Simon Pulse
July 8, 2014
256 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon
Opposites attract—and then complicate—in this romantic, relatable novel from the author of Two-Way Street and Sometimes It Happens.
It starts with a scribbled note in class: I like your sparkle. Harper had casually threaded a piece of blue and silver tinsel through her ponytail in honor of school spirit day. And that carefree, corny gesture is what grabs Penn Mattingly’s eye. Penn—resident heartbreaker of the senior class. Reliably unreliable. Trouble with a capital “T.” And okay, smolderingly sexy.
Harper’s surprised by Penn’s attention—and so is Penn. The last thing he needs is a girlfriend. Or even a friend-with-benefits. The note is not supposed to lead to anything.
Oh, but it does. They hang out. They have fun. They talk. They make out. And after a while, it seems like they just click. But Penn and Harper have very different ideas about what relationships look like, in no small part because of their very different family backgrounds. Of course they could talk about these differences—if Penn knew how to talk about feelings.
Harper and Penn understand their attraction is illogical, yet something keeps pulling them together. It’s like a crazy roller coaster—exhilarating, terrifying, and amazing all at once. And neither knows how to stop the ride…
Harper is the good girl - her sights set on attending a prestigious school and being a choreographer, she spends her time with her best friend Anna, studying and working at her mother's dance studio. Penn is not the good guy. The former baseball player spends his time hooking up with girls, not paying attention in or completely ditching class. They're complete opposites.
After that first interaction, started with a simple note, they feel drawn together. Yet, those the things that make them so different don't just disappear.
Penn and Harper should have been two characters that annoyed and/or frustrated me. (And in some ways they did.) As much as they worked together, they also seemed so unable to get it right. Penn wasn't what Harper needed and he wasn't going to let her be what he needed. As great as they were together, they were, at he same time, not.
It worked, though, because they knew it didn't make sense and that the logical, perhaps better, thing would be to stay apart. But they couldn't.
It's not a story where the guy has all of these flaws, but the girl forgives him because he's so sexy. At least, entirely. It's the glimpses of who Penn can be, what he can be like that pull Harper in. When she does do what she, logically, knows she shouldn't, I was more frustrated for her than with her because she knew it didn't make sense. If Harper had been less self aware, there had been less to the 'good' between them, or Penn's story was in any way less, Through to You would not have been as good.
Through to You is a fun read, perfect for the beach or summer with two characters who are trying to find out of there's a way to be together that works for them both - and is good for them both.
Rating: 7/10
Another book you might also enjoy: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
received from publisher, through Edelweiss for honest review - thank you!
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