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Blow Hole Boys #1
Playing Patience
Life's been hard for Zeke. Being a punching bag for his alcoholic father has turned him into stone. Not even the dodgy trailer park he lives in can scare him. Fighting is his release and sex, drugs, and his guitar bring him peace, but deep down Zeke isn't quite as hard as he makes himself out to be. When he meets Patience, she finds all his broken pieces and puts him back together. She's a ray of light in his shadowed life and the last thing he wants to do is bring her into his dark world. Playing careless is easy, playing the bad guy can be fun, but playing Patience is impossible, especially when she can see right through him.
Zeke isn't the only one who's broken, and for the first time in a long time, Patience feels alive. Her black and white world gets a shot of color when she meets Zeke. With his tattoos, piercings, and blunt honesty, he's unlike anyone she's ever met. She wants nothing more than to let go and ride the wild side with him, but some wounds never heal and the broken pieces of Patience aren't so easy to find.
Zeke isn't the only one who's broken, and for the first time in a long time, Patience feels alive. Her black and white world gets a shot of color when she meets Zeke. With his tattoos, piercings, and blunt honesty, he's unlike anyone she's ever met. She wants nothing more than to let go and ride the wild side with him, but some wounds never heal and the broken pieces of Patience aren't so easy to find.
420 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2013
About the author
Tabatha Vargo
37 books2,777 followersTabatha is a New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author, best known for her sexy adult romance Little Black Book.
Tabatha writes in all genres, including adult and new adult, and isn't afraid to venture into the dark side occasionally, as she proved with her dark prison romance, Slammer.
She's an avid reader of all things smutty and writes sexy stories featuring redeemable alpha bad boys and sweet, strong women.
SBR Media represents Tabatha. For inquiries regarding foreign rights, audio, and other media outlets, please contact Stephanie Phillips. stephanie@sbrmedia.com
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https://www.tabathavargo.com
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Tabatha writes in all genres, including adult and new adult, and isn't afraid to venture into the dark side occasionally, as she proved with her dark prison romance, Slammer.
She's an avid reader of all things smutty and writes sexy stories featuring redeemable alpha bad boys and sweet, strong women.
SBR Media represents Tabatha. For inquiries regarding foreign rights, audio, and other media outlets, please contact Stephanie Phillips. stephanie@sbrmedia.com
Would you like to join my reader group?
https://geni.us/wickedbitches
Website~
https://www.tabathavargo.com
Subscribe~
https://geni.us/tvsubscribe
Email ~
tabathavargowrites@gmail.com
Amazon:
http://amzn.to/2wqq5hv
TikTok~
https://geni.us/tabathatiktok
Instagram ~ https://www.instagram.com/tabathavarg...
Bookbub ~
http://bit.ly/2xXlioq
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 762 reviews
January 20, 2018
**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS**
I've spent a while thinking about this review, and there are a lot of strong feelings attached to it. I feel burnt by the author for several things that went down before I even finished reading, but this review is not necessarily of the author but her work, and I'll try to remain subjective while writing this. Also, this review will contain spoilers. Consider yourself warned. :)
Playing Patience is labeled new adult, which is actual bull since both the main characters are young adults still in high school. This is a classic case of an author wanting to write YA but with graphic sex, and so the poor NA label gets a bad rap again.
Patience is a governor's daughter, playing the ultimate good girl while suffering intense sexual abuse at the hand of her father. Even though her father's been raping her (graphically) since she was thirteen, the author never tells us how Patience avoids getting pregnant. No mention of contraceptives or past abortions. If a teenager is exposed to sex for that long, pregnancy should be addressed. At the beginning of the story, Patience's mother is dying of breast cancer. Zeke is a "bad boy" from the other side of town, raised by his alcoholic, abusive father in a run-down trailer park. His mother died when he was younger of... you guessed it! Cancer.
At the core these characters are living the same life--abusive father, cancer victim mother. Which I felt was a huge lack of creativity. And Zeke's father fell into every trash alcoholic trope you can think of--a "raging" alcoholic who beats the tish out of his kid without any provocation. There was no other side to him either. No moments where he was mildly sober or decent. I know mean drunks, and there's more to the story than drink beer, beat people senseless just cuz. People like that aren't ALL evil ALL the time. Yes they're nasty. but they are human.
This book is packed with sexual objectification of women. Zeke, our supposed heart-throb of a bad boy, the guy we're supposed to fall in love with, calls women “females." Sees them as a pair of tits and doesn't even ask for names. To reiterate my point that Zeke is a trashfire, slimeball of a human being, here are some quotes from his POV:
PAGE 22: “Nice tits.” I grinned down at her as I ran a finger across her bulging cleavage. There was a jagged tattoo just under her lacy bra line that I wanted to have a look at. “Meet me beside the stage later.” I wasn’t asking. I was telling. (Because we all know women LOVE to be told they have no choice when it comes to providing you with some kind of sexual satisfaction.)
PAGE 147: “If you want a one night stand to leave, all you have to do is pull out your wallet and ask how much you owe her.”
PAGE 177: Usually, I steered clear of girls like her since there was always a chance of an inexperienced female sprouting feelings…
PAGE 181: I’d never denied myself a woman when I wanted her… (that's called rape, douche canoe)
PAGE 222: I knew her name, but it wasn’t necessary. Redhead was a good enough name for me. (because women don't need names. Our hair color will do.)
PAGE 258: I wasn’t sure why I asked. I’d never asked a female permission for anything in my life… (AGAIN...rape)
And then he makes an actual joke about date-rape.
PAGE 80: “Please. That chick’s as straight as they come. I’d have to drug her, too, to get her to put out.” We laughed. (ha.haha. so funny)
Zeke and his little posse, Flinn and Chet, don't deserve the paper they were printed on. Zeke literally makes this statement "...dip my stick in a chick that reminded me of her", and I had to take a break from reading because ew! (I'll tell you what I'd like to do to his "stick" and it doesn't involve any dipping) And people fan-girl over this guy, who has no character arc whatsoever. Zeke's opinion of Patience changes, but his opinion towards women in general stays the same. In fact, he spent the whole second half of the book elevating Patience above those "other women". He'd think something positive about Patience, and then would add in a "not like those other women" sort of line. So Patience is the special little snowflake. In fact, that's actually Zeke's nickname for her. Ha. I wish I could root for her, tell you she was better, but she spent most of the book calling all the women around Zeke "half-naked skanks" or "slutty".
Apart from content, the writing is weak. Secondary characters are described by the color of their hair/eyes. The author had a habit of backtracking each time the POV switched. I got to the point where I'd skip the first few paragraphs of a new chapter just to catch up to the plot. Lots of telling and not showing.
The relationship between Patience and Zeke was slow (no insta-love, though I hated both their characters so much I almost didn't care). There were several small twist that I didn't predict, and two big twists that I totally did predict. The biggest climax of the book, when her father is shot down, was given away right in the prologue. So there's that. We saw it coming because the author showed it to us right from the start. The second plot twist, aka Zeke cheats on her (big surprise), was easy to see coming. And Patience's reaction to catching him cheating was to run away apologizing, like she'd done something wrong. WTF!? No.
The first sex scene between Patience and Zeke, keep in mind this is a girl who's a victim of serious sexual abuse, was aggressive and rough and happened two weeks after Zeke is caught having sex with another woman. No apologies from him or attempts to make things right in between. I expected the severely abused Patience's first time with any other man to be careful, but instead we got this...
“A tiny growl escaped his throat and he grabbed under my ass and lifted me onto Finn’s dresser. The back of the mirror slammed into the wall behind it. He pushed my skirt up, gapped my legs more, and pushed himself against me.”
And they proceeded to have very rough sex...
So this book, full of sexual and physical abuse, is at the core just a smutty romance novel which exploits delicate subject-matter for entertainment purposes. This makes me feel very sorry for anyone reading this who's actually suffered these kinds of things. This is a damaging book. Full of damaging messages. The author needs to self-reflect considering her "message" is reaching a lot of readers and potentially causing harm.
I've spent a while thinking about this review, and there are a lot of strong feelings attached to it. I feel burnt by the author for several things that went down before I even finished reading, but this review is not necessarily of the author but her work, and I'll try to remain subjective while writing this. Also, this review will contain spoilers. Consider yourself warned. :)
Playing Patience is labeled new adult, which is actual bull since both the main characters are young adults still in high school. This is a classic case of an author wanting to write YA but with graphic sex, and so the poor NA label gets a bad rap again.
Patience is a governor's daughter, playing the ultimate good girl while suffering intense sexual abuse at the hand of her father. Even though her father's been raping her (graphically) since she was thirteen, the author never tells us how Patience avoids getting pregnant. No mention of contraceptives or past abortions. If a teenager is exposed to sex for that long, pregnancy should be addressed. At the beginning of the story, Patience's mother is dying of breast cancer. Zeke is a "bad boy" from the other side of town, raised by his alcoholic, abusive father in a run-down trailer park. His mother died when he was younger of... you guessed it! Cancer.
At the core these characters are living the same life--abusive father, cancer victim mother. Which I felt was a huge lack of creativity. And Zeke's father fell into every trash alcoholic trope you can think of--a "raging" alcoholic who beats the tish out of his kid without any provocation. There was no other side to him either. No moments where he was mildly sober or decent. I know mean drunks, and there's more to the story than drink beer, beat people senseless just cuz. People like that aren't ALL evil ALL the time. Yes they're nasty. but they are human.
This book is packed with sexual objectification of women. Zeke, our supposed heart-throb of a bad boy, the guy we're supposed to fall in love with, calls women “females." Sees them as a pair of tits and doesn't even ask for names. To reiterate my point that Zeke is a trashfire, slimeball of a human being, here are some quotes from his POV:
PAGE 22: “Nice tits.” I grinned down at her as I ran a finger across her bulging cleavage. There was a jagged tattoo just under her lacy bra line that I wanted to have a look at. “Meet me beside the stage later.” I wasn’t asking. I was telling. (Because we all know women LOVE to be told they have no choice when it comes to providing you with some kind of sexual satisfaction.)
PAGE 147: “If you want a one night stand to leave, all you have to do is pull out your wallet and ask how much you owe her.”
PAGE 177: Usually, I steered clear of girls like her since there was always a chance of an inexperienced female sprouting feelings…
PAGE 181: I’d never denied myself a woman when I wanted her… (that's called rape, douche canoe)
PAGE 222: I knew her name, but it wasn’t necessary. Redhead was a good enough name for me. (because women don't need names. Our hair color will do.)
PAGE 258: I wasn’t sure why I asked. I’d never asked a female permission for anything in my life… (AGAIN...rape)
And then he makes an actual joke about date-rape.
PAGE 80: “Please. That chick’s as straight as they come. I’d have to drug her, too, to get her to put out.” We laughed. (ha.haha. so funny)
Zeke and his little posse, Flinn and Chet, don't deserve the paper they were printed on. Zeke literally makes this statement "...dip my stick in a chick that reminded me of her", and I had to take a break from reading because ew! (I'll tell you what I'd like to do to his "stick" and it doesn't involve any dipping) And people fan-girl over this guy, who has no character arc whatsoever. Zeke's opinion of Patience changes, but his opinion towards women in general stays the same. In fact, he spent the whole second half of the book elevating Patience above those "other women". He'd think something positive about Patience, and then would add in a "not like those other women" sort of line. So Patience is the special little snowflake. In fact, that's actually Zeke's nickname for her. Ha. I wish I could root for her, tell you she was better, but she spent most of the book calling all the women around Zeke "half-naked skanks" or "slutty".
Apart from content, the writing is weak. Secondary characters are described by the color of their hair/eyes. The author had a habit of backtracking each time the POV switched. I got to the point where I'd skip the first few paragraphs of a new chapter just to catch up to the plot. Lots of telling and not showing.
The relationship between Patience and Zeke was slow (no insta-love, though I hated both their characters so much I almost didn't care). There were several small twist that I didn't predict, and two big twists that I totally did predict. The biggest climax of the book, when her father is shot down, was given away right in the prologue. So there's that. We saw it coming because the author showed it to us right from the start. The second plot twist, aka Zeke cheats on her (big surprise), was easy to see coming. And Patience's reaction to catching him cheating was to run away apologizing, like she'd done something wrong. WTF!? No.
The first sex scene between Patience and Zeke, keep in mind this is a girl who's a victim of serious sexual abuse, was aggressive and rough and happened two weeks after Zeke is caught having sex with another woman. No apologies from him or attempts to make things right in between. I expected the severely abused Patience's first time with any other man to be careful, but instead we got this...
“A tiny growl escaped his throat and he grabbed under my ass and lifted me onto Finn’s dresser. The back of the mirror slammed into the wall behind it. He pushed my skirt up, gapped my legs more, and pushed himself against me.”
And they proceeded to have very rough sex...
