always does great service to mostly predictable plot lines.
✔ I appreciate that the drama on this one was relatively restrained compared to TTB. The plot twist didn't give me too much of a whiplash that the story begins to blur the lines of realistic fiction and fantasy. Most of the story points were believable as much as I guess the drama in Gossip Girl was believable (specifically season 1 and 2, I KNOW that's not saying much).
✔ I actually liked Livie... outside of the love triangle. Her burden of walking a path made for her and not of her own choosing was very relatable to me. I liked the contrast of how Ashton seems like a carefree character but yearns for freedom while Livie shies away from it because she doesn't know what to do with hers.
The Bad
✘ At the heart of this book was a very, poorly designed love triangle which only sets out to make the participants act like dickholes and asshats. I'm very forgiving towards manwhores and quite lax with cheating in books if the cause can convince me. But Livie didn't merit enough emotional conflict to string along two guys at the same time. She's a smart girl and the choice was made so very obvious yet she hung on to the other guy while lusting after the other making her come off as a selfish horndog.
And no, owning up to it in the end doesn't make it okay.
✘ Ashton is a puzzle to me. I do love his backstory and his Livie-related antics were mostly cute. What I don't get is how he had those past experiences and still have the predilection to "man-handle" Livie especially in the early chapters. I wish the effects were given some detail and depth instead of just focusing on the abuse itself.
✘ All of the Kacey-Trent appearances still made me squirm because of their own blend of cray. I'm still not sold on their HEA.
✘ I was not a fan of using the Deus ex Machina resolution.. well, of everything. Using one character as the device to resolve every single issue raised in the story was pushing it a little too far. It leads to question why didn't do ALL those things before and thus avoiding the unsavory aftertaste of the character acting out on his drama.
✘ And speaking of drama: the cancer kids subplot could've been handled better. It felt trying a little too hard in making me feel something. They're kids. With cancer. You really don't want to pile on the tearjerkers beyond that because you'd just end up making me feel like I'm getting manipulated to cry.
TheUglyIrish
To much Irish-ing! It reminds me of what little I read of Beautiful Disaster with all the Pigeon-ing. I really wish someone would do something about this for the actual published edition because it was REALLY annoying.There was a stretch of conversation between Ashton and Livie where his every turn of phrase ended with "Irish" which I can't quote because of the publishers' restrictions but this might do:
Get it? Irish? Potatoes? Ah, fuck it.
I'm gonna wrap up this up because I may have gotten carried away (again). Overall, I did enjoy this book just not something I'm brave enough to recommend to anyone. But I'd still grab the last book in this series hoping KA Tucker's great writing will find the perfect plausible story to match it and finally hook me in.
ARC provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
"Go forth, and make thy mistakes."
So I gave Ten Tiny Breaths pretty much the same rating but I might just like this a smidge better. So much so that the latent soap opera watcher in me may have enjoyed this a little too inappropriately that I've been sorely tempted to give it an outright 4. But where this book fell short, it fell a little too hard. So much so that I can't really find it in myself to rave and recommend it to anyone without expecting some backlash.
Livie Clearey's lived her life following the path and structure her parents seem to have designed for her. Straight A's in high school. Pre-med at Princeton. Med-school to get into Pediatric Oncology (which, sidenote, is all sorts of warning signs because nobody in pre-med and and very few in medschool wants to get on that depressing train). That was until her sister Kacey and her therapist intervenes who through a series of (ridiculous) non-therapy sessions eventually lands her smack in the middle of the bermuda triangle of her, Ashton (the wrong kind of right guy) and Connor (the right kind of wrong guy).
You really want to recommend THAT trope to anyone without some Xanax handy?
The Good
✔ One of the reasons why I jumped this ARC is because while I wasn't the biggest fan of TTB's plot twist towards the end, KA Tucker's writing fits this genre very well. Very easy on the eyes and the brains, no unnecessary whoring of adjectives or excessive scene exposition. The storytelling feels clean, the dialogue sharp (most of the time) and the characters consistent (again, most of the time) which always does great service to mostly predictable plot lines.
✔ I appreciate that the drama on this one was relatively restrained compared to TTB. The plot twist didn't give me too much of a whiplash that the story begins to blur the lines of realistic fiction and fantasy. Most of the story points were believable as much as I guess the drama in Gossip Girl was believable (specifically season 1 and 2, I KNOW that's not saying much).
✔ I actually liked Livie... outside of the love triangle. Her burden of walking a path made for her and not of her own choosing was very relatable to me. I liked the contrast of how Ashton seems like a carefree character but yearns for freedom while Livie shies away from it because she doesn't know what to do with hers.
The Bad
✘ At the heart of this book was a very, poorly designed love triangle which only sets out to make the participants act like dickholes and asshats. I'm very forgiving towards manwhores and quite lax with cheating in books if the cause can convince me. But Livie didn't merit enough emotional conflict to string along two guys at the same time. She's a smart girl and the choice was made so very obvious yet she hung on to the other guy while lusting after the other making her come off as a selfish horndog.
And no, owning up to it in the end doesn't make it okay.
✘ Ashton is a puzzle to me. I do love his backstory and his Livie-related antics were mostly cute. What I don't get is how he had those past experiences and still have the predilection to "man-handle" Livie especially in the early chapters. I wish the effects were given some detail and depth instead of just focusing on the abuse itself.
✘ All of the Kacey-Trent appearances still made me squirm because of their own blend of cray. I'm still not sold on their HEA.
✘ I was not a fan of using the Deus ex Machina resolution.. well, of everything. Using one character as the device to resolve every single issue raised in the story was pushing it a little too far. It leads to question why didn't do ALL those things before and thus avoiding the unsavory aftertaste of the character acting out on his drama.
✘ And speaking of drama: the cancer kids subplot could've been handled better. It felt trying a little too hard in making me feel something. They're kids. With cancer. You really don't want to pile on the tearjerkers beyond that because you'd just end up making me feel like I'm getting manipulated to cry.
The
To much Irish-ing! It reminds me of what little I read of Beautiful Disaster with all the Pigeon-ing. I really wish someone would do something about this for the actual published edition because it was REALLY annoying.There was a stretch of conversation between Ashton and Livie where his every turn of phrase ended with "Irish" which I can't quote because of the publishers' restrictions but this might do:
Ash: here are your fries, Irish.
Liv: Thanks Ash, can you pass me the salt please?
Ash: Those fries are salty enough, Irish. You can't risk gaining your first fifteen seeing as you can't jog without tripping, Irish.
Liv: but it's organic potatoes!
Ash: nope sorry, Irish. Gonna go out in the rain and run shirtless now, Irish. The world implores me to.
Get it? Irish? Potatoes? Ah, fuck it.
I'm gonna wrap up this up because I may have gotten carried away (again). Overall, I did enjoy this book just not something I'm brave enough to recommend to anyone. But I'd still grab the last book in this series hoping KA Tucker's great writing will find the perfect plausible story to match it and finally hook me in.
ARC provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
April 30, 2016
Check out my other reviews at Reading Books Like a Boss
My Rating:
I received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
After the tragic death of their parents, Kacey and Livie were forced to grow up fast. In Ten Tiny Breaths, we saw Kacey struggle with the trauma of losing her parents. For years, Kacey bottled up her emotions and behaved badly, and it all came crashing down. Through Kacey’s point-of-view, it appears Livie dealt with her parents’ death extremely well, much better than her sister.
