Review: His Reverie by Monica Murphy

Book Blurb: I knew from the moment I first saw her she was the one. The only girl I could ever want. The only girl I could ever love. She is light. I am darkness. She is innocent. I've done too much. She is good. I am bad. She is my every dream. I should be her every nightmare. We come from different worlds. She's...perfect. And I'm... Not. Somehow she wants me anyway. So we'll grasp at what we can. We're going to make this summer count. She's my secret. And I'm hers. The problem with secrets is they never last for long. And when others discover we're together, they'll do whatever it takes to keep us apart. All I know is: I won't let them. Because Reverie Hale? She's mine. My Review: 2 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: New Adult-- Nick has spent the last 11 months in jail for a murder he did not commit. Someone finally listens to him and he is released as being innocent, yet with the stigma of murder attached to his name. Once free, he finds out that the only person who stuck by his side, his Mom, is dying of cancer and has just a few months left. Once she is gone, he has nothing. Nick searches for a job, and is hired by a wealthy Televangelist, Reverend Hale, as a yard boy for his summer vacation house. Nick is basically just going through the motions of existing until he sees Hale’s virginal 16 year old daughter Reverie. There is an instant connection between the two, one that can’t be broken despite the fact they don’t belong together, let alone in the same world. I will sadly say that I was not in love with this story. I am a huge fan of New Adult books told predominantly from the male point of view and I eat up each one I can find. But this one was not compelling for me, feeling like it was missing something. Maybe it was due to the characterization of Nick, or the fact the book had a Romeo-Juliet vibe I feel is overdone, or the fact the characters are both so young. Yes I understand that Romeo and Juliet are young, but this is modern day and people should at least be 18 and an “adult” for a New Adult book, otherwise it should be teen fiction. I found the mystery of the murder to be moderately interesting, but I am not sure if that is enough to make me read the sequel or not. Nick was the narrator of the story, with a few snippets from Reverie’s diary thrown in here and there to give a slice into her life. Nick is only 17, yet at times seems like an old man, and other times he seems like an immature boy. I wonder if that is due to the whole prison thing or if that is just who he is period. And the prison thing had me curious too, since he hints at things that occurred but always brushes it off and decides not to think about it. I am not going to lie, my morbid curiosity was peaked, but never fulfilled. Nick has his GED from prison so he does not need to attend high school anymore and he flies below the radar from child services. I wonder how he paid for his mom’s funeral as well as rent since neither he nor his mom worked. He is wishy washy about his future plans, changing them every so often. He talks about everyone still thinking he is guilty since it is a small town, so if it was me, I would get the heck out of there and start over somewhere that nobody knew me. Yet he wallowed in his grief and notoriety. When Nick and Rev start to have a flirtation, he still sleeps with his slutty ex-girlfriend Krista. Repeatedly. I understand raging hormones of teenage boys, but he likes another girl and Krista cheated on him and forgot about him when he needed help. Maybe I hold grudges (ok, no maybe about it, I totally do) but I felt like Krista is the last girl he should have even talked to let alone have a physical relationship with. He talks about not deserving Rev, and after his tryst I totally agreed. Nick ended up angering me a lot, causing me to not like his choices or his personality, so it was hard to get too invested in the book. Also, Reverie was so very sheltered and innocent, completely under her parent’s thumb as a paragon of virtue, making me see her as less like a person and more like an ideal. Overall I feel fairly ambivalent towards this book. I am sure the plot may have kept me more intrigued if I could have liked the characters better, but I love myself some character driven stories. I know other people really like this book, but it apparently was just was not for me. This was my first book by this author and I am willing to give her work another shot, just hopefully something completely different. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.