So this book, full of sexual and physical abuse, is at the core just a smutty romance novel which exploits delicate subject-matter for entertainment purposes. This makes me feel very sorry for anyone reading this who's actually suffered these kinds of things. This is a damaging book. Full of damaging messages. The author needs to self-reflect considering her "message" is reaching a lot of readers and potentially causing harm.
April 28, 2013
For a chance to win an EBook copy of Playing Patience, head on over to Totallybooked: http://totallybookedblog.com/2013/04/...
Jointly reviewed for totallybookedblog.com
4.5 stars
Gitte: I actually have tears sat here thinking what to write as my emotions are all over the place thinking about this story. It’s one of those that hits you immediately and you gasp out loud, put your kindle down and say out loud “I did NOT just read that sentence” the few little words that immediately release tears and get your hackles up. You know it’s going to be a hard read and you continue, unable to stop because you want reassurance that everything is going to be okay for our main characters Patience and Zeke. There is so much I want to say but I fear I will ruin this story for everyone who should without doubt pick this book up. What do you think Jenny?
Jenny: I know exactly what you mean Gitte because I am the same. And yes, I totally agree with you, to give anything away would be a travesty. A reader has to experience every moment for the first time just as we did. Sitting here, reliving this book and recalling the heartache I felt reading it, once again reduces me to tears.
I just didn’t realise the level to which this story would affect me. I don’t think I was quite prepared for what was to come and I can’t begin to express the nervous, sick feeling I carried in my stomach pretty much the whole way through this book. I did indeed gasp…out loud, on a number of occasions. This powerfully poignant, dark romantic story was so detailed in its aching and so touching in its telling of Zeke and Patience, two damaged yet resilient souls who were able to see something so unique, something so special in each other that they didn’t see in themselves, was one I found compelling and couldn’t put it down until the end.
“She belonged in the light and I was right where I was meant to be – stuck in a dark, dank gymnasium” . – Zeke
“I was a broken porcelain doll, cracked beyond repair and tossed in the back of a closet.” Patience
Gitte: Zeke and Patience are both extremely broken and haunted characters. They have both been severely scarred both on the inside and the outside by the people, who should have loved them the most; who should have protected them. Brought up in complete dysfunctional families where pain is the dish of the day, they are survivors.
Patience despite her appalling “home life” is an extremely beautiful and strong soul. She thinks of everyone else before herself. She haunted me with every word written about her real life behind closed doors and I literally wanted to pick her out of my kindle and put her in my pocket.
Patience trusts Zeke, despite how he acts and his, at times, cruel words. She sees the real Zeke underneath the façade. She trusts him though why, she doesn’t know. People are easy to judge on appearance and adapted behaviour, but this guy despite the tattoos, the rock star persona and everything that comes with that, shows his real sensitive side just as his soul sees and understands hers.
Zeke was such a well written character. He is flawed in some ways, playing the crude arsehole, but mostly he was a hero in my eyes as he was in Patience’s eyes.
“I don’t look at you like you’re nothing. I look at you like you’re everything, because you are, and I fucking hate it.” – Zeke
I loved that he was blunt and didn’t mince his words. He was honest to a fault no matter what reaction his words caused. He was cocky yet underneath all the layers of hurt and layers of self-protection which was caused by the hand he was dealt in life lies a beautiful and honest soul surrounding a heart waiting to be pieced back together.
“He was covered in color and art; he was a standing statue for freedom, and I was drawn to his careless stature.” – Patience
“Damn, snowflake, if you get any hotter you’ll melt.” – Zeke
The journey isn’t smooth for Zeke and Patience by any means or us the readers. They have their own separate emotional baggage which has made them adapt roles in life, unable to trust and unable to believe that they can indeed be loved and love in return.
“What is it about girls and cocky assholes? I’ll never understand it.” – Megan (Umm we totally get it right Jenny!?!)
Jenny: Damn straight Megan! And yes, you’re spot on Gitte. These cocky arseholes definitely do attract us, but let’s face it, we were never going to be able to resist Zeke, and not because he was a drop dead gorgeous musician, with a body to match (which did help of course) but because we were able to see the beauty in the soul that lay underneath all the outward bravado from this man who had been given more than his fair share of life’s hard knocks and he broke my heart. This tattooed, honest to a fault, pierced, tough, hard living man saw no future, he felt such hopelessness at the hand he’d been dealt that he played out his life accordingly, silently wishing for the day his band, Blow Hole would be discovered and take him away from the hell that was his life, yet resigned to the fact that this was his life. This was all it would ever be.. He’d built walls that he wouldn’t allow to be penetrated …that was until he met Patience. In Patience he saw something different. Something pure, something untainted and a beauty he wouldn’t sully with his world.
“Her kisses were tiny miracles” - Zeke
“Don’t ever be scared with me. I’d never do anything to hurt you and I’d destroy anyone who tried.” Zeke
Patience…..Oh Patience. This girl took my heart and shredded it. My aching for her was felt deep down. I just wanted to pick her up and take her away from everything. I wanted to make it all okay for her. Sad, lonely, perfectly imperfect Patience suffering and living her own tragic and sorry existence whilst feeling apathy at a life which has let her down, yet showing a loyalty and selflessness that will tear at your heartstrings.
The opening chapters were extremely hard to read and this strong, determined yet vulnerable and damaged girl had me completely transfixed. Zeke and Patience….together they make sense. They will captivate you.
"Do you like playing that song?” I asked casually as I handed him the guitar
“Not really”
“Then why were you?”
“It reminds me of you”
Gitte: I thought this story was brilliantly written and I inhaled every single word. Patience and Zeke are from complete different walks of life but tragedy and pain does not discriminate for anything or anyone. This beauty of two emotionally broken souls finding each other, unable to resist the pull despite every obstacle; paired with the heart wrenching pain makes for one powerful story that will stay with me for a long while.
“Years of shadows and darkness were erased in that very moment. I held my source of freedom in my arms and I could already feel the heat from her light against my skin.” – Zeke
Jenny: I agree Gitte. This story was so beautifully written. A powerful and engrossing story, it wasn’t always pretty, in fact it was extremely difficult at times. Zeke and Patience, “two broken parts of a whole person” will intoxicate you, they will break you, you will feel their hurt and you will experience their pain, you will rally for them in a way you never thought possible and you will love with them completely.
"There’s a place you land, right before you hit rock bottom, a sort of cushion before the blow…..Zeke was that place for me. He was like a rainbow in my black and white movie, a soothing touch against jagged scars". – Patience
The moments of beauty and tenderness interspersed throughout a story of such cruelty, emotional turmoil and heartache will remain with you for a long time to come.
"Everything bad went away in that moment. She soothed every scar, took away every bad memory. She made me feel better" – Zeke
Arc provided by Author Tabatha Vargo for an honest review
Jointly reviewed for totallybookedblog.com
4.5 stars
Gitte: I actually have tears sat here thinking what to write as my emotions are all over the place thinking about this story. It’s one of those that hits you immediately and you gasp out loud, put your kindle down and say out loud “I did NOT just read that sentence” the few little words that immediately release tears and get your hackles up. You know it’s going to be a hard read and you continue, unable to stop because you want reassurance that everything is going to be okay for our main characters Patience and Zeke. There is so much I want to say but I fear I will ruin this story for everyone who should without doubt pick this book up. What do you think Jenny?
Jenny: I know exactly what you mean Gitte because I am the same. And yes, I totally agree with you, to give anything away would be a travesty. A reader has to experience every moment for the first time just as we did. Sitting here, reliving this book and recalling the heartache I felt reading it, once again reduces me to tears.
I just didn’t realise the level to which this story would affect me. I don’t think I was quite prepared for what was to come and I can’t begin to express the nervous, sick feeling I carried in my stomach pretty much the whole way through this book. I did indeed gasp…out loud, on a number of occasions. This powerfully poignant, dark romantic story was so detailed in its aching and so touching in its telling of Zeke and Patience, two damaged yet resilient souls who were able to see something so unique, something so special in each other that they didn’t see in themselves, was one I found compelling and couldn’t put it down until the end.
“She belonged in the light and I was right where I was meant to be – stuck in a dark, dank gymnasium” . – Zeke
“I was a broken porcelain doll, cracked beyond repair and tossed in the back of a closet.” Patience
Gitte: Zeke and Patience are both extremely broken and haunted characters. They have both been severely scarred both on the inside and the outside by the people, who should have loved them the most; who should have protected them. Brought up in complete dysfunctional families where pain is the dish of the day, they are survivors.
Patience despite her appalling “home life” is an extremely beautiful and strong soul. She thinks of everyone else before herself. She haunted me with every word written about her real life behind closed doors and I literally wanted to pick her out of my kindle and put her in my pocket.
Patience trusts Zeke, despite how he acts and his, at times, cruel words. She sees the real Zeke underneath the façade. She trusts him though why, she doesn’t know. People are easy to judge on appearance and adapted behaviour, but this guy despite the tattoos, the rock star persona and everything that comes with that, shows his real sensitive side just as his soul sees and understands hers.
Zeke was such a well written character. He is flawed in some ways, playing the crude arsehole, but mostly he was a hero in my eyes as he was in Patience’s eyes.
“I don’t look at you like you’re nothing. I look at you like you’re everything, because you are, and I fucking hate it.” – Zeke
I loved that he was blunt and didn’t mince his words. He was honest to a fault no matter what reaction his words caused. He was cocky yet underneath all the layers of hurt and layers of self-protection which was caused by the hand he was dealt in life lies a beautiful and honest soul surrounding a heart waiting to be pieced back together.
“He was covered in color and art; he was a standing statue for freedom, and I was drawn to his careless stature.” – Patience
“Damn, snowflake, if you get any hotter you’ll melt.” – Zeke
The journey isn’t smooth for Zeke and Patience by any means or us the readers. They have their own separate emotional baggage which has made them adapt roles in life, unable to trust and unable to believe that they can indeed be loved and love in return.
“What is it about girls and cocky assholes? I’ll never understand it.” – Megan (Umm we totally get it right Jenny!?!)
Jenny: Damn straight Megan! And yes, you’re spot on Gitte. These cocky arseholes definitely do attract us, but let’s face it, we were never going to be able to resist Zeke, and not because he was a drop dead gorgeous musician, with a body to match (which did help of course) but because we were able to see the beauty in the soul that lay underneath all the outward bravado from this man who had been given more than his fair share of life’s hard knocks and he broke my heart. This tattooed, honest to a fault, pierced, tough, hard living man saw no future, he felt such hopelessness at the hand he’d been dealt that he played out his life accordingly, silently wishing for the day his band, Blow Hole would be discovered and take him away from the hell that was his life, yet resigned to the fact that this was his life. This was all it would ever be.. He’d built walls that he wouldn’t allow to be penetrated …that was until he met Patience. In Patience he saw something different. Something pure, something untainted and a beauty he wouldn’t sully with his world.
“Her kisses were tiny miracles” - Zeke
“Don’t ever be scared with me. I’d never do anything to hurt you and I’d destroy anyone who tried.” Zeke
Patience…..Oh Patience. This girl took my heart and shredded it. My aching for her was felt deep down. I just wanted to pick her up and take her away from everything. I wanted to make it all okay for her. Sad, lonely, perfectly imperfect Patience suffering and living her own tragic and sorry existence whilst feeling apathy at a life which has let her down, yet showing a loyalty and selflessness that will tear at your heartstrings.
The opening chapters were extremely hard to read and this strong, determined yet vulnerable and damaged girl had me completely transfixed. Zeke and Patience….together they make sense. They will captivate you.
"Do you like playing that song?” I asked casually as I handed him the guitar
“Not really”
“Then why were you?”
“It reminds me of you”
Gitte: I thought this story was brilliantly written and I inhaled every single word. Patience and Zeke are from complete different walks of life but tragedy and pain does not discriminate for anything or anyone. This beauty of two emotionally broken souls finding each other, unable to resist the pull despite every obstacle; paired with the heart wrenching pain makes for one powerful story that will stay with me for a long while.
“Years of shadows and darkness were erased in that very moment. I held my source of freedom in my arms and I could already feel the heat from her light against my skin.” – Zeke
Jenny: I agree Gitte. This story was so beautifully written. A powerful and engrossing story, it wasn’t always pretty, in fact it was extremely difficult at times. Zeke and Patience, “two broken parts of a whole person” will intoxicate you, they will break you, you will feel their hurt and you will experience their pain, you will rally for them in a way you never thought possible and you will love with them completely.
"There’s a place you land, right before you hit rock bottom, a sort of cushion before the blow…..Zeke was that place for me. He was like a rainbow in my black and white movie, a soothing touch against jagged scars". – Patience
The moments of beauty and tenderness interspersed throughout a story of such cruelty, emotional turmoil and heartache will remain with you for a long time to come.
"Everything bad went away in that moment. She soothed every scar, took away every bad memory. She made me feel better" – Zeke
Arc provided by Author Tabatha Vargo for an honest review
April 25, 2013
Jointly Reviewed on: http://totallybookedblog.com/2013/04/...
Gitte: I actually have tears sat here thinking what to write as my emotions are all over the place thinking about this story. It’s one of those that hits you immediately and you gasp out loud, put your kindle down and say out loud “I did NOT just read that sentence” the few little words that immediately release tears and get your hackles up. You know it’s going to be a hard read and you continue, unable to stop because you want reassurance that everything is going to be okay for our main characters Patience and Zeke. There is so much I want to say but I fear I will ruin this story for everyone who should without doubt pick this book up. What do you think Jenny?
Jenny: I know exactly what you mean Gitte because I am the same.And yes, I totally agree with you, to give anything away would be a travesty. A reader has to experience every moment for the first time just as we did. Sitting here, reliving this book and recalling the heartache I felt reading it, once again reduces me to tears. I just didn’t realise the level to which this story would affect me. I don’t think I was quite prepared for what was to come and I can’t begin to express the nervous, sick feeling I carried in my stomach pretty much the whole way through this book. I did indeed gasp…out loud, on a number of occasions. This powerfully poignant, dark romantic story was so detailed in its aching and so touching in its telling of Zeke and Patience, two damaged yet resilient souls who were able to see something so unique, something so special in each other that they didn’t see in themselves, was one I found compelling and couldn’t put it down until the end.
“She belonged in the light and I was right where I was meant to be – stuck in a dark, dank gymnasium”. – Zeke
“I was a broken porcelain doll, cracked beyond repair and tossed in the back of a closet.” Patience
Gitte: Zeke and Patience are both extremely broken and haunted characters. They have both been severely scarred both on the inside and the outside by the people, who should have loved them the most; who should have protected them. Brought up in complete dysfunctional families where pain is the dish of the day, they are survivors.
Patience despite her appalling “home life” is an extremely beautiful and strong soul. She thinks of everyone else before herself. She haunted me with every word written about her real life behind closed doors and I literally wanted to pick her out of my kindle and put her in my pocket.
Patience trusts Zeke, despite how he acts and his, at times, cruel words. She sees the real Zeke underneath the façade. She trusts him though why, she doesn’t know. People are easy to judge on appearance and adapted behaviour, but this guy despite the tattoos, the rock star persona and everything that comes with that, shows his real sensitive side just as his soul sees and understands hers.
Zeke was such a well written character. He is flawed in some ways, playing the crude arsehole, but mostly he was a hero in my eyes as he was in Patience’s eyes.
“I don’t look at you like you’re nothing. I look at you like you’re everything, because you are, and I fucking hate it.” – Zeke
I loved that he was blunt and didn’t mince his words. He was honest to a fault no matter what reaction his words caused. He was cocky yet underneath all the layers of hurt and layers of self-protection which was caused by the hand he was dealt in life lies a beautiful and honest soul surrounding a heart waiting to be pieced back together.
“He was covered in color and art; he was a standing statue for freedom, and I was drawn to his careless stature.” – Patience
“Damn, snowflake, if you get any hotter you’ll melt.” – Zeke
The journey isn’t smooth for Zeke and Patience by any means or us the readers. They have their own separate emotional baggage which has made them adapt roles in life, unable to trust and unable to believe that they can indeed be loved and love in return.
“What is it about girls and cocky assholes? I’ll never understand it.” – Megan (Umm we totally get it right Jenny!?!)
Jenny: Damn straight Megan! And yes, you’re spot on Gitte. These cocky arseholes definitely do attract us, but let’s face it, we were never going to be able to resist Zeke, and not because he was a drop dead gorgeous musician, with a body to match (which did help of course) but because we were able to see the beauty in the soul that lay underneath all the outward bravado from this man who had been given more than his fair share of life’s hard knocks and he broke my heart. This tattooed, honest to a fault, pierced, tough, hard living man saw no future, he felt such hopelessness at the hand he’d been dealt that he played out his life accordingly, silently wishing for the day his band, Blow Hole would be discovered and take him away from the hell that was his life, yet resigned to the fact that this was his life. This was all it would ever be. He’d built walls that he wouldn’t allow to be penetrated …that was until he met Patience. In Patience he saw something different. Something pure, something untainted and a beauty he wouldn’t sully with his world.
“Her kisses were tiny miracles” - Zeke
“Don’t ever be scared with me. I’d never do anything to hurt you and I’d destroy anyone who tried.” Zeke
Patience…Oh Patience. This girl took my heart and shredded it. My aching for her was felt deep down. I just wanted to pick her up and take her away from everything. I wanted to make it all okay for her. Sad, lonely, perfectly imperfect Patience suffering and living her own tragic and sorry existence whilst feeling apathy at a life which has let her down, yet showing a loyalty and selflessness that will tear at your heartstrings. The opening chapters were extremely hard to read and this strong, determined yet vulnerable and damaged girl had me completely transfixed. Zeke and Patience….together they make sense. They will captivate you.
Do you like playing that song?” I asked casually as I handed him the guitar
“Not really”
“Then why were you?”
“It reminds me of you”
Gitte: I thought this story was brilliantly written and I inhaled every single word. Patience and Zeke are from complete different walks of life but tragedy and pain does not discriminate for anything or anyone. This beauty of two emotionally broken souls finding each other, unable to resist the pull despite every obstacle; paired with the heart wrenching pain makes for one powerful story that will stay with me for a long while.
“Years of shadows and darkness were erased in that very moment. I held my source of freedom in my arms and I could already feel the heat from her light against my skin.” – Zeke
Jenny: I agree Gitte. This story was so beautifully written. A powerful and engrossing story, it wasn’t always pretty, in fact it was extremely difficult at times. Zeke and Patience, “two broken parts of a whole person” will intoxicate you, they will break you, you will feel their hurt and you will experience their pain, you will rally for them in a way you never thought possible and you will love with them completely.
There’s a place you land, right before you hit rock bottom, a sort of cushion before the blow…Zeke was that place for me. He was like a rainbow in my black and white movie, a soothing touch against jagged scars. – Patience
The moments of beauty and tenderness interspersed throughout a story of such cruelty, emotional turmoil and heartache will remain with you for a long time to come.
"Everything bad went away in that moment. She soothed every scar, took away every bad memory. She made me feel better." – Zeke
Gitte: 4.5 Heart-breaking Beautiful Stars
Jenny: 4.5 Gut wrenching stars
Arc provided by Author Tabatha Vargo for an honest review
Gitte: I actually have tears sat here thinking what to write as my emotions are all over the place thinking about this story. It’s one of those that hits you immediately and you gasp out loud, put your kindle down and say out loud “I did NOT just read that sentence” the few little words that immediately release tears and get your hackles up. You know it’s going to be a hard read and you continue, unable to stop because you want reassurance that everything is going to be okay for our main characters Patience and Zeke. There is so much I want to say but I fear I will ruin this story for everyone who should without doubt pick this book up. What do you think Jenny?
Jenny: I know exactly what you mean Gitte because I am the same.And yes, I totally agree with you, to give anything away would be a travesty. A reader has to experience every moment for the first time just as we did. Sitting here, reliving this book and recalling the heartache I felt reading it, once again reduces me to tears. I just didn’t realise the level to which this story would affect me. I don’t think I was quite prepared for what was to come and I can’t begin to express the nervous, sick feeling I carried in my stomach pretty much the whole way through this book. I did indeed gasp…out loud, on a number of occasions. This powerfully poignant, dark romantic story was so detailed in its aching and so touching in its telling of Zeke and Patience, two damaged yet resilient souls who were able to see something so unique, something so special in each other that they didn’t see in themselves, was one I found compelling and couldn’t put it down until the end.
“She belonged in the light and I was right where I was meant to be – stuck in a dark, dank gymnasium”. – Zeke
“I was a broken porcelain doll, cracked beyond repair and tossed in the back of a closet.” Patience
Gitte: Zeke and Patience are both extremely broken and haunted characters. They have both been severely scarred both on the inside and the outside by the people, who should have loved them the most; who should have protected them. Brought up in complete dysfunctional families where pain is the dish of the day, they are survivors.
Patience despite her appalling “home life” is an extremely beautiful and strong soul. She thinks of everyone else before herself. She haunted me with every word written about her real life behind closed doors and I literally wanted to pick her out of my kindle and put her in my pocket.
Patience trusts Zeke, despite how he acts and his, at times, cruel words. She sees the real Zeke underneath the façade. She trusts him though why, she doesn’t know. People are easy to judge on appearance and adapted behaviour, but this guy despite the tattoos, the rock star persona and everything that comes with that, shows his real sensitive side just as his soul sees and understands hers.
Zeke was such a well written character. He is flawed in some ways, playing the crude arsehole, but mostly he was a hero in my eyes as he was in Patience’s eyes.
“I don’t look at you like you’re nothing. I look at you like you’re everything, because you are, and I fucking hate it.” – Zeke
I loved that he was blunt and didn’t mince his words. He was honest to a fault no matter what reaction his words caused. He was cocky yet underneath all the layers of hurt and layers of self-protection which was caused by the hand he was dealt in life lies a beautiful and honest soul surrounding a heart waiting to be pieced back together.
“He was covered in color and art; he was a standing statue for freedom, and I was drawn to his careless stature.” – Patience
“Damn, snowflake, if you get any hotter you’ll melt.” – Zeke
The journey isn’t smooth for Zeke and Patience by any means or us the readers. They have their own separate emotional baggage which has made them adapt roles in life, unable to trust and unable to believe that they can indeed be loved and love in return.
“What is it about girls and cocky assholes? I’ll never understand it.” – Megan (Umm we totally get it right Jenny!?!)
Jenny: Damn straight Megan! And yes, you’re spot on Gitte. These cocky arseholes definitely do attract us, but let’s face it, we were never going to be able to resist Zeke, and not because he was a drop dead gorgeous musician, with a body to match (which did help of course) but because we were able to see the beauty in the soul that lay underneath all the outward bravado from this man who had been given more than his fair share of life’s hard knocks and he broke my heart. This tattooed, honest to a fault, pierced, tough, hard living man saw no future, he felt such hopelessness at the hand he’d been dealt that he played out his life accordingly, silently wishing for the day his band, Blow Hole would be discovered and take him away from the hell that was his life, yet resigned to the fact that this was his life. This was all it would ever be. He’d built walls that he wouldn’t allow to be penetrated …that was until he met Patience. In Patience he saw something different. Something pure, something untainted and a beauty he wouldn’t sully with his world.
“Her kisses were tiny miracles” - Zeke
“Don’t ever be scared with me. I’d never do anything to hurt you and I’d destroy anyone who tried.” Zeke
Patience…Oh Patience. This girl took my heart and shredded it. My aching for her was felt deep down. I just wanted to pick her up and take her away from everything. I wanted to make it all okay for her. Sad, lonely, perfectly imperfect Patience suffering and living her own tragic and sorry existence whilst feeling apathy at a life which has let her down, yet showing a loyalty and selflessness that will tear at your heartstrings. The opening chapters were extremely hard to read and this strong, determined yet vulnerable and damaged girl had me completely transfixed. Zeke and Patience….together they make sense. They will captivate you.
Do you like playing that song?” I asked casually as I handed him the guitar
“Not really”
“Then why were you?”
“It reminds me of you”
Gitte: I thought this story was brilliantly written and I inhaled every single word. Patience and Zeke are from complete different walks of life but tragedy and pain does not discriminate for anything or anyone. This beauty of two emotionally broken souls finding each other, unable to resist the pull despite every obstacle; paired with the heart wrenching pain makes for one powerful story that will stay with me for a long while.
“Years of shadows and darkness were erased in that very moment. I held my source of freedom in my arms and I could already feel the heat from her light against my skin.” – Zeke
Jenny: I agree Gitte. This story was so beautifully written. A powerful and engrossing story, it wasn’t always pretty, in fact it was extremely difficult at times. Zeke and Patience, “two broken parts of a whole person” will intoxicate you, they will break you, you will feel their hurt and you will experience their pain, you will rally for them in a way you never thought possible and you will love with them completely.
There’s a place you land, right before you hit rock bottom, a sort of cushion before the blow…Zeke was that place for me. He was like a rainbow in my black and white movie, a soothing touch against jagged scars. – Patience
The moments of beauty and tenderness interspersed throughout a story of such cruelty, emotional turmoil and heartache will remain with you for a long time to come.
"Everything bad went away in that moment. She soothed every scar, took away every bad memory. She made me feel better." – Zeke
Gitte: 4.5 Heart-breaking Beautiful Stars
Jenny: 4.5 Gut wrenching stars
Arc provided by Author Tabatha Vargo for an honest review
April 27, 2013
3 ½ Snowflake Stars
Playing Patience is the story of two broken teens. Patience and Zeeke are from different sides of the tracks but both are living in abusive homes and find comfort in each other. Both characters fight feelings of being underserving, unlovable and plan out broken.
”There’s a place you land, right before you hit rock bottom, a sort of cushion before the blow…Zeke was that place for me. He was like a rainbow in my black and white movie, a soothing touch against jagged scars.” –~Patience
I found that this book back-tracked an awful lot. Once your read a scene the next chapter was in the other’s pov and half the time you were redoing the scene you just finished. For me it took away from the fluency of the story.
Both main characters are pretty hurtful towards one another sacrificing their own happiness for the others. However, when they did get it right, it was perfect.
”Don’t pretend to understand my feelings and emotions. Half the time I don’t have any anyway, but when it comes to you, they’re limitless, which is more dangerous. I don’t look at you like you’re nothing. I look at you like you’re everything, because you are, and I fucking hate it.”~ Zeeke
I’m still wondering... If Zeeke ever found out about Patience paying the fine? If he finished community service with the boy’s club? (that part kinda fell to the wayside) and I would have loved for him to go to her school and see her play soccer. I would have like some deep meaningful conversations between Zeeke and Patience. That being said, this was a good read that doesn’t end with a cliffhanger but wraps up quickly with an hea.
April 8, 2013
I may not give a FULL review...but I am going to go ahead and tell you my initial thoughts...
First...
HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!! This book has ROCKED my world... (pun intended)
Needless to say, I freakin LOVED it...I was captured the minute I read the first page...
Tabatha Vargo knows how to write a story that twists my insides in to all kind of knots and keeps them like that ALL THE WAY TIL THE END!!! She is a pure GENIUS!! She mesmerizes me with how deep you fall in to her stories and that once you come to that final page...your heart sinks because it is over.
And Playing Patience is no different...in fact, I would say that it is my favorite of her works so far. And believe me, that is saying A LOT!! I love all that Tabatha Vargo has done, but she completely enraptured me with this one...
Within these pages, Tabatha broaches some tough subjects and then, Patience and Zeke, they are such dynamic, well developed, piercing, screwed up, hopeful characters...I was captivated by them. I felt their pain, their joy, their fear, and most of all you feel their hope...*sighs* I sit here now and I am still reeling from what I have read...
I have read some great books this year...Playing Patience is a top read...in fact..forget about just this year....It falls in to my Top 10 reads period!!
I don't want to go any further b/c I don't want to spoil anything. It is a book that you will need to get...it is a book that you will need to experience...it is a book that you will not be able to put down...
First...
HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!! This book has ROCKED my world... (pun intended)
Needless to say, I freakin LOVED it...I was captured the minute I read the first page...
Tabatha Vargo knows how to write a story that twists my insides in to all kind of knots and keeps them like that ALL THE WAY TIL THE END!!! She is a pure GENIUS!! She mesmerizes me with how deep you fall in to her stories and that once you come to that final page...your heart sinks because it is over.
And Playing Patience is no different...in fact, I would say that it is my favorite of her works so far. And believe me, that is saying A LOT!! I love all that Tabatha Vargo has done, but she completely enraptured me with this one...
Within these pages, Tabatha broaches some tough subjects and then, Patience and Zeke, they are such dynamic, well developed, piercing, screwed up, hopeful characters...I was captivated by them. I felt their pain, their joy, their fear, and most of all you feel their hope...*sighs* I sit here now and I am still reeling from what I have read...
I have read some great books this year...Playing Patience is a top read...in fact..forget about just this year....It falls in to my Top 10 reads period!!
I don't want to go any further b/c I don't want to spoil anything. It is a book that you will need to get...it is a book that you will need to experience...it is a book that you will not be able to put down...
May 8, 2013
PLAYING PATIENCE is the age old story of the "good girl" and the "bad boy" who find a connection and blossom into having an intense relationship. The obstacles come from their emotions and also from the people around them. Zeke is a "bad boy" with tattoos and piercings who plays in a band, and Patience is the sweet daughter of the governor. In this book, they come up against the families and themselves and who their respective environments turned them into.
PLAYING PATIENCE is also a complete and utter trainwreck from the first chapter.
Zeke is a douchebag misogynist would-be rapist* who collects bruises from his alcoholic father while playing for the accurately-named band BLOW HOLE. The band's name is just the start of the recurring issue with incredibly outdated, frequently awkward lingo and dialogue. At least once, Zeke refers to his supplier as "the local dope dealer," which, I don't know about you, but for me, totally conjures the image of Red Forman crossing his arms and yelling "THAT KID'S ON DOPE." Zeke's mother died from cancer before the start of the book, and we never really learn what his relationship with her was like -- though given the degree to which Zeke loathes women (excuse me, "females"), it's assumed she was also not a good person.
*A direct quote from the book: "Please. That chick’s as straight as they come. I’d have to drug her, too, to get her to put out.”
Patience is the stereotypical, quiet, wooden girl from a slightly more affluent family. Her father is the governor, although we don't actually ever see this have an impact on her life in any way other than it being a fact about the character. She has little to no personality, and what's there is incredibly peculiar. She's intended to be the smart one of the two, but everything she says and does comes off as completely stupid -- and not in an endearing teenager way. In an "are you from this century?" way.
See, Patience is roofied during a night out. That's how her and Zeke meet. He's in the bathroom she's stumbled into, he helps her by bringing her to get medical attention. And then he gets arrested for drug possession because for some reason the police had a reason to search his car (!?!?!?!?). Except instead of taking time to get her stuff together after being drugged, Patience... returns to the same bar where she was roofied within days.
Now, I'm not saying this couldn't happen. But with what we know about Patience, it makes absolutely no sense. Patience's father rapes her frequently. We know this from early on, and it's one of the big plots in the book. While it does inform Patience's harsh reactions to Zeke's advances, it is really the catalyst for the poor, sexually abused girl to be rescued by the flawed hero. When Patience comes into her own, it's only to turn around and pine for her lover and become nothing without her. She's not a strong character, she's impossibly weak and malleable -- and while it would be understandable to see this through the eyes of the misogynist Zeke, we're actually seeing it through her own eyes. Patience does not change in the book. Her character does not grow.
This is not a love story. If anything, this is amped-up lust, possibly limerance. These characters believe they are in love because they were thrown together by circumstance, but we see no reason other than action to understand where the supposed love comes from. It's not insta-love, it's absolutely nothing. They rely on each other with desperation -- and I think the book would have been a much stronger success if it wasn't portrayed as love and connection, but rather two people in desperate need of counseling grasping at the first thing they can touch.
Patience escapes the oppressive, abusive reign of her father and runs straight into the arms of someone who will in all likelihood also abuse her.
Look, I'm going to be frank. Zeke is a douche. When Patience won't sleep with him (for reasons we understand and for reasons Zeke is supposed to understand, but doesn't empathize with?), he turns around and sleeps with another girl, and says “A man has needs, snowflake.”
whoa man, that's so romantic and deep and special. A man who doesn't care about the girl he's supposed to be in love with and just wants some booty. Charming.
wait no, excuse me
he just wants to DIP. HIS. STICK.
Okay, so characters need to be real and sometimes the raw ones are the most compelling, right? But tell me, what's compelling about a man who talks about raping women, who calls them "females" and sluts, who looks at them as nothing but sexual objects? Characters, even the unlikeable ones, need something to make us root for them. We need to be on their side in order for the story to work. But there's never a reason for us to root for Zeke. He doesn't grow as a character either -- he learns to care about Patience, or so we're meant to think, but we don't actually see him doing anything about it.
When presented with gratingly unfavorable characters and a run-down, trampled plot that's been done more times than the macarena was in the 90s, we can hope the writing is there to guide is through and make everything seem a little less frustrating.
Except PLAYING PATIENCE wasn't edited. If it was, and I was the author, I'd be firing that editor and finding someone new. The story is full of typos and grammatical errors (six alone in the first chapter, and I'm not even a Grammar Person), filtering, repetition, passive sentences, I, I, I, I, I, and worst of all, confusing timelines. For the most part, Zeke and Patience have the same voice with different words. And since it's broken up into perspective chapters, we get the "treat" of going back and reading the same scene from the other perspective. Instead of picking up fluidly, it's all over the place and you have no idea where the next chapter is going to start.
Awkward phrases:
Empty black dots surrounded by a sea of blue swam inside her eye sockets
I’d known just by looking at her that she didn’t belong on my side of town (seriously?)
“Shit,” I said out loud to myself.
Her impassiveness pissed me off.
Her eyes crashed into mine.
This book was not ready to be published. It reads like a first draft. Had I never read the author's works before, it would be the last time. There are only so many times you can read about things crashing, banging, and assaulting someone's senses.
PLAYING PATIENCE is also a complete and utter trainwreck from the first chapter.
Zeke is a douchebag misogynist would-be rapist* who collects bruises from his alcoholic father while playing for the accurately-named band BLOW HOLE. The band's name is just the start of the recurring issue with incredibly outdated, frequently awkward lingo and dialogue. At least once, Zeke refers to his supplier as "the local dope dealer," which, I don't know about you, but for me, totally conjures the image of Red Forman crossing his arms and yelling "THAT KID'S ON DOPE." Zeke's mother died from cancer before the start of the book, and we never really learn what his relationship with her was like -- though given the degree to which Zeke loathes women (excuse me, "females"), it's assumed she was also not a good person.
*A direct quote from the book: "Please. That chick’s as straight as they come. I’d have to drug her, too, to get her to put out.”
Patience is the stereotypical, quiet, wooden girl from a slightly more affluent family. Her father is the governor, although we don't actually ever see this have an impact on her life in any way other than it being a fact about the character. She has little to no personality, and what's there is incredibly peculiar. She's intended to be the smart one of the two, but everything she says and does comes off as completely stupid -- and not in an endearing teenager way. In an "are you from this century?" way.
See, Patience is roofied during a night out. That's how her and Zeke meet. He's in the bathroom she's stumbled into, he helps her by bringing her to get medical attention. And then he gets arrested for drug possession because for some reason the police had a reason to search his car (!?!?!?!?). Except instead of taking time to get her stuff together after being drugged, Patience... returns to the same bar where she was roofied within days.
Now, I'm not saying this couldn't happen. But with what we know about Patience, it makes absolutely no sense. Patience's father rapes her frequently. We know this from early on, and it's one of the big plots in the book. While it does inform Patience's harsh reactions to Zeke's advances, it is really the catalyst for the poor, sexually abused girl to be rescued by the flawed hero. When Patience comes into her own, it's only to turn around and pine for her lover and become nothing without her. She's not a strong character, she's impossibly weak and malleable -- and while it would be understandable to see this through the eyes of the misogynist Zeke, we're actually seeing it through her own eyes. Patience does not change in the book. Her character does not grow.
This is not a love story. If anything, this is amped-up lust, possibly limerance. These characters believe they are in love because they were thrown together by circumstance, but we see no reason other than action to understand where the supposed love comes from. It's not insta-love, it's absolutely nothing. They rely on each other with desperation -- and I think the book would have been a much stronger success if it wasn't portrayed as love and connection, but rather two people in desperate need of counseling grasping at the first thing they can touch.
Patience escapes the oppressive, abusive reign of her father and runs straight into the arms of someone who will in all likelihood also abuse her.
Look, I'm going to be frank. Zeke is a douche. When Patience won't sleep with him (for reasons we understand and for reasons Zeke is supposed to understand, but doesn't empathize with?), he turns around and sleeps with another girl, and says “A man has needs, snowflake.”
whoa man, that's so romantic and deep and special. A man who doesn't care about the girl he's supposed to be in love with and just wants some booty. Charming.
wait no, excuse me
he just wants to DIP. HIS. STICK.
Okay, so characters need to be real and sometimes the raw ones are the most compelling, right? But tell me, what's compelling about a man who talks about raping women, who calls them "females" and sluts, who looks at them as nothing but sexual objects? Characters, even the unlikeable ones, need something to make us root for them. We need to be on their side in order for the story to work. But there's never a reason for us to root for Zeke. He doesn't grow as a character either -- he learns to care about Patience, or so we're meant to think, but we don't actually see him doing anything about it.
When presented with gratingly unfavorable characters and a run-down, trampled plot that's been done more times than the macarena was in the 90s, we can hope the writing is there to guide is through and make everything seem a little less frustrating.
Except PLAYING PATIENCE wasn't edited. If it was, and I was the author, I'd be firing that editor and finding someone new. The story is full of typos and grammatical errors (six alone in the first chapter, and I'm not even a Grammar Person), filtering, repetition, passive sentences, I, I, I, I, I, and worst of all, confusing timelines. For the most part, Zeke and Patience have the same voice with different words. And since it's broken up into perspective chapters, we get the "treat" of going back and reading the same scene from the other perspective. Instead of picking up fluidly, it's all over the place and you have no idea where the next chapter is going to start.
Awkward phrases:
Empty black dots surrounded by a sea of blue swam inside her eye sockets
I’d known just by looking at her that she didn’t belong on my side of town (seriously?)
