Title: Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance
Author: Danielle Younge-Ullman
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Publication date: May 5th 2015
Format: Kindle | 304 pages
Genre: YA | Contemporary
Lola Carlyle is lonely, out of sorts, and in for a boring summer. So when her best friend, Sydney, calls to rave about her stay at a posh Malibu rehab and reveals that the love of Lola’s life, Wade Miller, is being admitted, she knows what she has to do.Never mind that her worst addiction is decaf cappuccino; Lola is going to rehab.
Lola arrives at Sunrise Rehab intent solely on finding Wade, saving him from himself, and—naturally—making him fall in love with her…only to discover she’s actually expected to be an addict. And get treatment. And talk about her issues with her parents, and with herself. Plus she has insane roommates, and an irritatingly attractive mentor, Adam, who’s determined to thwart her at every turn.
Oh, and Sydney? She’s gone.
Turns out, once her pride, her defenses, and her best friend are stripped away, Lola realizes she’s actually got a lot to overcome…if she can open her heart long enough to let it happen.
My thoughts:
Well this definitely was a pleasant surprise.
When I read the summary of this book I just had to read it. Faking an addiction to get into rehab? Sounds like a disaster in the making - meaning it had potential to make a great read.
I'm not an avid fan of the contemporary genres. I mean I read plenty when I'm in the mood, but it's not my go to genre. So I can honestly say I've never read anything to do with rehab or addiction. It really made this read a breath of fresh air since it was so new to me. I never would have thought you could mix so serious of a topic with such a quirky character and a goofy romance thrown into the mix. I was surprised I still managed to take it so seriously.
I will say that Lola was not a likeable character at first. She did so many terrible things throughout the read and had such a bitchy attitude that she had a whole lot to make up for by the end of the book. I have a feeling a lot of people will stop reading because of it - she doesn't seem to be capable of both forgiveness or patience. All I can say is, you have to stick with it to get the full picture. She really does make up for it, I promise.
Not that I found this read to be perfect, I didn't. It had so many flaws that I almost stopped reading myself, but the ending really made up for it in my opinion.
I found Lola to be pretty dense. It was made more annoying by the fact that it seemed to be only because she took so long to figure things out. I do prefer characters to make sense of things over time throughout the read, not in one single epiphany where they make things right with some huge speech. It just makes things more realistic and relatable somehow. It became such a big part of the read, Lola acting out all over the place, that it took so much out of me to stay rooting for her. It all worked out in the end though and I did grow to love her again.
The love aspect of the read was incredibly predictable but no less enjoyable. Sometimes, I'm a sucker for a goofy romance, predictable or no. I loved Adam. So sexy - especially considering he was out of bounds and so smart…yummy. Wade not so much...
All in all this read was enjoyable for me. The main character does make up for her behaviour and I couldn't help but love her again. There were some great messages involved and some lovely characters that made me smile and feel for them.
My rating: 7/10
Danielle Younge-Ullman:
