The Break-Down:
On the first day back at high school after the summer break, seventeen-year-old Olivia Davis finds herself attracted to Neil Summers, her childhood best friend. She can't make sense as to why she is drawn to him since they are complete opposites; Neil growing up as a preacher's son and purely religious, Olivia, a rebellious, free-spirited teenager. As Olivia consistently questions her crush towards Neil, the more she wants to defile and corrupt him. Something about him is different that is keeping her interested in him. What could have changed during the summer? Olivia is determined to find out...
The Review:
I felt like I was reading Olivia's diary entries because I got a sense of her emotions and understood the challenges she was facing in her life. The back and forth of her questioning why she was falling for Neil was so relatable. I appreciated the high school atmosphere; it gave me flashbacks of my high school years. The tension between Olivia and Neil when things got steamy kept my attention for sure, ( haha!) but when it came to personal challenges, such as her relationship with her brother and mother, I felt that emotional struggle Olivia was experiencing. Olivia grew up with the impression that love and marriage are impossible to have, and falling for Neil who has an opposite life, was even more challenging for her to understand that falling in love can happen.
Neil is a preacher's son with religious values, traditions, and certain expectations from his parents that Neil disagrees with. However, he loves and respects his parents too much to want to hurt them and is scared to speak up about the dreams he wants to accomplish. I believe one important theme that can be seen from this book is self-discovery. I love Olivia and Neil's relationship because they learn who they are from each other while learning together what to expect from a romantic relationship, and how to fight for what you want individually as well as romantically. I believe Olivia's character showed development as she started to accept her feelings for Neil. She remained true to her character but I think she showed some growth while finding herself, a concept a lot of readers, like myself, can relate to. Another important topic from this book is religion. Despite Olivia having a different upbringing from Neil, (and the steamy scenes), she still respected his morals and beliefs for saving his celibacy for when the time is right.
"I never would've guessed that these kinds of moments existed. Where just looking at someone could remind you how much you loved them all over again. A laugh, a smile, a few words from their mouth."
-Michelle Chamberland, "Paper Butterflies"
This young adult romance book was pretty enjoyable. The first-person narration made it simple to read through and the pace is quick. I loved the names of the chapters and they were the perfect length; not too short or too long to read. It was presented beautifully on the Kindle and I looked forward to picking it up every time to read some more. I recommend this book to young adults and high school students who enjoy the friends to lovers trope and romance books!
Rating: 5 stars
Enjoy and happy reading!
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