“Shit,” I said out loud to myself.
Her impassiveness pissed me off.
Her eyes crashed into mine.
This book was not ready to be published. It reads like a first draft. Had I never read the author's works before, it would be the last time. There are only so many times you can read about things crashing, banging, and assaulting someone's senses.
May 22, 2013
What a story! Dark, painful and beautiful.This one kept me up until about 4am.
It has been days since I have finished Patience and Zeke’s, and my emotions are still all over the place. There are parts of this book that had me gasping for air, wide eyed in shock, and desperately wishing I could unread those sentences. I felt ripped apart, angry and devastated, but I could not stop reading, I had to know that Patience and Zeke were going to be okay. This is a very difficult read, at times I wanted to reach through my kindle and intervene, to comfort, to listen, to murder – believe me, you will understand. Patience and Zeke are both very tortured characters, she is the governor’s daughter suffering in silence behind a fake smile, and he is the bad boy from the wrong side of town. Once their paths cross, they find themselves constantly thrown together.
Their relationship is far from easy, the odds stacked against them in more ways than one. The self hate and brokenness these two feel broke my heart.
These two characters will always hold a special place in my heart. I definitely recommend this read.
“You want to know what I am? I am shattered, that’s what I am. There are tiny pieces of patience scattered all over.”
“I’d like a piece of Patience.”
It has been days since I have finished Patience and Zeke’s, and my emotions are still all over the place. There are parts of this book that had me gasping for air, wide eyed in shock, and desperately wishing I could unread those sentences. I felt ripped apart, angry and devastated, but I could not stop reading, I had to know that Patience and Zeke were going to be okay. This is a very difficult read, at times I wanted to reach through my kindle and intervene, to comfort, to listen, to murder – believe me, you will understand. Patience and Zeke are both very tortured characters, she is the governor’s daughter suffering in silence behind a fake smile, and he is the bad boy from the wrong side of town. Once their paths cross, they find themselves constantly thrown together.
“I was starting to think she was a gift from the devil himself. She was a pretty box of temptation wrapped in a forcefield of police officers waiting to arrest me, or a box of sweets with a big ass invisible mousetrap sitting on the cover.”
Their relationship is far from easy, the odds stacked against them in more ways than one. The self hate and brokenness these two feel broke my heart.
“I’d die before I trapped her and made her a prisoner of my world. Patience would give me one hundred percent of herself and I knew she’d run full force into hell without a thought for consequences. I knew this because I wanted to do the same when it came to her, but one of us had to be smart.
These two characters will always hold a special place in my heart. I definitely recommend this read.
“The broken parts of me were on the mend and his soul was the glue that would hold them all together.”
November 17, 2013
4.5 :)
Esta es una historia que quizás no es la más original. Las primeras páginas me hicieron dudar de continuarlo, pero a la vez, me invitaron a seguir adelante.
Pero definitivamente Playing Patience tiene el ritmo perfecto que me gusta. No amor-instantáneo. No chico malo-inmediatamente bueno. Nada If You Stay-loco.
Patience es una chica abusada sexualment Y aunque nunca he conocido ninguna persona cercana que haya pasado por esta terrible situación, se por testimonios que leído y visto en t.v. que realmente muchas de estas personas se quedan en silencio aceptando este destino sobre todo cuando pasa desde temprana edad y más cuando es algún familiar. Eso me llevó a aceptar la trama principal de este libro.
Y Zeke es un chico para nada perfecto con sus propios problemas, sus propios abusos. Y tambien carga con ellos. Amé que no se convirtiera en un romanticón idiota e instantaneamente bueno-a-primera-vista.
De algún modo la forma en como estan escritos los personajes nunca me hizo sentir incomóda o poco creibles.
Estaba rezando durante todo el libro para que Tabatha Vargo no apresurara nada o hiciera alguna cosa absurda que me hiciera poner los ojos en blanco. Y aunque hubo momentos que llamo "guilty pleasure" definitivamente creo que tiene las cantidades de drama, romance y sexo perfecto, por lo menos para mí.
Siempre lo digo: puedo amar un cliché, pero tienes que saber como escribirlo. Tabatha nailed it!
Su historia fue intensa, fue graciosa, fue angustiosa.
Dosis perfectas.
Me mata mucho que un libro así no sea más famoso que otros que estan terriblemente narrados, como el que mencioné antes. Tengo que darle más mérito por el hecho de haberme hecho leerlo en solo un día!
Esta es una historia que quizás no es la más original. Las primeras páginas me hicieron dudar de continuarlo, pero a la vez, me invitaron a seguir adelante.
Pero definitivamente Playing Patience tiene el ritmo perfecto que me gusta. No amor-instantáneo. No chico malo-inmediatamente bueno. Nada If You Stay-loco.
Patience es una chica abusada sexualment Y aunque nunca he conocido ninguna persona cercana que haya pasado por esta terrible situación, se por testimonios que leído y visto en t.v. que realmente muchas de estas personas se quedan en silencio aceptando este destino sobre todo cuando pasa desde temprana edad y más cuando es algún familiar. Eso me llevó a aceptar la trama principal de este libro.
Y Zeke es un chico para nada perfecto con sus propios problemas, sus propios abusos. Y tambien carga con ellos. Amé que no se convirtiera en un romanticón idiota e instantaneamente bueno-a-primera-vista.
De algún modo la forma en como estan escritos los personajes nunca me hizo sentir incomóda o poco creibles.
Estaba rezando durante todo el libro para que Tabatha Vargo no apresurara nada o hiciera alguna cosa absurda que me hiciera poner los ojos en blanco. Y aunque hubo momentos que llamo "guilty pleasure" definitivamente creo que tiene las cantidades de drama, romance y sexo perfecto, por lo menos para mí.
Siempre lo digo: puedo amar un cliché, pero tienes que saber como escribirlo. Tabatha nailed it!
Su historia fue intensa, fue graciosa, fue angustiosa.
Dosis perfectas.
Me mata mucho que un libro así no sea más famoso que otros que estan terriblemente narrados, como el que mencioné antes. Tengo que darle más mérito por el hecho de haberme hecho leerlo en solo un día!
July 20, 2014
Zeke and Patience were both two shattered souls, both broken and unsure if they could ever be fixed or made whole.
But that all changes when they find the light they need to guide them through their own darkness.
Zeke was the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Tattoos, piercings, drugs and lots of one night stands; but there was a part of him that was good. It was a part that had been buried deep inside after years of abuse at the hands of his father. He had his band, his friends - they were his family. And he had his guitar.
Patience seemed like your typical privileged teenager. She played sports, she studied hard and she was not the type of girl that Zeke ever thought he would see in a place like the Pit. But Patience had her own secrets that she kept hidden. Painful truths that had shattered her world for the last 10 years. When she finds herself on the floor of a bathroom in a club a pair of blue eyes finds her and saves her life; in more ways than one.
Although Zeke was not willing to admit his draw to his snowflake, he used his bad attitude and rude behavior to push her away. She was too good for a guy like him. She deserved more than a guy that could offer her nothing. But he wanted her and she had slipped under his skin. And she saw him.
Everything about him was dark; yet there was a tiny light inside of him that flashed on occasionally, and as sad as it sounded, I was willing to sit in the darkness and wait for that brief bright moment.
Patience was not the girl that found men attractive, her body reacted to them in disgust. She was not the girl that wanted to be held or touched or kissed. She was too broken to know what a lover's touch would ever feel like. What it would be like to know how to feel protected and adored without the fear. But when Zeke touched her, her body reacted differently. It was like he healed her with each caress.
But this was not an easy road full of two souls finding each other and just simply fixing one another. This was two people that fell in love and opened their hurt up to each other - showed one another all the damaged parts and allowed one another to collect those pieces and try to make them fit back together. There was still hope.
But as secrets come out it shatters their world and finding a way back to one another isn't easy.
Now be prepared for an intense subject matter. I first saw this cover a while back and after a few recommendations dove in without even reading the damn summary. I should have learned my lesson the last time I did that and read a story that I expected to be light and heartwarming that turned out to be an emotional roller coaster. But even with the dark themes in this book - the moments when they are together (and he is not being a complete asshole) make you forget that there is pain waiting for both of them.
Zeke and his friends are jerks, no doubt - but although there were some (okay a lot) of asshole moments I was clear to see that Zeke's behavior was a shield. Maybe he only felt that way towards Patience, or maybe he treated girls like crap because he didn't want anyone close. But since I have seen a few Zeke-bashing reviews, I have to say that sometimes when a girl doesn't give herself the respect she deserves, you can't expect a guy to give it to her. So if he treated the girls like holes...it's kind of because they presented themselves as holes.
Now, back to this book. It was well written and my only issue was how quickly it tied up at the end. I wanted a little bit more than just the quick and easy ending. But overall I loved this story and loved both of them. The other characters were not really focused on or given much in the way of back story but it didn't matter - they were not the focus of this book. This is a story that has some intense moments and although the author gives us just enough to give us an idea of the hurt, I was glad that it pulled away just in time.
Casting - my vision of Zeke & his snowflake
Read
May 10, 2013DNF @ 29%
I'm sorry to quit so early.
I just couldn't get into the author's writing style.
I'm sorry to quit so early.
I just couldn't get into the author's writing style.
April 27, 2013
Loved, Loved, Loved this book!!
It ticked everything I love in a book, the sexy/rocker bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, the good girl with everything at her feet..
The story has so much depth to it, so many conflicting emotions run through you as you read this, it's not just a love story and you can't help being drawn to the two characters..
This could've gone such a different way to what road the author took with the subject matter in this book, beautifully written and definitely a must read..
It ticked everything I love in a book, the sexy/rocker bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, the good girl with everything at her feet..
The story has so much depth to it, so many conflicting emotions run through you as you read this, it's not just a love story and you can't help being drawn to the two characters..
This could've gone such a different way to what road the author took with the subject matter in this book, beautifully written and definitely a must read..
December 18, 2017
«— Nunca conocerás lo más profundo de mi ser, así que no intentes explorar tan hondo. Te perderás y no sobrevivirás. No finjas entender mis sentimientos y emociones. La mitad del tiempo no los tengo, de todas maneras, pero cuando se trata de ti, son ilimitados, lo cual es más peligroso. No te miro como si fueras nada. Te miro como si lo fueras todo, porque lo eres, y jodidamente odio eso.»
Estoy entre las 3,5 y 4⭐️
La historia es... jodida, por no decir menos. Tenemos a Patience, una chica que es hija del gobernador, una chica rica y con la vida perfecta. Eso es lo que todo el mundo cree pero en realidad la vida de Patience de puertas para adentro es una verdadera pesadilla...
Una noche su amiga Megan la invita a ir a un concierto a El Foso, a ver a una banda de chicos llamada Blow Hole que poco a poco parecen ir haciéndose famosos. Es ahí donde Patience es drogada y posteriormente ayudada por Zeke.
Zeke es un chico malo en toda su gloria. Vive en un parque de casas rodantes, con un padre alcoholico que le da palizas a todas horas. La vida de Zeke es lo que ves, una pesadilla que nadie conoce pero que la mayoría imagina.
Ambos protagonistas tienen sus demonios en común y será lo que los atraiga el uno hacia el otro.
He sufrido como nunca leyendo este libro. Tanto Zeke como Patience han tenido las vidas más horribles del mundo y es que me ha dolido hasta el estómago. Iba muy bien pero entonces llegando al final la cosa se puso demasiado rápida. Las cosas se resolvieron a la velocidad de la luz y ese final y ese epílogo han sido de lo más cutres. Es por eso que en vez de 5 estrellas lleva esta nota.
Aún así, recomiendo la historia, es un amor difícil pero precioso. Me encantan tanto Zeke como Patience, juntos son perfectos ❤️
Estoy entre las 3,5 y 4⭐️
La historia es... jodida, por no decir menos. Tenemos a Patience, una chica que es hija del gobernador, una chica rica y con la vida perfecta. Eso es lo que todo el mundo cree pero en realidad la vida de Patience de puertas para adentro es una verdadera pesadilla...
Una noche su amiga Megan la invita a ir a un concierto a El Foso, a ver a una banda de chicos llamada Blow Hole que poco a poco parecen ir haciéndose famosos. Es ahí donde Patience es drogada y posteriormente ayudada por Zeke.
Zeke es un chico malo en toda su gloria. Vive en un parque de casas rodantes, con un padre alcoholico que le da palizas a todas horas. La vida de Zeke es lo que ves, una pesadilla que nadie conoce pero que la mayoría imagina.
Ambos protagonistas tienen sus demonios en común y será lo que los atraiga el uno hacia el otro.