However, everything is not as it seems.
One Tiny Lie takes place a few years after Ten Tiny Breaths. Livie is on her way to Princeton for college, fulfilling her father’s dream of attending his alma mater. She has maintained a spotless academic record and has never gone through any teenage rebellions. Concerned that Livie hasn’t really dealt with their parents’ deaths, Kacey recommends that she chat with Dr. Stayner, Kacey’s therapist.
Dr. Stayner is not your typical “lay-down-on-the-white-couch-and-let’s-talk” therapist. His tactics and methodologies are anything but conventional. In fact, they border on crazy. The summer before college, he subjects Livie to a summer full of dares and tasks to complete, and she excels at all of them. For as long as she can remember, Livie has wanted to be a pediatric oncologist, but these weekly chats with Dr. Stayner make Livie question what she really wants for her future. Her whole life has been building to this one goal of becoming a doctor, but is this what she really wants?
Kacey takes Livie to her first college party to initiate her into college life. What Livie doesn’t know until later is that this is part of Dr. Stayner’s therapy plan. Essentially, Dr. Stayner gives Livie a prescription for tequila and debauchery. Craziness ensues in the form of stolen Jell-O shots. Livie meets Ashton, the hot-shot captain of the Princeton rowing team and said Jell-O shot thief. After a night of drunken make-out sessions, Livie and Ashton are drawn to each other. The problem is that Ashton is not available and has a sort of playboy reputation on campus. Livie eventually moves on with Connor in hopes of forgetting about Ashton.
What I loved about Ashton and Livie was their chemistry. There are very few book couples that give me this feeling. I couldn’t get enough of them and I just wanted them to just BE TOGETHER. Every time they were together there were sparks and feel-good fizzies. I just wanted to scream, “Just do it already!” When a scene with them ended, I couldn’t wait until I had more Livie and Ashton time. The romance between the two of them had them forbidden aspect that I loved. Ashton was in a daddy-arranged relationship with a girl, but he wasn’t in love with her. And Livie was in a relationship with Connor, the safe guy. There was a (sort-of) love-triangle in it, so if that sort of thing bothers you you should probably stay clear of it.
Aside from the romantic aspect of their relationship, I loved seeing them work out their problems with each other and with themselves. As Livie struggles to find her identity in something other than being a doctor, Ashton is there to sweetly support her. The things Ashton does for Livie are extremely selfless and show exactly how he feels about her.
Ashton and Livie are one of the most passionate and unforgettable couples in a book that I have read this year. I will rereading One Tiny Lie again and again and again.
Favorite Quotes:
“The only thing I regret is that it ever ended. And I’m the one who’s jealous. Insanely so.”
“1.) I’m brilliant
2.) I’m charming
3.) I’m hung like a thoroughbred
4.) I’ve stopped all philandering
5.) I’m highly skilled, as you’ve learned the other night.
P.S. Stop staring at my hands. I know what you want me to do with them.”
“I feel as though I’ve entered some strange twilight zone where everything I know has been turned upside down.”
_________________________
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October 31, 2013
I battled with the rating on this one, mainly because the writing is very good. What made me rate this a 3.5 stars is the fact that I wasn't expecting the story to go in the direction it did for Livie's book. This story has a love triangle in it; and I am not a big fan of those kinds of story lines at all. If I am made aware of it before I start reading the book then I might prepare myself and read it anyway. In the case of "One Tiny Lie," I wasnt expecting it, and it just made me apprehensive through out the whole time I was reading. Unfortunately, it did take away from my reading experience, and if I am honest I did grumble about it the whole way through!
The thing is though, the story wasn't all bad and there was some very beautiful parts to it. I would have liked to see more positive things going on though for Livie. In the first book that was about Livie's sister; Livie was just so bright and positive. In this one, there were a lot more negative scenes, and I can't help but look at the heroine in a love triangle and get resentful because they are not being honest with the guy she is holding on a string. So my respect for Livie dropped, and I kept having flashbacks about the book "Thoughless!!" (I will say Livie was not near as bad as that heroine!LOL)
One of the main themes in the story was the choices we make and how it is important to make the choices that are going to make us happy in our lives, as opposed to living your life for everyone else and being unhappy while doing it. One of my favorite quotes by K.A. Tucker is this:
"Life has a funny way of creating its own tests. It thrws curve balls that make you do and think and feel things that are in direct conflict with what you had planned and don't allow you to operate in terms of black and white."
The truth of the matter is that I could relate to Livie and her impulsive desire to please others at her own expense. When she was so busy worrying about what others would think, and making them happy; she lost sight of who she really was inside, and what she truly wanted in her life to make her happy. It is a hard way to live, and finally the pressure became too much for her. That is when the quirky Dr. Stayner comes in to the picture to and gives her a hand. I love this shrink! He was in the first book, and helped Livie's sister in a big unconventional way! He is hilarious, and rough around the edges; but he whips his pupils into tip top shape in no time!
I don't want to go into details of the book as it is a love triangle and I wouldn't want to give anything away. On the whole, this was a good story, and I grew to love one of the guys; Ashton. He is way more than what he seems on his surface; yes, he is hot,tattooed and built; but there is so much more to him. He doesn't let people into his core self at all, and he holds a ton of secrets. When Livie and him start taking the journey into getting to know one another, there are a lot of surprises along the way that they find out about one another. It is entertaining; but it is not a smooth ride; because right around the corner is his best friend Connor, and Connor is the "perfect" guy that Livie "should" go for. Who will Livie choose in the end? Or maybe she will walk away empty handed? If you are the type of reader who loves a great triangle, then this is a must read for you. K.A. Tucker definitely has talent as a writer, and I am eager to read the third book coming out shortly that is about the strip club owner from the first book in the series. In my opinion, this is an author that is on the rise to success. She sure has talent!
The thing is though, the story wasn't all bad and there was some very beautiful parts to it. I would have liked to see more positive things going on though for Livie. In the first book that was about Livie's sister; Livie was just so bright and positive. In this one, there were a lot more negative scenes, and I can't help but look at the heroine in a love triangle and get resentful because they are not being honest with the guy she is holding on a string. So my respect for Livie dropped, and I kept having flashbacks about the book "Thoughless!!" (I will say Livie was not near as bad as that heroine!LOL)
One of the main themes in the story was the choices we make and how it is important to make the choices that are going to make us happy in our lives, as opposed to living your life for everyone else and being unhappy while doing it. One of my favorite quotes by K.A. Tucker is this:
"Life has a funny way of creating its own tests. It thrws curve balls that make you do and think and feel things that are in direct conflict with what you had planned and don't allow you to operate in terms of black and white."
The truth of the matter is that I could relate to Livie and her impulsive desire to please others at her own expense. When she was so busy worrying about what others would think, and making them happy; she lost sight of who she really was inside, and what she truly wanted in her life to make her happy. It is a hard way to live, and finally the pressure became too much for her. That is when the quirky Dr. Stayner comes in to the picture to and gives her a hand. I love this shrink! He was in the first book, and helped Livie's sister in a big unconventional way! He is hilarious, and rough around the edges; but he whips his pupils into tip top shape in no time!
