Monday 27 January 2014

Review: Anything to Have You

Anything to Have You
Author: 

Publication Date:  January 28th 2014                    
~A copy was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review~
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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Nothing should come between best friends, not even boys. ESPECIALLY not boys.

Natalie and Brooke have had each other's backs forever. Natalie is the quiet one, college bound and happy to stay home and watch old movies. Brooke is the movie—the life of every party, the girl everyone wants to be.

Then it happens—one crazy night that Natalie can't remember and Brooke's boyfriend, Aiden, can't forget. Suddenly there's a question mark in Natalie and Brooke's friendship that tests everything they thought they knew about each other and has both girls discovering what true friendship really means

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While I did enjoy Anything to Have You, there was something just...off about it for me, that I don't even know what it was, but I did enjoy it, though if some of the characters had their way, I wouldn't have.

Let me get it out of the way and say I didn't like most of them, especially Brooke, I seriously, seriously wanted to gag the condescending, contradicting bitch. She was not a nice character, and just when I started feeling a little sorry for her, we switch perspectives and are in Brooke's world. Which, is all about Brooke, all about Brooke and...all about Brooke, and in Brookes world there is three important things. Alcohol. Partying. Sex. I found it hard to not  to dislike her. She's strings a long a guy, who really, when it comes down to it, she doesn't really love all that much at all. He's just a stand in because she can't bear to not have a boyfriend for a few months before graduation. And which we're shown, Natalie really liked Aiden when he first came to town, and asked Brooke to feel him out and to see if he liked her. But, Brooke likes him to, so as far as Brooke's World is concerned, that doesn't matter and she has him for herself.
The only thing that saved me was Natalie, maybe in a way because I connected to her, we're quite a like in some ways. I was that type of person, you know, pretty boring, because my type of fun is not another person's type of fun. I really liked her growing relationship with Aiden too, they were really suited for each other. yes, yes, I know the "You don't go after your best friends boyfriend/ex." But like girl code mattered to Brooke anyway. See, double standards, and that. annoys. the crap out of me.

It brought up some important points and issues though. We all have a best friend, that one you tell everything to, the one who'll hold your hair back when you puke, boyfriends come and go but friends stay. But, with Anything to Have You, it felt all a little one sided, especially when we entered Brooke's world, because let's be honest, she was never really a friend to Natalie all that much. She wasn't that supportive, she was pushy and demanding, got in a freaking mess and relied on others to deal her the fuck out and take care of her. She never owned up to her own mistakes and took responsibility for them, and then had the decency to throw everything in Natalie's face, for one night that she couldn't remember. Apart from that night Natalie was way more of a friend to Brooke than she ever was, for, stated as the above. Yes, because Brooke was pushy, she came out of her shell more, but she didn't make her the person she was, and she never sacrificed anything for Natalie.
There's also (spoiler) teen pregnancy, which, I'll try very hard not to roll my eyes at, because that's original, guys, but it is important, so is the swearing! You have no idea how much I liked this just because of the swearing, because teenagers who do not swear, is not realistic.

Anything to Have You was an realistic, addicting read, that not only portrayed the trails of high school and growing up, but crossed boundaries and tested friendship.
Actual Rating:  Between 2.5-3/5