He sufrido como nunca leyendo este libro. Tanto Zeke como Patience han tenido las vidas más horribles del mundo y es que me ha dolido hasta el estómago. Iba muy bien pero entonces llegando al final la cosa se puso demasiado rápida. Las cosas se resolvieron a la velocidad de la luz y ese final y ese epílogo han sido de lo más cutres. Es por eso que en vez de 5 estrellas lleva esta nota.
Aún así, recomiendo la historia, es un amor difícil pero precioso. Me encantan tanto Zeke como Patience, juntos son perfectos ❤️
April 25, 2013
Rating - 4.5
Cover - 4.5 - sexy and I love the red contrast with the B&W photo
Character Development - 4.5
Steam Factor - 3.5 - HOT sexual buildup, sexy scenes toward end
Favorite Character - Zeke of course
Audience - It skirts the line of YA/NA so 17+
Ending - HEA & no cliffhangers YAY!!
This book was a really great read. It was full of sadness, heartache, tension, passion, & growth. On the surface you have the stereotypical rich good girl and sexy bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. But underneath you have two people more alike than they realize through secrets they keep buried within.
Zeke is a cocky, asshatish, partyboy rocker. He goes to school enough to slide by, practices with his band and then parties until he can't stand up. He doesn't plan to change because he thinks that is all he is made of. Patience is sweet, strong, and fiercely loyal but broken soccer star. She goes to school and then wears her self out with sports to keep her mind off her problems.
As soon as the two meet you start seeing the subtle changes in both of them. I loved seeing both of them grow and change during the book. Even though they didn't know it they helped each other overcome their past so they could move on to the future and start healing.
I don't want to say much more and give anything away. Just trust me when I say it was a great book and that you need to read it..lol And the best part about it is it had an HEA!! The only thing I could complain about is I would have liked a longer epilogue but that is it.
Cover - 4.5 - sexy and I love the red contrast with the B&W photo
Character Development - 4.5
Steam Factor - 3.5 - HOT sexual buildup, sexy scenes toward end
Favorite Character - Zeke of course
Audience - It skirts the line of YA/NA so 17+
Ending - HEA & no cliffhangers YAY!!
This book was a really great read. It was full of sadness, heartache, tension, passion, & growth. On the surface you have the stereotypical rich good girl and sexy bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. But underneath you have two people more alike than they realize through secrets they keep buried within.
Zeke is a cocky, asshatish, partyboy rocker. He goes to school enough to slide by, practices with his band and then parties until he can't stand up. He doesn't plan to change because he thinks that is all he is made of. Patience is sweet, strong, and fiercely loyal but broken soccer star. She goes to school and then wears her self out with sports to keep her mind off her problems.
As soon as the two meet you start seeing the subtle changes in both of them. I loved seeing both of them grow and change during the book. Even though they didn't know it they helped each other overcome their past so they could move on to the future and start healing.
I don't want to say much more and give anything away. Just trust me when I say it was a great book and that you need to read it..lol And the best part about it is it had an HEA!! The only thing I could complain about is I would have liked a longer epilogue but that is it.
May 12, 2013
Disappointing. The story was engaging and the main characters were likeable. However, there was too much story. Without giving away spoilers every trope that the NA category has was thrown in. There was just too much that my brain overloaded. I couldn't connect with any of the characters because their issues were too deep to really explore in just one book. I did finish it because it engaged me enough that I wanted to see what happened. Unfortunately the ending was rushed and predictable. With all that said I will be giving other books by this author a chance. I liked the general setup it just needed to be toned down a bit.
April 19, 2013
efore I start my review I want to tell you a story. Tabatha and I meet each other through Facebook. She was a fantastic person, very funny and we hit off right away. I was so excited when she asked me to beta read her first book Wicked Fate. When I finished that book I told Tabatha (and this is true you can ask her) she would be a household name. She laughed at the statement, but I totally believed it in my heart. Then she told me about On Plus Side and I flipped with excitement. I could not wait to read it. When I did get my hands on it Tabatha did not disappoint. Again, I told her she was on the verge of being a household name. Then came this book, Playing Patience. Tabatha did not tell me much about this book until she asked me to read the first 10 chapters. So I did and I was losing it. Tears, excitment and love were the emotions I felt. IT WAS ONLY THE FIRST 10 CHAPTERS. When the book was done and Tabatha sent it to me, I did nothing but focused on this book.
When I finished it, I jumped on Facebook and contacted Tabatha. These were my first words to her:
"This is the book that will set you apart from every other author. This is the book that will make you a household name."
That is the truth!
Onto my Review:
Best part of the book: I know that you think I am going to dive in and ooh and aahh over Zeke. Well, you are half right because I love Patience so much too. I have never felt so connected to two characters ever. Zeke is broken, truly broken. He has had a rough life but somehow he has pushed on. Then Patience fell into his life. Oh, Patience! Patience is a character that I physically wanted to grab out of my Kindle and hug and protect her. I love her. I love that she protects her sister and mother. I love that she will, literally, do anything for her family. She does this and along the way she is the one that is hurt.
When Zeke and Patience finally begin hanging together, without being in jail, they realized they needed each other. Their strong, determined and broken personalities made them perfect together. With each chapter, my love for them both grew. I could not get enough of their story.
Not so great about the book: There is not one thing that is wrong with this book. If you read it, you will understand what I mean. This is Tabatha's masterpiece.
When I finished it, I jumped on Facebook and contacted Tabatha. These were my first words to her:
"This is the book that will set you apart from every other author. This is the book that will make you a household name."
That is the truth!
Onto my Review:
Best part of the book: I know that you think I am going to dive in and ooh and aahh over Zeke. Well, you are half right because I love Patience so much too. I have never felt so connected to two characters ever. Zeke is broken, truly broken. He has had a rough life but somehow he has pushed on. Then Patience fell into his life. Oh, Patience! Patience is a character that I physically wanted to grab out of my Kindle and hug and protect her. I love her. I love that she protects her sister and mother. I love that she will, literally, do anything for her family. She does this and along the way she is the one that is hurt.
When Zeke and Patience finally begin hanging together, without being in jail, they realized they needed each other. Their strong, determined and broken personalities made them perfect together. With each chapter, my love for them both grew. I could not get enough of their story.
Not so great about the book: There is not one thing that is wrong with this book. If you read it, you will understand what I mean. This is Tabatha's masterpiece.
May 24, 2013
3.5 stars.
The first 97% of this book was great. Really. I loved Zeke. He was a genuine asshole. Anger problems, intimacy issues, drinking, drugs - you name he, he did it. But he melted for Patience. She brought out the best in him, and he colored her world. I thought the author did a good job painting a realistically picture of abuse. I don't have any first hand knowledge, but the characters actions and reactions seemed reasonable. Neither were perfect, but I loved them both. I loved how their relationship developed. They didn't fast forward, but actually fell in loved. Completely enjoyable.
Now, for the last 3%, I'm going to have to rant some... and sorry, I can't I do it without spoilers
Don't let my irritation at the last part of the story deter you from reading the book. It's a great story. I just wish that the ending had been as great as the rest of the story.
The first 97% of this book was great. Really. I loved Zeke. He was a genuine asshole. Anger problems, intimacy issues, drinking, drugs - you name he, he did it. But he melted for Patience. She brought out the best in him, and he colored her world. I thought the author did a good job painting a realistically picture of abuse. I don't have any first hand knowledge, but the characters actions and reactions seemed reasonable. Neither were perfect, but I loved them both. I loved how their relationship developed. They didn't fast forward, but actually fell in loved. Completely enjoyable.
Now, for the last 3%, I'm going to have to rant some... and sorry, I can't I do it without spoilers
Don't let my irritation at the last part of the story deter you from reading the book. It's a great story. I just wish that the ending had been as great as the rest of the story.
June 20, 2014
This was totally a case of don't judge a book by it's cover.
Amazon.com recommended this book to me based on my past purchases, but I took one look at the cover and was like "meh! Next." But I did read the synopsis before passing on it. It stuck with me. I kept going back to it, and rereading the blurb. Finally I was like ah hell, buy it.
Thank god. This is one of my all time favorite indie author books. I go back and forth a lot on NA books, but I loved this one. I love books with angry, evil moments. Moments that make you feel sick to your stomach. Moments that make you want to cheer and scream and cry, that make your heart race and blood pressure rise. This book has all that and more.
I love that it was well rounded, beginning to end. I did think that Patience had a tendency to make rash, weird decisions - but what female lead in a romance book doesn't. Zeke was a complete dick, but hey, I love that in an alpha male, personally.
I'll be honest, though - as the blurb says, Zeke is a punching bag for his father. I am a little over books that have those - strong, alpha "new adult" males, who allow their dad's to beat them, even when it is clearly stated that said dad is not bigger or stronger or anything. Kinda kills the alpha-ness for me. But Tabatha did it right in this book, and when Zeke gets even, it's beautiful.
Read it. Now. Stop reading this review. What are you doing? Go read this book.
Amazon.com recommended this book to me based on my past purchases, but I took one look at the cover and was like "meh! Next." But I did read the synopsis before passing on it. It stuck with me. I kept going back to it, and rereading the blurb. Finally I was like ah hell, buy it.
Thank god. This is one of my all time favorite indie author books. I go back and forth a lot on NA books, but I loved this one. I love books with angry, evil moments. Moments that make you feel sick to your stomach. Moments that make you want to cheer and scream and cry, that make your heart race and blood pressure rise. This book has all that and more.
I love that it was well rounded, beginning to end. I did think that Patience had a tendency to make rash, weird decisions - but what female lead in a romance book doesn't. Zeke was a complete dick, but hey, I love that in an alpha male, personally.
I'll be honest, though - as the blurb says, Zeke is a punching bag for his father. I am a little over books that have those - strong, alpha "new adult" males, who allow their dad's to beat them, even when it is clearly stated that said dad is not bigger or stronger or anything. Kinda kills the alpha-ness for me. But Tabatha did it right in this book, and when Zeke gets even, it's beautiful.
Read it. Now. Stop reading this review. What are you doing? Go read this book.
January 19, 2020
This book was ok, I didn't love it. Book follows Zeke and Patience, both have suffered greatly from abuse. Trigger warning...P is sexual abused from her father; it is rough, and we have a front row seat to at least two incidents.
Both are in HS, the story is a twist of the "good girl" and boy from wrong side of the tracks. P goes to a private school, and is the daughter of the governor. The abuse adds a level to her character, (not your snooty spoiled usual) Zeke lives in a trailer park with his alcoholic father. He is in a band with his friends, uses drugs (weed), booze and sex to cope. They are both broken and drawn to each other.
The plot was gritty, and had potential ,but I struggled with the characters. I understand the characters are young, but I'm not a big YA fan. I just don't have the patience for immaturity; I do like series similar to Fallen Crest and some bully romance where the kids are in HS, but they act like adults... In this book, they deal with gritty grown up material, but lack the maturity to deal with any importance. The characters take on these deep subjects, then shallow them with their childish reactions. The endless cycle of pushing, pulling...I'm gonna make you jealous crap just grated on me.
Both are in HS, the story is a twist of the "good girl" and boy from wrong side of the tracks. P goes to a private school, and is the daughter of the governor. The abuse adds a level to her character, (not your snooty spoiled usual) Zeke lives in a trailer park with his alcoholic father. He is in a band with his friends, uses drugs (weed), booze and sex to cope. They are both broken and drawn to each other.
The plot was gritty, and had potential ,but I struggled with the characters. I understand the characters are young, but I'm not a big YA fan. I just don't have the patience for immaturity; I do like series similar to Fallen Crest and some bully romance where the kids are in HS, but they act like adults... In this book, they deal with gritty grown up material, but lack the maturity to deal with any importance. The characters take on these deep subjects, then shallow them with their childish reactions. The endless cycle of pushing, pulling...I'm gonna make you jealous crap just grated on me.
May 28, 2013
Touching story of two young people drawn together
It tells the story of Zeke and Patience.... his Snowflake
Zeke lives in a run down trailer just with his abusive drunk father.
He makes a promise to his mother before she passed away, a promise he will keep no matter what...
The girls love him but Zeke doesn't do relationships nor does he kiss. One night stands is what hes about.
Patience lives the other side of town. In a beautiful home with her father who is the town Governor, her sister and her mother.
Patience also has secrets of her own and secrets that would destroy her family.
On a rare night out with her friend Megan she goes to a run down club. This is where she meets Zeke.
Meeting Zeke will change her life forever..
Classed as Young Adult...This is a touching story, you feel their despair.
Zeke is adorable, he feels terribly protective toward Patience.
Even though there is no love at first sight, they grow together and form this close relationship.
With nothing but his guitar and his music he craves two things to escape his father and Patience.
And Patience...... she just wants all her broken pieces to be mended and to be with Zeke...
It tells the story of Zeke and Patience.... his Snowflake
Zeke lives in a run down trailer just with his abusive drunk father.
He makes a promise to his mother before she passed away, a promise he will keep no matter what...
The girls love him but Zeke doesn't do relationships nor does he kiss. One night stands is what hes about.