I don't want to go into details of the book as it is a love triangle and I wouldn't want to give anything away. On the whole, this was a good story, and I grew to love one of the guys; Ashton. He is way more than what he seems on his surface; yes, he is hot,tattooed and built; but there is so much more to him. He doesn't let people into his core self at all, and he holds a ton of secrets. When Livie and him start taking the journey into getting to know one another, there are a lot of surprises along the way that they find out about one another. It is entertaining; but it is not a smooth ride; because right around the corner is his best friend Connor, and Connor is the "perfect" guy that Livie "should" go for. Who will Livie choose in the end? Or maybe she will walk away empty handed? If you are the type of reader who loves a great triangle, then this is a must read for you. K.A. Tucker definitely has talent as a writer, and I am eager to read the third book coming out shortly that is about the strip club owner from the first book in the series. In my opinion, this is an author that is on the rise to success. She sure has talent!
November 13, 2017
Superba! Fluctuațiile dintre ceea ce este bun pentru minte si ceea ce este bun pentru suflet, Creează o întreaga lupta in Livie. Lupta care aduce cititorul in pragul disperării, sperând la un final fericit. Mi-a plăcut foarte mult cartea!
September 10, 2013
I was surprised to find out how much I really loved One Tiny Lie. I had started reading it with a lot of apprehension because I found out there was cheating in the story, and I HATE cheating stories. It almost always ruins the story for me. Why did I start reading when I knew this? Well, first of all I requested this title before I knew about the cheating. Second, I was assured that the story was really good in spite of the hated subject. I have to agree with that.
Livie Cleary is the sister who was very much overlooked in the previous book because her sister Kacey was such a train wreck. Kacey was in the accident that killed their parents and left her in rehab for a year, so Livie had to be strong because her sister was not. Now that most of Kacey’s demons have been dealt with, all eyes turn to Livie because no one can be that perfect and not crack at some point. Dr. Stayner, Kacey’s very unconventional therapist, basically forces his guidance on Livie. Not even letting up when Livie leaves Miami for Princeton. He keeps trying to get Livie to look at her life, make sure all the decisions she’s making is because she wants them and not because she is leading the life she thinks her parents would’ve expected her to. So with the advice to make some mistakes, and to loosen way-the-heck-up, Livie starts college.
Enter Ashton. He’s beautiful, and Livie’s drunk at her first college party, and they can’t keep their hands or their mouths off each other! Livie finds out that Ashton has a girlfriend and resolves to stay away from him, writing him off as a man-whore jerk. Life has other plans when she strikes up a friendship with his best friend, Connor. Connor is everything her parents would approve of. He’s a steady guy, serious student, and comes from a solid family. He’s good looking as well, but there’s no spark. However, because Livie feels this is the type of guy she should be with, she doesn’t say no when he asks her to date. Being that Connor and Ashton live in the same house and are best friends their paths cross, often….
So yes, this sounds like a recipe for disaster if you hate cheating, right? Well, here is why I think it worked for me: I think the author did a wonderful job conveying Livie’s naiveté, as well as showing how very young she is for her age. She makes mistakes, stupid mistakes, but they are realistic “being young” mistakes, AND they are not done with malicious intent. Livie fully intends to stay away from Ashton, and Ashton away from Livie, BUT they end up together and their chemistry and connection make short work of their resolve. Have you ever been with someone that you just click with intensely, you’re drawn to them like a magnet? This is Ashton and Livie. Plus, the whole Connor relationship is one that just sort of happens to Livie, he just keeps making the next date, and she doesn’t say no. I know, messed up. Another reason I was able to stomach this is because there were hints that all wasn’t as it seemed with Ashton and his girlfriend, or his life.
I’m not saying that I agree or even condone what happened, but I don’t always have to like the actions or behavior of characters to enjoy the story. If I can understand the motivations and reasons for their transgressions, I can look past them. I did with Livie and Ashton. They just clicked for me and I wanted everything to work out for them. They clearly cared so much for each other, they just needed to sort theirshit baggage out!
I have ten pages worth of highlights showing how much I loved this story. Here’s one of my favorites:
When pressed to come up with some redeeming qualities, this is Ashton’s note to Livie while in English class:
1. I’m brilliant
2. I’m charming
3. I’m hung like a thoroughbred
4. I’ve stopped all philandering
5. I’m highly skilled, as you’ve learned the other night
P.S. Stop staring at my hands. I know what you want me to do with them.
One Tiny Lie was captivating story of two people finding the strength to live the life they want and chose to, instead of a life decided by guilt or expectation. I’m so happy I read One Tiny Lie in spite of my reservations, because I ended up really loving it.
A copy was provided by Atria Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
*Quote taken from an uncorrected proof and may change in the final copy.
You can read this review and more at The Readers Den.
Livie Cleary is the sister who was very much overlooked in the previous book because her sister Kacey was such a train wreck. Kacey was in the accident that killed their parents and left her in rehab for a year, so Livie had to be strong because her sister was not. Now that most of Kacey’s demons have been dealt with, all eyes turn to Livie because no one can be that perfect and not crack at some point. Dr. Stayner, Kacey’s very unconventional therapist, basically forces his guidance on Livie. Not even letting up when Livie leaves Miami for Princeton. He keeps trying to get Livie to look at her life, make sure all the decisions she’s making is because she wants them and not because she is leading the life she thinks her parents would’ve expected her to. So with the advice to make some mistakes, and to loosen way-the-heck-up, Livie starts college.
Enter Ashton. He’s beautiful, and Livie’s drunk at her first college party, and they can’t keep their hands or their mouths off each other! Livie finds out that Ashton has a girlfriend and resolves to stay away from him, writing him off as a man-whore jerk. Life has other plans when she strikes up a friendship with his best friend, Connor. Connor is everything her parents would approve of. He’s a steady guy, serious student, and comes from a solid family. He’s good looking as well, but there’s no spark. However, because Livie feels this is the type of guy she should be with, she doesn’t say no when he asks her to date. Being that Connor and Ashton live in the same house and are best friends their paths cross, often….
So yes, this sounds like a recipe for disaster if you hate cheating, right? Well, here is why I think it worked for me: I think the author did a wonderful job conveying Livie’s naiveté, as well as showing how very young she is for her age. She makes mistakes, stupid mistakes, but they are realistic “being young” mistakes, AND they are not done with malicious intent. Livie fully intends to stay away from Ashton, and Ashton away from Livie, BUT they end up together and their chemistry and connection make short work of their resolve. Have you ever been with someone that you just click with intensely, you’re drawn to them like a magnet? This is Ashton and Livie. Plus, the whole Connor relationship is one that just sort of happens to Livie, he just keeps making the next date, and she doesn’t say no. I know, messed up. Another reason I was able to stomach this is because there were hints that all wasn’t as it seemed with Ashton and his girlfriend, or his life.
I’m not saying that I agree or even condone what happened, but I don’t always have to like the actions or behavior of characters to enjoy the story. If I can understand the motivations and reasons for their transgressions, I can look past them. I did with Livie and Ashton. They just clicked for me and I wanted everything to work out for them. They clearly cared so much for each other, they just needed to sort their
I have ten pages worth of highlights showing how much I loved this story. Here’s one of my favorites:
When pressed to come up with some redeeming qualities, this is Ashton’s note to Livie while in English class:
1. I’m brilliant
2. I’m charming
3. I’m hung like a thoroughbred
4. I’ve stopped all philandering
5. I’m highly skilled, as you’ve learned the other night
P.S. Stop staring at my hands. I know what you want me to do with them.
One Tiny Lie was captivating story of two people finding the strength to live the life they want and chose to, instead of a life decided by guilt or expectation. I’m so happy I read One Tiny Lie in spite of my reservations, because I ended up really loving it.
