4.5 out of 5 stars|
Olivia Warren used to be a normal girl with a bright future.
But on one fated night, everything changed.
Hiding the scars of her past up her sleeves, Olivia transfers her enrollment from Columbia University to The College of Charleston, determined to pursue her own dreams for the first time in her life.
She intends to allow herself a bit of alone time to heal... that is, until she meets Preston.
Preston is best friends with her roommate, completely hot, and off-limits. But the chemistry between them is instantaneous—and as the pair begins to spend more time with one another, their feelings for each other build into something undeniable, something powerful enough to heal Olivia’s deepest scars.
Olivia tries to put her own past behind her and trust Preston, but she discovers that his past might be more present than she ever bargained for… (Goodreads)
I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Pieces of Oliva is a New Adult novel that in my eye’s breaks the mold of the typical bad boy/virgin pairing where the hero is over possessive and a man whore. While Preston is something of a playboy, it’s not nearly to the level of some other NA heroes.
The heroine while a broken individual because of an traumatic event in her past is no virgin. She was in a relationship with her boyfriend for years, and I’m assuming they were intimate together.
We’re introduced to Olivia who is going to Charleston College, much to her parents dismay. She makes her way to her dorm room only to find a guy, a very handsome guy, sleeping in her roommates Karas bed! And thus goes the first meeting of Preston and Olivia.
For once in a NA novel there is no insta-love. These two develop a friendship first, one that lasts quite a while. It’s clear that each has feelings for the other, but the don’t want to admit it. They each have issues that make it difficult to have real relationships.
I won’t spoil either of the characters issues, because it takes quite a long time for everything to be revealed which was a nice change.
Kara and Preston are best friends, and Kara quickly becomes one of their friends too. But it becomes apparent to both the reader and Olivia that there is something off about the best friends, a deeper connection then they want anyone to know. It’s obvious they had a past, once dated or something and its apparent that they used to have a thing together. Which isn’t a bad thing, it gives Olivia a reason to not want to go out with Preston.
Because of an event that took place about a year before the novel starts, Olivia is in pieces. She’s a shell of her former self, and has become a recluse. Therapy is needed to help Olivia heal, and she finds a wonderfully quirky woman named Rose. Through unconventional methods our young heroine
But eventually they admit their feelings to each other and its so sweet. They have their ups and downs, and have a lot of stuff they need to work through, but they work it out. This is a really genuine relationship and it made my heart melt. This is what more NA novels need to be like. It breaks the mold. We need more Preston’s in NA.
The only gripe I had with this book was the fact that the Poetry teacher wanted to help Olivia with her struggles, and we get a glimpse into a class or two where Olivia reads her poems, which are heart breaking. Then thats the last we hear of her until the epilogue! All of a sudden its “my poetry teacher became a good friend, helping me heal.” Would have been awesome to see more of that!
Overall an amazing novel and one that I will remember for a long time.
I’m excited for the next book which will be in Kara’s POV.
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