Patience lives the other side of town. In a beautiful home with her father who is the town Governor, her sister and her mother.
Patience also has secrets of her own and secrets that would destroy her family.
On a rare night out with her friend Megan she goes to a run down club. This is where she meets Zeke.
Meeting Zeke will change her life forever..
Classed as Young Adult...This is a touching story, you feel their despair.
Zeke is adorable, he feels terribly protective toward Patience.
Even though there is no love at first sight, they grow together and form this close relationship.
With nothing but his guitar and his music he craves two things to escape his father and Patience.
And Patience...... she just wants all her broken pieces to be mended and to be with Zeke...
May 6, 2013
Another book that I bought on a whim because Amazon told me I should. And holy Mary mother of Jesus, I cannot even begin to explain how much of a great decision that was. I finished it in a few hours, and every time I told myself 'Okay, time for a break', I'd put down my Kindle...and pick it up 5 seconds later. I could not tear myself away from it.
I don't even know why, to tell you the truth. There was just something about the characters and their relationship and their stories that sucked me in. I'm a sucker for characters with tortured pasts who find each other and save each other, I guess. I loved Zeke and Patience's relationship right from the start, and furthermore, they turned out to be pretty damn likable individually which is something that doesn't always happen. The only complaint I have is their freaking names. I always think authors try too hard to make character names original and this was no exception. Thank god he had a nickname for her (as did Megan) because if I had to sit through the entire book reading 'Patience' in every other line, I would've flipped my shit.
I really just want to rewind the day and read it for the first time again. It was that enjoyable.
I don't even know why, to tell you the truth. There was just something about the characters and their relationship and their stories that sucked me in. I'm a sucker for characters with tortured pasts who find each other and save each other, I guess. I loved Zeke and Patience's relationship right from the start, and furthermore, they turned out to be pretty damn likable individually which is something that doesn't always happen. The only complaint I have is their freaking names. I always think authors try too hard to make character names original and this was no exception. Thank god he had a nickname for her (as did Megan) because if I had to sit through the entire book reading 'Patience' in every other line, I would've flipped my shit.
I really just want to rewind the day and read it for the first time again. It was that enjoyable.
April 18, 2013
Wish I could give a million stars!!!!! Can not wait for this release so everyone can read it!!
May 19, 2013
Holy Fuck! Why!!!! Why dear Lord baby Jesus!!!! WHY?!? Let me explain the travesty that occurred by allowing this elite superiority to rest for WEEKS on my kindle bookshelf, she was so dusty with electronic dust bunnies, I almost put her back on the shelf, but the cover pulled at me, and I, thank God, opened her up. Teenage characters! There is my excuse. Yep, that's what held me back, Seriously! This is why I try to not read damn book descriptions, I'm not letting myself judge a book by its cover, instead I let my damn assumptions over ride my gut feelings! No more! I will judge every book, this day forward, by its cover and on my intuition, I solemnly do swear........
Holy hell reading this was like watching my heart be ripped out and screaming bloody murder! <- these were my thoughts by the end of chapter one!!! This story was sooo what I needed, you see I just finished Unbeautifully by Madeline Sheehan, and had myself in a horrid book hangover. However, it didn't last long, and for that I thank you Tabatha Vargo, you pulled me from the depths of despair and gave me even more to despair upon, and I loved every moment of it!
Zeke is a bad boy, a tatt'd up rocker from the wrong side of the tracks, when he isn't drinking enough liquor to numb the pain from his bruises and cracked bones, then he is getting stoned enough to make the ache in his chest left by his mother's death recede. Zeke is the guitar player for his band Blow Hole. And he always has a long line of ladies, err scantily clad loose ladies, that are anxiously waiting to see if he can play their bodies the way he plays his strings, play them well enough to make them scream. Zeke is so damn hot, oh my shitness! He is fuckin hot! He is beautiful, he is broken and he is a mothafuckin bad ass, and I effin LOVED him! Zeke not only piqued my inner smut whore's interest, but also a new inner personality woke up that I was unaware existed in my sick, twisted mind. HOLD THE PHONE PEOPLE, A NEW PERSONALITY IS ABOUT TO BE REVEALED! And she is an even bigger smut whore than, well my inner smut whore, she's Kimmi's inner smutty cougar! YES, Zeke pulled out my inner smutty cougar, and I found that crazy horny bitch dressed like a slut, right there in line with the rest of his groupies, wondering how to go about getting him him to start playing her strings! Shit! Sheesus Christ Cougar! Down girl! I'm trying to write a review here! Sorry! She came flying out of no where! Lmao. Anywho, I LOVED the parts of the story where you get to read Zeke's POV, it made the story deeper, and added facets that allowed me under the surface and past just the way things seem, I really loved that Tabatha let's the reader get in side his head.
Snowflake fell into his life like an angel, too bad there isn't any room in his world for angels, his life is nothing more than a miserable hell. So, he brushes her off, it seems time and time again. She'll get burned messing with him, and so he returns her to her shiny expensive side of the tracks, time and time again. But this snowflake is built from tougher stuff, he just doesn't see her yet, he sees linen and khaki, not Patience, the shattered and split girl. The girl that has stood in the bowels of hell since her 7th birthday for two things alone, to keep her dying mother happy and in the dark, and keep her sister safe by keeping the attention off of her and on Patience.
Patience is unlike any character I've read, she is soooo strong, yet so utterly broken. She will take on the weight of the world, she would gladly be the only standing solder and still charge full force towards the enemy for those she loves. However her strength wavers and buckles at the smallest threat made her way.
"You know what I am? I'm shattered, that's what I am. There are tiny pieces of Patience scattered all over."
"I'd like a piece of Patience." He reached across the table and ran a finger across my hand.
"I don't know if I can give you a piece."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know where they are." I felt my self frown at those words.
Zeke tries his damnedest to keep this pure as the driven snow girl away and out of his world, but Patience is, well patient. She sees behind Zeke's armor of bad ass, drugs, sex, and rock n roll, she sees good, she is willing to wait him out, as long as it takes. However the more he comes around, and the closer they become, the more her own demons surface, and she realizes she can never be what he needs. Her fears are too strong, and her demons are things like beasts that cripple her, they leave her frozen in fear. This thing that grows between them, it can never grow, hell it can't even be. How can a broken, battered man and a fragile, shattered girl ever come together and be anything other than fractured and damaged? How can they ever be whole........
During this heart wrenching love story you follow the characters through their own personal hell, you are subjected to the terrible abuse that they've lived in for years, you stand at their side and cheer, you sit in the corner with them as they cry. You gain hope for them to lean on one another, to learn how to love and grow, to trust each other and to heal with each other. Each blow Patience or Zeke takes, you witness it and you feel it all the way to your soul. This is a pain filled and emotionally devastating story, and Tabatha Vargo easily hooks you on page one, by chapter two you are so emotionally involved and attached to her characters that you have no other choice but to ride this painful, sad story out until the the very, very end.
I give Playing Patience 5 -just rip my heart out and take a bite- Kimmi stars*****
Holy hell reading this was like watching my heart be ripped out and screaming bloody murder! <- these were my thoughts by the end of chapter one!!! This story was sooo what I needed, you see I just finished Unbeautifully by Madeline Sheehan, and had myself in a horrid book hangover. However, it didn't last long, and for that I thank you Tabatha Vargo, you pulled me from the depths of despair and gave me even more to despair upon, and I loved every moment of it!
Zeke is a bad boy, a tatt'd up rocker from the wrong side of the tracks, when he isn't drinking enough liquor to numb the pain from his bruises and cracked bones, then he is getting stoned enough to make the ache in his chest left by his mother's death recede. Zeke is the guitar player for his band Blow Hole. And he always has a long line of ladies, err scantily clad loose ladies, that are anxiously waiting to see if he can play their bodies the way he plays his strings, play them well enough to make them scream. Zeke is so damn hot, oh my shitness! He is fuckin hot! He is beautiful, he is broken and he is a mothafuckin bad ass, and I effin LOVED him! Zeke not only piqued my inner smut whore's interest, but also a new inner personality woke up that I was unaware existed in my sick, twisted mind. HOLD THE PHONE PEOPLE, A NEW PERSONALITY IS ABOUT TO BE REVEALED! And she is an even bigger smut whore than, well my inner smut whore, she's Kimmi's inner smutty cougar! YES, Zeke pulled out my inner smutty cougar, and I found that crazy horny bitch dressed like a slut, right there in line with the rest of his groupies, wondering how to go about getting him him to start playing her strings! Shit! Sheesus Christ Cougar! Down girl! I'm trying to write a review here! Sorry! She came flying out of no where! Lmao. Anywho, I LOVED the parts of the story where you get to read Zeke's POV, it made the story deeper, and added facets that allowed me under the surface and past just the way things seem, I really loved that Tabatha let's the reader get in side his head.
Snowflake fell into his life like an angel, too bad there isn't any room in his world for angels, his life is nothing more than a miserable hell. So, he brushes her off, it seems time and time again. She'll get burned messing with him, and so he returns her to her shiny expensive side of the tracks, time and time again. But this snowflake is built from tougher stuff, he just doesn't see her yet, he sees linen and khaki, not Patience, the shattered and split girl. The girl that has stood in the bowels of hell since her 7th birthday for two things alone, to keep her dying mother happy and in the dark, and keep her sister safe by keeping the attention off of her and on Patience.
Patience is unlike any character I've read, she is soooo strong, yet so utterly broken. She will take on the weight of the world, she would gladly be the only standing solder and still charge full force towards the enemy for those she loves. However her strength wavers and buckles at the smallest threat made her way.
"You know what I am? I'm shattered, that's what I am. There are tiny pieces of Patience scattered all over."
"I'd like a piece of Patience." He reached across the table and ran a finger across my hand.
"I don't know if I can give you a piece."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know where they are." I felt my self frown at those words.
Zeke tries his damnedest to keep this pure as the driven snow girl away and out of his world, but Patience is, well patient. She sees behind Zeke's armor of bad ass, drugs, sex, and rock n roll, she sees good, she is willing to wait him out, as long as it takes. However the more he comes around, and the closer they become, the more her own demons surface, and she realizes she can never be what he needs. Her fears are too strong, and her demons are things like beasts that cripple her, they leave her frozen in fear. This thing that grows between them, it can never grow, hell it can't even be. How can a broken, battered man and a fragile, shattered girl ever come together and be anything other than fractured and damaged? How can they ever be whole........
During this heart wrenching love story you follow the characters through their own personal hell, you are subjected to the terrible abuse that they've lived in for years, you stand at their side and cheer, you sit in the corner with them as they cry. You gain hope for them to lean on one another, to learn how to love and grow, to trust each other and to heal with each other. Each blow Patience or Zeke takes, you witness it and you feel it all the way to your soul. This is a pain filled and emotionally devastating story, and Tabatha Vargo easily hooks you on page one, by chapter two you are so emotionally involved and attached to her characters that you have no other choice but to ride this painful, sad story out until the the very, very end.
I give Playing Patience 5 -just rip my heart out and take a bite- Kimmi stars*****
May 1, 2013
3.5 stars!
This book was definitely not what I expected.....especially not by looking at the cover. Not that it's a bad thing. I did like this book but there were also some things I didn't like.
Patience and Zeke are both in high school--different high schools and different social ladders. Patience lives on the "right" side of the tracks, is the governors daughter and a soccer star. Zeke lives on the "wrong" side of the tracks, skips school, does drugs and is in a band. But Patience and Zeke have more in common then they realize. Zeke is physically abused by his father and Patience is sexually abused by hers. Both keep the abuse a secret. Zeke lost his mom to cancer and Patience is losing hers to cancer.
I didn't realize going in to the book that it took place in high school. I also didn't realize it was going to be so sad. The story was told in alternating POV, which I like, but this one had a lot of back-tracking. When the POV switched, some of the story would be re-told. With that being said, I did like both of the main characters. With Zeke, Patience is able to experience the touch of another man and it not be something negative. And with Patience, Zeke is able to feel emotions that he had kept closed off because of his father.
Over time, Zeke and Patience heal each other and find peace. Their secrets are discovered and together they are able to overcome their pasts. I do think the ending fell a little bit flat and was a bit rushed. I also felt some things went unresolved....that I wish would have been addressed. But overall, I enjoyed Patience and Zeke's story.
This book was definitely not what I expected.....especially not by looking at the cover. Not that it's a bad thing. I did like this book but there were also some things I didn't like.
Patience and Zeke are both in high school--different high schools and different social ladders. Patience lives on the "right" side of the tracks, is the governors daughter and a soccer star. Zeke lives on the "wrong" side of the tracks, skips school, does drugs and is in a band. But Patience and Zeke have more in common then they realize. Zeke is physically abused by his father and Patience is sexually abused by hers. Both keep the abuse a secret. Zeke lost his mom to cancer and Patience is losing hers to cancer.