A copy was provided by Atria Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
*Quote taken from an uncorrected proof and may change in the final copy.
You can read this review and more at The Readers Den.
August 26, 2014
3 STARS
4 EMOTIONAL WHIPLASH STARS! ★★★★
”How do you figure out the right way to live your life?”
First off, let me say that I absolutely loved Ten Tiny Breaths and when I learnt that Livie was getting her own book, I was super excited. KA Tucker delivered some amazing, powerful writing in TTB and I thought this is sure right up my alley again.
But oh boy, I sure as hell didn’t expect that this book would rekindle all that vicious feelings I had with SC Stephens’ Thoughtless. I wanted to douse my Kindle with gasoline & set it on fire but on the other extreme, I wanted to say “Screw this shit, let me love you!”. OH DEAR GOD HELP ME.
That being said, I’m gonna put it out there now that this book contains which technically sums up to two things that drive me absolutely fucking nuts when I read any book.
************
One Tiny Lie is the story of Livie Cleary, the little sister of Kacey from TTB. In TTB, Livie has always been the calm and collective, non-impulsive sister. Now that she’s about to enter Princeton, will she be prepared to face a whole new world and leave the comforts of her newfound home in Miami?
Then comes one crazy night of Jell-O shots at a college party. With the help of Kacey (and also by their ever-loving psychiatrist, Dr Stayner’s orders LOL), our perfect, straight-As girl had her Jell-O shot AND her first kiss snatched by the Jell-O thief aka Ashton Henley. With even more shots later, let’s say the night was a complete cray-cray.
Next day, it was just mostly awkward encounters between Livie & Ashton and the usual brush-off event AND THEN BAM! In comes Mr “Connor from Dublin” who sweeps Livie off her feet and oh, did I mention, he is Ashton’s best friend AND housemate?
DING DING DING. WARNING BELLS. DEJA VU THOUGHTLESS ALERT.
In summary, we have:
Livie: Superbly attracted to Ashton but can’t be with him. Dates Connor because he’s the “perfect example” of a guy she needs in her life.
Ashton: Superbly attracted to Livie but can’t be with her. Already has a girlfriend (Dana) and is Connor’s best friend & housemate.
Connor: Loves Livie and believes is the perfect girl for him; beautiful and smart. Truly cares about Ashton despite the manwhore that he is.
************
What I loved:
The main theme of this book. As usual, KA Tucker delivers that superbly well just like in TTB. It’s emotional, powerful and raw & it will bring you to the brink of tears when you feel for these characters. This book is all about making choices even when you don’t know what is the right or wrong one. It’s about self-discovery, living a life that makes you happy as opposed to living one for the sake of happiness of others.
"Life has a funny way of creating its own tests. It throws curve balls that make you do and think and feel things that are in direct conflict with what you had planned and don't allow you to operate in terms of black and white."
And in a true KA Tucker fashion story, we have a broken soul that is Ashton. You will feel a multitude of emotions for this guy; you will hate him, you will love him, you will want to rip his balls off, you will want to hug & cry with him. But most of all, you will still want to root for him and Livie despite everything ♥
"I don't have all the pieces to fix this beautiful, trapped, broken man, but I do have one piece and it's mine to give. For one night, for all nights. For however long he wants it. Me. Completely.”
Lastly, the winner of this entire book would be Dr Stayner. He’s the most awesome shrink on the planet, nuff’ said. I would have no doubt that he possesses Jedi mind tricks which makes him wickedly awesome.
What ticked me off:
It would be fairly obvious to say that totally set me off. What makes it way worse would be . I have some SERIOUS problem trying to grasp why
And then you know that 85% scene, HOLY RAGE OF EMOTIONS.
************
So after calming myself down, I thought hard and through on how to rate this one...and I decided that it wouldn’t be completely fair to slash the rating so badly due to how the entire thing played out. This is after all an angst-driven book & they’re 18 and mostly naive and shit happens all the time.
And so, 4 stars it is. Mainly because KA Tucker has successfully delivered such a powerful message across with her brilliant writing that will make you laugh, smile and cry all in one go. Well-written characters all around and enough depth to let you understand what drives their emotions & actions.
If you can handle the rollercoaster of emotions and is able to ignore the spoiler-ish content above, I highly recommend it because this book is a winner, in terms of writing and the emotional punch
”Life’s all about trial and error.”
June 10, 2013
5 bright, shiny stars!! I love love loved it!!!!
One Tiny Lie is Livie’s story. You may remember her as Kacey’s younger sister in Ten Tiny Breaths. If you haven’t read that yet, I highly recommend you do as it was one of my favorite books of 2012 :)
Livie lost her parents 7 years ago in a tragic drunk driving accident. She was only 11 at the time, but she still clings to her dad’s last words to her.
“That’s my Livie Girl. Make me proud.”
She’s currently living out her dreams at Princeton as a pre-med major.
On the advice of her sister, she’s been talking weekly to Kacey’s psychiatrist, Dr. Stayner. Can I just say, I loved Dr. Stayner. I think I need him in my life to help sort everything out. Seriously, he was a hoot!!
Dr. Stayner is helping Livie realize that her dreams may not be her dreams at all. Instead, they are a way for her to cling to the life her parents wanted her to have.
“I think your parents helped create that plan and you are holding on to it for dear life as a way of holding on to them.”
Livie’s first night on campus she meets Ashton Henley, hottest guy at school... arrogant... sexy crooked smirk... dimples... a bit of a manwhore... tortured past. I was instantly hooked. And then he opened his mouth. (swoon)
“Because you’re not a one-night girl, Irish.”
Leaning in to place a kiss on my jawline, he whispers, “You’re my forever girl.”
Oh. Em. Gee. I think I drooled on my Kindle.
There are a lot of mixed signals from Ash. There is a lot of cheating since Ash has a girlfriend and Livie has started dating his best friend, Connor. There are a lot of secrets from Ash’s past. And a lot of revelations in Livie’s life as she discovers the future she had planned may not be what she wants at all.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to more from K.A. Tucker!!
ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
One Tiny Lie is Livie’s story. You may remember her as Kacey’s younger sister in Ten Tiny Breaths. If you haven’t read that yet, I highly recommend you do as it was one of my favorite books of 2012 :)
Livie lost her parents 7 years ago in a tragic drunk driving accident. She was only 11 at the time, but she still clings to her dad’s last words to her.
“That’s my Livie Girl. Make me proud.”
She’s currently living out her dreams at Princeton as a pre-med major.
On the advice of her sister, she’s been talking weekly to Kacey’s psychiatrist, Dr. Stayner. Can I just say, I loved Dr. Stayner. I think I need him in my life to help sort everything out. Seriously, he was a hoot!!
Dr. Stayner is helping Livie realize that her dreams may not be her dreams at all. Instead, they are a way for her to cling to the life her parents wanted her to have.
“I think your parents helped create that plan and you are holding on to it for dear life as a way of holding on to them.”
Livie’s first night on campus she meets Ashton Henley, hottest guy at school... arrogant... sexy crooked smirk... dimples... a bit of a manwhore... tortured past. I was instantly hooked. And then he opened his mouth. (swoon)
“Because you’re not a one-night girl, Irish.”
Leaning in to place a kiss on my jawline, he whispers, “You’re my forever girl.”
Oh. Em. Gee. I think I drooled on my Kindle.