I didn't realize going in to the book that it took place in high school. I also didn't realize it was going to be so sad. The story was told in alternating POV, which I like, but this one had a lot of back-tracking. When the POV switched, some of the story would be re-told. With that being said, I did like both of the main characters. With Zeke, Patience is able to experience the touch of another man and it not be something negative. And with Patience, Zeke is able to feel emotions that he had kept closed off because of his father.
Over time, Zeke and Patience heal each other and find peace. Their secrets are discovered and together they are able to overcome their pasts. I do think the ending fell a little bit flat and was a bit rushed. I also felt some things went unresolved....that I wish would have been addressed. But overall, I enjoyed Patience and Zeke's story.
May 26, 2013
4 Angst-Filled Oh-No-He-Didn't Stars
Gurrrrl. This book. Uh Uh No Way. That did not just happen.
Patience is a driven, successful senior in high school with everything going for her. On. The. Surface. But underneath. Gurl, she is a Mess. Capital M...Mess.
Zeke is a pot smoking, guitar playing slaker. On the surface. Underneath, yeah, he is the same thing underneath, but he has good reasons. Did I mention sexy, tattooed, and tortured? And he needs a haircut. It would be giggle-worthy except that he is actually tortured, not just rock star tortured. Like deep emotional scars. That he masks with lots of booze and sex.
When Patience and Zeke meet it is life and death. No, I am not being overly dramatic. He acually saves her life. And thus begins the maddening dance of do they, will they, no he did not just say that.
Patience brings out the protective, give a shit side of Zeke and its a good thing because she has lots that she needs to be protected from. You will find yourself shaking your head thinking...where is CNN when you need them. How did things get to this? Diane Sawyer would be all over this.
Great epilogue. Love a good epilogue. It makes the anxiety of the read so worth it. Just shake your head and say...Gurrrl What are you thinking?
Gurrrrl. This book. Uh Uh No Way. That did not just happen.
Patience is a driven, successful senior in high school with everything going for her. On. The. Surface. But underneath. Gurl, she is a Mess. Capital M...Mess.
Zeke is a pot smoking, guitar playing slaker. On the surface. Underneath, yeah, he is the same thing underneath, but he has good reasons. Did I mention sexy, tattooed, and tortured? And he needs a haircut. It would be giggle-worthy except that he is actually tortured, not just rock star tortured. Like deep emotional scars. That he masks with lots of booze and sex.
When Patience and Zeke meet it is life and death. No, I am not being overly dramatic. He acually saves her life. And thus begins the maddening dance of do they, will they, no he did not just say that.
Patience brings out the protective, give a shit side of Zeke and its a good thing because she has lots that she needs to be protected from. You will find yourself shaking your head thinking...where is CNN when you need them. How did things get to this? Diane Sawyer would be all over this.
Great epilogue. Love a good epilogue. It makes the anxiety of the read so worth it. Just shake your head and say...Gurrrl What are you thinking?
April 28, 2013
At first this book annoyed me because it switched POV's in each chapter (which I like), but then repeated the exact same lines as the previous chapter. That style of writing feels repetitive and thankfully it was only the first few chapters. The following chapters captured each POV nicely and avoided using the exact same phrases.
Man, talk about two tortured souls that needed to find each other. Patience is the goody-goody rich girl from the other side of the tracks, compared to Zeke and the trailer park he grew up in. These two meet at a show that Zeke and his band were playing. While trying to be the tough as nails, no heart of gold guy, Zeke goes out of his way more than once to help Patience.
Patience lives the life of a lie, to stay alive. Her home life is a total wreck and the only time she feels she can be true to herself is when she is around the emotionally unavailable Zeke. As hard as he tries to hide, Patience can see the good boy deep down in Zeke and doesn't want to give up on him.
These two try and strike up some sort of friendship without letting the other get too close. Easy to say, hard to do. With such horrific back stories, you can see this is not going to be a picnic for either one of these characters.
I think the book was well written and deals with two serious subjects while telling the story of survival.
Man, talk about two tortured souls that needed to find each other. Patience is the goody-goody rich girl from the other side of the tracks, compared to Zeke and the trailer park he grew up in. These two meet at a show that Zeke and his band were playing. While trying to be the tough as nails, no heart of gold guy, Zeke goes out of his way more than once to help Patience.
Patience lives the life of a lie, to stay alive. Her home life is a total wreck and the only time she feels she can be true to herself is when she is around the emotionally unavailable Zeke. As hard as he tries to hide, Patience can see the good boy deep down in Zeke and doesn't want to give up on him.
These two try and strike up some sort of friendship without letting the other get too close. Easy to say, hard to do. With such horrific back stories, you can see this is not going to be a picnic for either one of these characters.
I think the book was well written and deals with two serious subjects while telling the story of survival.
July 4, 2015
DNF
I had issues with the writing style. It is written in DUAL POVs, but the author would go back and retell almost the entire scene in the other character's POV. I was getting bored. It would never get to the point.
This book deals with physical and sexual abuse.
I liked the premise, but there was a lot that just fell short for me.
I had issues with the writing style. It is written in DUAL POVs, but the author would go back and retell almost the entire scene in the other character's POV. I was getting bored. It would never get to the point.
This book deals with physical and sexual abuse.
I liked the premise, but there was a lot that just fell short for me.
April 27, 2013
HOLY HOT ZEKE ~ THIS BOOK IS AMAZING ~ It has one heck of a emotional back story that will break your heart but when you start reading about the "bad boy" guitar player ~ Totally 5+++++ stars I LOVED IT~
I'll post a FULL review later tonight or in a.m. once I get hubby off my arse LOL
I'll post a FULL review later tonight or in a.m. once I get hubby off my arse LOL
September 10, 2017
Reread
March 3, 2020
**Review of the audiobook**
STORY: 4.5 Stars
PERFORMANCE: 5 Stars
OVERALL: 5 Stars
STORY
For years I didn’t consider reading or listening to this book simply because “blow hole boys“ didn’t sound like my kind of thing. However, after it was recommended and after finally reading the synopsis, I gave it a try, and I’m so so so glad I did!!!! Abuse, addiction, drug dealing, grief/loss, musicians... this book has it all!!!! It also ends with a HEA & no cliff!!! My only complaint is that there is some repetition since this is told from a dual POV. There are also some serious topics that are not discussed but simply glossed over.
PERFORMANCE
I listened to the Audible audiobook narrated by Todd Haberkorn and Tatiana Sokolov. Although both of these narrators have voices that are more nasally than I prefer, there is no denying that they are both incredibly talented. Haberkorn and Sokolov are incredible actors, never sounding like they are reading from a script but delivering believable, engrossing performances!!
STORY: 4.5 Stars
PERFORMANCE: 5 Stars
OVERALL: 5 Stars
STORY
For years I didn’t consider reading or listening to this book simply because “blow hole boys“ didn’t sound like my kind of thing. However, after it was recommended and after finally reading the synopsis, I gave it a try, and I’m so so so glad I did!!!! Abuse, addiction, drug dealing, grief/loss, musicians... this book has it all!!!! It also ends with a HEA & no cliff!!! My only complaint is that there is some repetition since this is told from a dual POV. There are also some serious topics that are not discussed but simply glossed over.
PERFORMANCE
I listened to the Audible audiobook narrated by Todd Haberkorn and Tatiana Sokolov. Although both of these narrators have voices that are more nasally than I prefer, there is no denying that they are both incredibly talented. Haberkorn and Sokolov are incredible actors, never sounding like they are reading from a script but delivering believable, engrossing performances!!
January 5, 2022
Estoy muy enfadada y sufrí mucho terminando este libro. De verdad no entiendo cómo la autora tiene la conciencia para tocar temas tan fuertes y llevarlos tan a la ligera.
Primero. Patience fue drogada, literalmente termino en el hospital y casi se muere por eso. Yo me imagino que después de algo tan peligroso como eso, uno reflexiona y dice, la cagué, tengo que tener más cuidado no vas y vuelves al mismo lugar donde casi mueres con una gran sonrisa en la cara. Lo hubiera dejado pasar si quizás hubieran transcurrido unos días para ella se calmara del shock y todo eso, pero no lo puedo dejar cuando ella literalmente volvió a la tarde siguiente, en serio ¿Se puede ser más tonta?
Segundo. El tema que menos desarrolló la autora y el más fuerte a mi parecer. La violación.
Patience llevaba siendo abusada sexualmente diez años y cinco siendo violada por su propio padre. Yo no entiendo cómo te puedes dar la puta valentía de escribir sobre algo así y no darte el tiempo de investigar las consecuencias si no tienes idea del tema o no tienes la empatía suficiente como para imaginarlo.
Se que están estos pocos momentos dónde Patience se siente incomoda cuando Zeke la toca o los moretones pero yo estoy hablando de un desarollo no literalmente visible.
Son diez años de abuso que la autora solo refleja en dos o tres momentos del libro.
A mí parecer literalmente se está cagando en las personas que han pasado por eso solo por la necesidad de crear un conflicto que impacte.
Tercero. El abuso físico que sufrió Zeke también por parte de su padre.
Si bien Zeke tuvo su momento de despierte y de liberación este no duró más de dos segundos. Luego de eso, no sé vuelve a saber del papá. Zeke vuelve a la casa varias veces como si nada y nunca parece acordarse de lo que le pasó. Y está bien, me puedes decir que después de una situación así nadie quiere volver a repetirla en su cabeza pero no es eso lo que nos da la autora. No nos da una pelea interna en Zeke de lograr olvidarse de eso. No, el se olvida de eso tan fácilmente como yo me olvidó de contestar los mensajes de Whatsapp.
El conflicto final no fue una mierda, me parece que hubiera podido salir bien, pero la resolución si lo fue. Este es un momento dónde Patience se siente sola y como si alguien apretara un interruptor de repente ya perdono a Zeke y bajo cualquier circunstancia quiere volver a verlo. Justo poco después ellos dan un concierto en la cuidad, dónde se ven, se sonríen y se besan. Esa es la resolución. No muestran que hablen acerca de lo que pasaron, no nos dicen como lo van a hacer para estar juntos cuando viven a miles de kilómetros, no nos dicen nada. Ese es el final.
Quizás lo hubiera disfrutado más si los desarrollo no me hubieran parecido o tan nulos o tan ridículos.
Primero. Patience fue drogada, literalmente termino en el hospital y casi se muere por eso. Yo me imagino que después de algo tan peligroso como eso, uno reflexiona y dice, la cagué, tengo que tener más cuidado no vas y vuelves al mismo lugar donde casi mueres con una gran sonrisa en la cara. Lo hubiera dejado pasar si quizás hubieran transcurrido unos días para ella se calmara del shock y todo eso, pero no lo puedo dejar cuando ella literalmente volvió a la tarde siguiente, en serio ¿Se puede ser más tonta?
Segundo. El tema que menos desarrolló la autora y el más fuerte a mi parecer. La violación.
Patience llevaba siendo abusada sexualmente diez años y cinco siendo violada por su propio padre. Yo no entiendo cómo te puedes dar la puta valentía de escribir sobre algo así y no darte el tiempo de investigar las consecuencias si no tienes idea del tema o no tienes la empatía suficiente como para imaginarlo.
Se que están estos pocos momentos dónde Patience se siente incomoda cuando Zeke la toca o los moretones pero yo estoy hablando de un desarollo no literalmente visible.
Son diez años de abuso que la autora solo refleja en dos o tres momentos del libro.
A mí parecer literalmente se está cagando en las personas que han pasado por eso solo por la necesidad de crear un conflicto que impacte.
Tercero. El abuso físico que sufrió Zeke también por parte de su padre.
Si bien Zeke tuvo su momento de despierte y de liberación este no duró más de dos segundos. Luego de eso, no sé vuelve a saber del papá. Zeke vuelve a la casa varias veces como si nada y nunca parece acordarse de lo que le pasó. Y está bien, me puedes decir que después de una situación así nadie quiere volver a repetirla en su cabeza pero no es eso lo que nos da la autora. No nos da una pelea interna en Zeke de lograr olvidarse de eso. No, el se olvida de eso tan fácilmente como yo me olvidó de contestar los mensajes de Whatsapp.
El conflicto final no fue una mierda, me parece que hubiera podido salir bien, pero la resolución si lo fue. Este es un momento dónde Patience se siente sola y como si alguien apretara un interruptor de repente ya perdono a Zeke y bajo cualquier circunstancia quiere volver a verlo. Justo poco después ellos dan un concierto en la cuidad, dónde se ven, se sonríen y se besan. Esa es la resolución. No muestran que hablen acerca de lo que pasaron, no nos dicen como lo van a hacer para estar juntos cuando viven a miles de kilómetros, no nos dicen nada. Ese es el final.
Quizás lo hubiera disfrutado más si los desarrollo no me hubieran parecido o tan nulos o tan ridículos.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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