There are a lot of mixed signals from Ash. There is a lot of cheating since Ash has a girlfriend and Livie has started dating his best friend, Connor. There are a lot of secrets from Ash’s past. And a lot of revelations in Livie’s life as she discovers the future she had planned may not be what she wants at all.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to more from K.A. Tucker!!
ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 7, 2015
“Life has a funny way of creating its own tests. It throws curve balls that make you do and think and feel things that are in direct conflict with what you had planned and don't allow you to operate in terms of black and white.”
This was better than I thought it would be. It started off nicely but as the story progressed I kind of lost interest and couldn't connect with the characters. But then that said connection was restored so in a way I enjoyed this a lot. In no way is it better than the first novel in the series. The first one was really original and dark and it even had some twists. 'One Tiny Lie' was more colorful, although it was bleak too and went after the abuse theme.
I liked Livie. I like how she's discovering herself after all these years of doing the mistake of identifying others' dreams as her own. With the help of Ashton, the hot rowing team dude, I think she finds what she wants to become and who she is, and while she is doing that, she falls in love. Ashton is probably the guy she should run from but she doesn't and it turns out it's a good thing. Livie and Kacey both have a magnet for fucked-up dudes, it seems.
There's cheating in this book. Surprisingly, from Livie's side and not the other way around as most of you would assume. How, now, Livie manages from no boyfriends at all, ever, to reach the point where she has two, I don't even know. Yup, she is all grown up and you'll see how her sister and Dr. Stayner are trying to make her socialize but I think she ended up socializing too hard.
Ashton is not the good guy. Or that's what it looks like at first. You'll have mixed feelings about him, until the view starts clearing up. That's it if you're not one for bad boys who hypothetically cheat on a hypothetical girlfriend every day. Don't judge someone by its wrapper.
So, if you like a nice new-adult novel then go ahead and read this. At the end of the day you'll enjoy this. It's fun as it is dark and the characters are enjoyable.
October 10, 2021
There is another book!
June 5, 2013
For my review of "One Tiny Lie" - I'm not going to do much reflection and just cut to the chase, and hopefully without too many spoilers (though honestly, some of the turns of events are not that hard to figure out if you've read enough New Adult to see what elements are glorified).
Some might say that, considering what I rated the previous novel, this was a forgone reaction to a sequel of a novel I did not like, where I should've expected to see things coming along. But I have to refute that with some expansions.
I'm splitting this review up into two sections - the first 60% and the last 40% of the novel.
The first 60%, despite some qualms over things I saw - I was actually enjoying the novel. I would've probably given it a solid 3 stars for the portrayal of Livie's college experiences and the developing relationships, albeit some humorous, cliched anecdotes that are pretty typical of teen comedies, like the film "Can't Hardly Wait". It was probably the first time in a New Adult novel, I've seen, that a college environment - even with how loosely drawn it was of Princeton - was depicted with any kind of realistic terms for a Freshman trying to adjust and going through some absolutely mortifying situations (such as the drunken night one doesn't remember and ends up with a tattoo alongside a potential love interest being naked - maybe). I have to give it that much. Not only that, Livie's voice in the beginning is actually cool. She's funny, likable, even calls out her big sister Kacey (who was the MC to the previous novel) on things that are reminiscent of the maturity she had from the previous novel.
I think anyone who reads the synopsis of this novel can tell that this is a story of Livie's respective fall from grace, from the "perfection" that exists in her mind and what everyone expects her to be to the reality of her coming to terms for what she really wants. That's a noble thing, I'm not knocking that at all and actually think that's a brilliant thing to cover. She's at the top of her game entering her freshman year, working hard to suit the expectations of her deceased father, who, Livie notes at the beginning of the novel, said "Make me proud." I think those of you who have read "Ten Tiny Breaths" know what happened with Kacey and Livie's family, so I'm not going to recap on that, but given the context of where this novel started off, I expected something of a light to dark rollercoaster, but treated with realism.
I did have to suspend my disbelief on a few things, including the over the top therapist (Dr. Stayner, who actually struck me as more of a caricature representation of things that could've been shown with Livie coming to terms on her own. He was just as much of an intrusive presence in this novel as he was the former. He was one of the things that prevented me from enjoying the first part of the novel as much as I could've) and the fact that Livie's affections are torn between the usual good guy (Connor) versus the bad boy (Ashton). It's a typical set up for the love interest scenario, but I figured I could deal with that. Many love stories use the formula, it's a matter of how one uses them and if it comes across where we can root for the character and her decision, okay.
Yet, the "One Tiny Lie" committed by Livie in measures ended up being more like 100 different lies balled into one with manipulations to match. While this could've been a chance for Livie to say "Okay, this is not who I am or who I wish to become, I've been lying to myself all this time and this is where it got me" and having her fall from grace and own up to the things she did wrong - this novel did no such thing.
It was, unfortunately, all about the chosen love story, which was probably a forgone conclusion even before the story really got off the ground.
The last 40% of the novel (maybe even slightly before that point from clues in the set up) was an utter mess of melodrama. Not to mention familiar to cliches of New Adult (maybe even to contemp YA and adult romance) and some of the problematic things that others, including myself, have pointed out which contribute to the lack of diversity in this particular age group.
Here's a question I pose to anyone who may come across this review, whether they may agree or disagree with the way that I view this novel: how is it right to vilify an entire group - a minority whether on racial, gender, sexual orientation, sexual preference or other distinctions - in order to basically say "This is not something that defines me or what I want"? One may say that slut and virgin shaming exist in real life and that this is fiction - okay, but where is the point when it becomes a reflection of reality or glorifying a problematic ideal in our society by putting it to be humored or an encompassing definition that's supposed to represent a norm? That the idea of being a virgin is "bad", while losing it and doing so at a certain stage in life is "good", when the reality is that people exist on variant scales and have different comfort zones and choices with that? How is it okay to say that cheating on a lover when it's *true love* is a positive thing while ignoring the repercussions it brings to all who may be affected by it? When is it a positive thing to say something like this:
"Connor is feeling more wrong by the minute. He looks perfect on the outside—smart, sweet, good-looking, charming. He does cute things like send me flowers and call me throughout the day to say hello. He's never pushed me into sex or anything aside from kissing, which, now that I think about it, is just plain weird for a college guy. Maybe he’s gay and I'm the perfect cover for his parents?Either way, it worked out well, because I’ve never had the urge to go farther with him. That in itself should have been a red flag for me."
...and not recognize every single bit of what's wrong with it in real context, down to the groups it offends and the behaviors it vilifies? For justification, even for humor?
I don't understand how that's right or acceptable. I really don't. I think there are ways to convey personal growth in a story without talking down the individual aspects that make us differ from one another. I think being able to recognize that would've made this a much stronger story that could resonate - with all audiences picking this up - without qualms, rather than marginalizing those who may fall in the affronted groups. It's a lesson any writer can take home with them at the end of the day.
"One Tiny Lie" actually progresses to the point where, in the scheme of events, it does come across as one big release of conflict after conflict without a true coming to terms, in order for the professed "couple" (because it was never really a love triangle anyway) to bond. And it's complete with both a confession of difficult circumstances for both the hero and heroine that aren't really foreshadowed or given any due weight for the gravity that they have in themselves, but rather for the promotion of the formulaic conflict vehicle. Long story short, it's the same problems that peppered the last, and with a heroine who seemed to have a role that wasn't defined by that in the previous novel. Same script, different cast.
In sum, I wish I could've liked this novel more, but I couldn't. I found it quite problematic and despite initial measures where it had my interest, it lost me - it dropped the ball for things it could've shown in better context, and I can't give it a recommendation. Maybe in time, I'll find a novel by the author that clicks with me, but not when it has this many problems contained within it.
Overall score: 1/5 stars
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Atria Books.
Some might say that, considering what I rated the previous novel, this was a forgone reaction to a sequel of a novel I did not like, where I should've expected to see things coming along. But I have to refute that with some expansions.
I'm splitting this review up into two sections - the first 60% and the last 40% of the novel.
The first 60%, despite some qualms over things I saw - I was actually enjoying the novel. I would've probably given it a solid 3 stars for the portrayal of Livie's college experiences and the developing relationships, albeit some humorous, cliched anecdotes that are pretty typical of teen comedies, like the film "Can't Hardly Wait". It was probably the first time in a New Adult novel, I've seen, that a college environment - even with how loosely drawn it was of Princeton - was depicted with any kind of realistic terms for a Freshman trying to adjust and going through some absolutely mortifying situations (such as the drunken night one doesn't remember and ends up with a tattoo alongside a potential love interest being naked - maybe). I have to give it that much. Not only that, Livie's voice in the beginning is actually cool. She's funny, likable, even calls out her big sister Kacey (who was the MC to the previous novel) on things that are reminiscent of the maturity she had from the previous novel.
I think anyone who reads the synopsis of this novel can tell that this is a story of Livie's respective fall from grace, from the "perfection" that exists in her mind and what everyone expects her to be to the reality of her coming to terms for what she really wants. That's a noble thing, I'm not knocking that at all and actually think that's a brilliant thing to cover. She's at the top of her game entering her freshman year, working hard to suit the expectations of her deceased father, who, Livie notes at the beginning of the novel, said "Make me proud." I think those of you who have read "Ten Tiny Breaths" know what happened with Kacey and Livie's family, so I'm not going to recap on that, but given the context of where this novel started off, I expected something of a light to dark rollercoaster, but treated with realism.
I did have to suspend my disbelief on a few things, including the over the top therapist (Dr. Stayner, who actually struck me as more of a caricature representation of things that could've been shown with Livie coming to terms on her own. He was just as much of an intrusive presence in this novel as he was the former. He was one of the things that prevented me from enjoying the first part of the novel as much as I could've) and the fact that Livie's affections are torn between the usual good guy (Connor) versus the bad boy (Ashton). It's a typical set up for the love interest scenario, but I figured I could deal with that. Many love stories use the formula, it's a matter of how one uses them and if it comes across where we can root for the character and her decision, okay.
Yet, the "One Tiny Lie" committed by Livie in measures ended up being more like 100 different lies balled into one with manipulations to match. While this could've been a chance for Livie to say "Okay, this is not who I am or who I wish to become, I've been lying to myself all this time and this is where it got me" and having her fall from grace and own up to the things she did wrong - this novel did no such thing.
It was, unfortunately, all about the chosen love story, which was probably a forgone conclusion even before the story really got off the ground.
The last 40% of the novel (maybe even slightly before that point from clues in the set up) was an utter mess of melodrama. Not to mention familiar to cliches of New Adult (maybe even to contemp YA and adult romance) and some of the problematic things that others, including myself, have pointed out which contribute to the lack of diversity in this particular age group.
Here's a question I pose to anyone who may come across this review, whether they may agree or disagree with the way that I view this novel: how is it right to vilify an entire group - a minority whether on racial, gender, sexual orientation, sexual preference or other distinctions - in order to basically say "This is not something that defines me or what I want"? One may say that slut and virgin shaming exist in real life and that this is fiction - okay, but where is the point when it becomes a reflection of reality or glorifying a problematic ideal in our society by putting it to be humored or an encompassing definition that's supposed to represent a norm? That the idea of being a virgin is "bad", while losing it and doing so at a certain stage in life is "good", when the reality is that people exist on variant scales and have different comfort zones and choices with that? How is it okay to say that cheating on a lover when it's *true love* is a positive thing while ignoring the repercussions it brings to all who may be affected by it? When is it a positive thing to say something like this:
"Connor is feeling more wrong by the minute. He looks perfect on the outside—smart, sweet, good-looking, charming. He does cute things like send me flowers and call me throughout the day to say hello. He's never pushed me into sex or anything aside from kissing, which, now that I think about it, is just plain weird for a college guy. Maybe he’s gay and I'm the perfect cover for his parents?Either way, it worked out well, because I’ve never had the urge to go farther with him. That in itself should have been a red flag for me."
...and not recognize every single bit of what's wrong with it in real context, down to the groups it offends and the behaviors it vilifies? For justification, even for humor?
I don't understand how that's right or acceptable. I really don't. I think there are ways to convey personal growth in a story without talking down the individual aspects that make us differ from one another. I think being able to recognize that would've made this a much stronger story that could resonate - with all audiences picking this up - without qualms, rather than marginalizing those who may fall in the affronted groups. It's a lesson any writer can take home with them at the end of the day.
"One Tiny Lie" actually progresses to the point where, in the scheme of events, it does come across as one big release of conflict after conflict without a true coming to terms, in order for the professed "couple" (because it was never really a love triangle anyway) to bond. And it's complete with both a confession of difficult circumstances for both the hero and heroine that aren't really foreshadowed or given any due weight for the gravity that they have in themselves, but rather for the promotion of the formulaic conflict vehicle. Long story short, it's the same problems that peppered the last, and with a heroine who seemed to have a role that wasn't defined by that in the previous novel. Same script, different cast.
In sum, I wish I could've liked this novel more, but I couldn't. I found it quite problematic and despite initial measures where it had my interest, it lost me - it dropped the ball for things it could've shown in better context, and I can't give it a recommendation. Maybe in time, I'll find a novel by the author that clicks with me, but not when it has this many problems contained within it.
Overall score: 1/5 stars
Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Atria Books.
February 6, 2019
DNF @30%
I’ve rated this DNF because I have strong feelings about an aspect that was actually part of the background story but it’s handling was very important to me.
I’m done.
Also I generally found the story tedious, the heroine annoying and the love interests, one jerk, one nicey, nicey to be just frustrating. I see from reviews where this goes and I’m not here for this.
I’ve rated this DNF because I have strong feelings about an aspect that was actually part of the background story but it’s handling was very important to me.
I’m done.
Also I generally found the story tedious, the heroine annoying and the love interests, one jerk, one nicey, nicey to be just frustrating. I see from reviews where this goes and I’m not here for this.
August 21, 2020
4.5/5
Böyle duygu yüklü kitaplara bayılıyorum 🥺 Çoğu kişinin aksine şimdiki zaman kullanılmış çevirisi beni rahatsız etmedi geçmiş zamanla beraber kullanılmış çünkü.Karakterlere bayıldım,zaten bir önceki kitaptan Livie ve ailesinin başına gelenleri , ablasını vs biliyorduk 🥺 Ashton ve geçmişi ise ayrı bir konu 🤧 Konuyla alakalı tek hoşlanmadığım nokta Connor’a yapılanı çok ama çok yanlış bulmam özellikle birinin en yakın arkadaşı (!) olunca durum baya kötü doğrusu 🤦🏼♀️ Neyse bunun dışında oldukça güzeldi 💖
Böyle duygu yüklü kitaplara bayılıyorum 🥺 Çoğu kişinin aksine şimdiki zaman kullanılmış çevirisi beni rahatsız etmedi geçmiş zamanla beraber kullanılmış çünkü.Karakterlere bayıldım,zaten bir önceki kitaptan Livie ve ailesinin başına gelenleri , ablasını vs biliyorduk 🥺 Ashton ve geçmişi ise ayrı bir konu 🤧 Konuyla alakalı tek hoşlanmadığım nokta Connor’a yapılanı çok ama çok yanlış bulmam özellikle birinin en yakın arkadaşı (!) olunca durum baya kötü doğrusu 🤦🏼♀️ Neyse bunun dışında oldukça güzeldi 💖
April 10, 2022
3 STARS ☆
K.A. Tucker was a new-to-me author and I decided on this book because it gave me Gilmore Girls - Rory at Yale University mixed with being with Jess vibes. I liked it but also kinda hated it and raged quit the audio listen x2.
Overall, it left me with conflicted feelings and I had to take a week to process and finally write this review.
✧ PLOT ✧
Livie Cleary (h) is fulfilling her deceased parents' dreams by attending Princeton University and pursuing a career path towards becoming an pediatric oncologist. She had to grow up fast and puts A LOT of pressure on herself to appraise these goals her parents had for her. That being said, she really never lived. Dr. Strayner and her older sister Kacey, suggest demand she live a little and make her complete tasks out of her comfort zone. Task #1 for starting college: attend a college party. The events of that party are fuzzy, especially how a naked man with a freshly done tattoo on his ass ended up in her room. Fortunately for Livie, Ashton (H) wants to forget that night.
They go their separate ways which is conflicting for Livie already because she doesn't wanna remember, yet feels a connection with Ashton. They do not see each other until Livie starts seeing Ashton’s best friend/roommate Connor. Talk about awkward lol. Even though Livie met the guy she thinks she is supposed to be with and is the “perfect” guy, she can’t stop thinking of Ashton. These two also cannot stay away from each other as they share the same group of friends and seek each other at opportune moments. With all these new changes in her life, Livie questions her life choices and what she wants for her life.
MAIN CHARACTERS
For this read, I decided to break it down into categories ~
THE GOOD, THE QUESTIONABLE, & THE CLUSTERFUCK
〖🍀THE GOOD 🍀〗
⪼1⪻ CHAPTER TITLES
I liked that the chapter titles were themed with what was the most important thing happening in that chapter. I thought it was clever on K.A. Tucker part and a cute idea to add into the read.
⪼2⪻ SECONDARY CHARACTERS
I really liked the secondary characters, especially Ty, Grant, and Reagan.
↠ UNPOPULAR OPINION: I think it was necessary that Reagan or anyone else did not interject in the Connor/Ashton/Livie situation. Reagan let Livie come to her about the situation when she was ready. She knew what was going on but understood in some way that Livie needed to do this on her own. Livie’s life was always dictated by her parents' wants for her, never her own. So I think it was important that she had this moment. I am not for how this love triangle formed BUT I think Livie was so naive and conflicted that it had to play out without others interfering in it. It was a shitty situation but a lesson learned for her.
〖❓QUESTIONABLE❓〗
⪼1⪻ Ashton Henley (H)
A bit is rather nice. Ash was the quintessential moody-bad boy-with-a-dark trouble past that he cannot escape and uses random hook ups to cope with his issues. Even though he technically has a girlfriend.
Healthy coping mechanism, am I right?
Anyways, I disliked this about him greatly but I still liked Ashton more than Connor... Maybe that just shows my poor decision making, idk? But I always liked the troubled type not for the purpose of “fix me” but to see the character's growth. I found his past heartbreaking to read and he truly did care about things more than he let on. I truly wish his POV was given though, I feel I would have connected better with him in certain situations and understood more his actions. Overall, I felt conflicted about him and found him as a main hero infuriating with his deflected answers and how he handled pursuing Livie.
⪼2⪻ LIVIE CLEARY (h)
If I had to do a comparison of Rory Gilmore and Livie Cleary there would be no differences with decision making, cheating traits, being top of your graduating HS class, and having the doe-in-the-headlights look with guys.
🏆 Rory Gilmore & Livie Cleary Comparison 🏆
⪼3⪻ THE ENDING
This was not a HEA rather a HAPPY FOR NOW ENDING. The big reveal happened and then it is at the epilogue with Livie’s inner monologue basically saying everything fell into place all is good. I was happy with the group moment at the end and Livie finally figuring out some things in her life. I just wish it was actually played out than it be told to me in a summarized manner in the epilogue.
〖😠 CLUSTERFUCK 😠〗
⪼1⪻ 😤💔 CONNOR SITUATIONSHIP 💔😤
Connor who?? It really was like that, half the time Livie forgot about him.
Example ⇒ “Connor. “Oh, yeah.” I hadn’t even thought about calling him. I kind of forgot about him . . . Not kind of. Completely.”
She forgot about him 80% of the time. The remaining 20% is no better. She would spend enjoyable time with him but then later compare him to Ashton or zone out while together and think of Ashton.
I am calling it for what it was a situationship because they never labeled it for anything except ‘slow and easy.’ Also, they saw each other inconsistently. Connor was very sweet, definitely boyfriend material, and made romantic gestures. However, the exclusive talk never happened. Livie and Connor didn’t really go on dates either. They just hung out usually in a group or at a party. Connor was unaware of what was going on but the spark was truly not there.
Do I feel bad for the situation they put him in? Yes but I also did find the slut shaming annoying as hell. Connor just verbally lashed out at Livie when he found her in Ash’s room. His go to response was to call her a slut. Be mature, call her on it but do it without the slut shaming.
⪼2⪻ AMBIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP
Ashton was the king of deflecting questions about his life. When asked a question, he followed it up with a question. I did not like how he treated Dana, presented their relationship to Livie, & eventually clarified his relationship with Dana. He made it sound non-existent but they were together for a couple of years seeing each other on/off. My biggest issue is you never truly know if he slept with her or did anything with her while he knew Livie. Dana visited rarely but she still visited during this whole situation.
⪼3⪻ DR. STAYNER
How has this man not lost his license to practice?!? The lack of boundaries, broken code of ethics, blurred therapist-patient relationship, & breach of confidentiality. Popping in on her unexpectedly at school, encouraging dangerous behavior, and meddling in all aspects of her life. Just. How? Yeah this is a story but these approach to therapy, especially pro bono is so unethical and appalling to me.
☆⋅⋆ Why did I rate it 3 stars? ⋆⋅☆
⇘ —————–––––––—————––— ⇙
Biggest takeaways from this book
⇗ —————–––––––—————––— ⇖
* * *
╔═════════ ≪ °☘️° ≫ ═════════╗
Ten Tiny Breaths Series
#1 Ten Tiny Breaths ➳ TBR
#1.5 In Her Wake ➳ 3.5 stars
#2 One Tiny Lie ➳ 3 stars
#3 Four Seconds to Lose ➳ TBR
#4 Five Ways to Fall ➳ TBR
╚═════════ ≪ °☘️° ≫ ═════════╝
K.A. Tucker was a new-to-me author and I decided on this book because it gave me Gilmore Girls - Rory at Yale University mixed with being with Jess vibes. I liked it but also kinda hated it and raged quit the audio listen x2.
Overall, it left me with conflicted feelings and I had to take a week to process and finally write this review.
✧ PLOT ✧
Livie Cleary (h) is fulfilling her deceased parents' dreams by attending Princeton University and pursuing a career path towards becoming an pediatric oncologist. She had to grow up fast and puts A LOT of pressure on herself to appraise these goals her parents had for her. That being said, she really never lived. Dr. Strayner and her older sister Kacey,
They go their separate ways which is conflicting for Livie already because she doesn't wanna remember, yet feels a connection with Ashton. They do not see each other until Livie starts seeing Ashton’s best friend/roommate Connor. Talk about awkward lol. Even though Livie met the guy she thinks she is supposed to be with and is the “perfect” guy, she can’t stop thinking of Ashton. These two also cannot stay away from each other as they share the same group of friends and seek each other at opportune moments. With all these new changes in her life, Livie questions her life choices and what she wants for her life.
MAIN CHARACTERS
↳ Livie Cleary = main heroine (h), innocent, indecisive, freshman at Princeton University, perfectionist, people pleaser
↳ Ashton Henley =main hero, captain of the rowing team, broody, aloof, senior, hopes to become a pilot one day
For this read, I decided to break it down into categories ~
THE GOOD, THE QUESTIONABLE, & THE CLUSTERFUCK
〖🍀THE GOOD 🍀〗
⪼1⪻ CHAPTER TITLES
I liked that the chapter titles were themed with what was the most important thing happening in that chapter. I thought it was clever on K.A. Tucker part and a cute idea to add into the read.
⪼2⪻ SECONDARY CHARACTERS
I really liked the secondary characters, especially Ty, Grant, and Reagan.
↠ UNPOPULAR OPINION: I think it was necessary that Reagan or anyone else did not interject in the Connor/Ashton/Livie situation. Reagan let Livie come to her about the situation when she was ready. She knew what was going on but understood in some way that Livie needed to do this on her own. Livie’s life was always dictated by her parents' wants for her, never her own. So I think it was important that she had this moment. I am not for how this love triangle formed BUT I think Livie was so naive and conflicted that it had to play out without others interfering in it. It was a shitty situation but a lesson learned for her.
〖❓QUESTIONABLE❓〗
⪼1⪻ Ashton Henley (H)
— “And he’s pretty much the hottest guy at this school. And also a giant ass. And a bit of a man whore.”
A bit is rather nice. Ash was the quintessential moody-bad boy-with-a-dark trouble past that he cannot escape and uses random hook ups to cope with his issues. Even though he technically has a girlfriend.
Healthy coping mechanism, am I right?
Anyways, I disliked this about him greatly but I still liked Ashton more than Connor... Maybe that just shows my poor decision making, idk? But I always liked the troubled type not for the purpose of “fix me” but to see the character's growth. I found his past heartbreaking to read and he truly did care about things more than he let on. I truly wish his POV was given though, I feel I would have connected better with him in certain situations and understood more his actions. Overall, I felt conflicted about him and found him as a main hero infuriating with his deflected answers and how he handled pursuing Livie.
⪼2⪻ LIVIE CLEARY (h)
If I had to do a comparison of Rory Gilmore and Livie Cleary there would be no differences with decision making, cheating traits, being top of your graduating HS class, and having the doe-in-the-headlights look with guys.
🏆 Rory Gilmore & Livie Cleary Comparison 🏆
⇲ Season 1 - innocence: Livie was very innocent. She put all her energy into school and appeasing her parents wishes that she never had time for boys. So, Ashton was her first for everything and she was shy about each new moment they shared. Ashton even reframed from stating previous hook ups were just a "fuck" so it would not offend or make Livie blush. This reminded me of Dean and Rory in the beginning of their relationship.
⇲ Season 3 - Jess + Rory: Ashton and Livie had an instant connection similar to Jess and Rory. Ashton was a charmer like Jess. I felt Ashton and Livie relationship mirrored how Jess and Rory got together. This association is partly why I rooted for them still to end up together.
⇲ Season 4/5 - Rory being the OW + going to college: THIS IS WHERE IT BECAME QUESTIONABLE. The cheating that happened reminded so much of the Rory and Dean situation which only further annoyed me about what was happening with this messed up love square. Similar to Rory, Livie also shut out those who cared about her and would not talk about it until things fell apart.
⪼3⪻ THE ENDING
This was not a HEA rather a HAPPY FOR NOW ENDING. The big reveal happened and then it is at the epilogue with Livie’s inner monologue basically saying everything fell into place all is good. I was happy with the group moment at the end and Livie finally figuring out some things in her life. I just wish it was actually played out than it be told to me in a summarized manner in the epilogue.
〖😠 CLUSTERFUCK 😠〗
⪼1⪻ 😤💔 CONNOR SITUATIONSHIP 💔😤
Connor who?? It really was like that, half the time Livie forgot about him.
Example ⇒ “Connor. “Oh, yeah.” I hadn’t even thought about calling him. I kind of forgot about him . . . Not kind of. Completely.”
She forgot about him 80% of the time. The remaining 20% is no better. She would spend enjoyable time with him but then later compare him to Ashton or zone out while together and think of Ashton.
I am calling it for what it was a situationship because they never labeled it for anything except ‘slow and easy.’ Also, they saw each other inconsistently. Connor was very sweet, definitely boyfriend material, and made romantic gestures. However, the exclusive talk never happened. Livie and Connor didn’t really go on dates either. They just hung out usually in a group or at a party. Connor was unaware of what was going on but the spark was truly not there.
Do I feel bad for the situation they put him in? Yes but I also did find the slut shaming annoying as hell. Connor just verbally lashed out at Livie when he found her in Ash’s room. His go to response was to call her a slut. Be mature, call her on it but do it without the slut shaming.
⪼2⪻ AMBIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP
Ashton was the king of deflecting questions about his life. When asked a question, he followed it up with a question. I did not like how he treated Dana, presented their relationship to Livie, & eventually clarified his relationship with Dana. He made it sound non-existent but they were together for a couple of years seeing each other on/off. My biggest issue is you never truly know if he slept with her or did anything with her while he knew Livie. Dana visited rarely but she still visited during this whole situation.
⪼3⪻ DR. STAYNER
How has this man not lost his license to practice?!? The lack of boundaries, broken code of ethics, blurred therapist-patient relationship, & breach of confidentiality. Popping in on her unexpectedly at school, encouraging dangerous behavior, and meddling in all aspects of her life. Just. How? Yeah this is a story but these approach to therapy, especially pro bono is so unethical and appalling to me.
☆⋅⋆ Why did I rate it 3 stars? ⋆⋅☆
➳ This book was problematic in many ways but something kept me reading. I think that Ashton's character development showed in the last ~20% and made the book more redeemable to me. He screwed up in epic proportions but he was struggling with things he felt he had no control over in his life. It wasn't until Livie got emotionally hurt that he realized he needed to fight for his freedom from under his father's control and he did.
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Biggest takeaways from this book
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⤑ This book contains cheating + OW/OM drama
⤑ Tropes: kinda enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, virgin heroine, journey to find oneself
⤑ ⚠️ Trigger Warning: ⚠️ descriptive discussion of physical and emotional abuse
⤑ A lack of content for relationship development: there was only one scene showing them as an actual couple in the book
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Ten Tiny Breaths Series
#1 Ten Tiny Breaths ➳ TBR
#1.5 In Her Wake ➳ 3.5 stars
#2 One Tiny Lie ➳ 3 stars
#3 Four Seconds to Lose ➳ TBR
#4 Five Ways to Fall ➳ TBR
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