[Book Review] Crossing

Title:  Crossing
Author: Stacey Wallace Benefiel
Date Published: May 8, 2013
Publisher: Write Free
Source: ARC
Genre: Young-Adult, Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★★★★★






Links:
Goodreads


Book Information:

Due to heavy subject matter, Crossing is recommended for readers 17+. 

He stole her lipstick…and her heart. 

Twenty-year-old Dani Walker can’t believe her luck when she’s paired up with the gorgeous Liam Garrett as her Acting I scene partner – or when he ends up in her bed. Being a Plain Jane with a mouth on her hasn’t exactly served Dani well in the guy department. In fact, she’s had nothing but one night stands. Still, she lets go of her insecurities and falls for Liam, despite feeling like he’s holding something back. 

When Dani finally discovers Liam’s secret, she must learn the true meaning of accepting the ones we love for who they are, or risk losing the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

Review:
A fair warning: this book is not for the narrow-minded.

Every girl probably has a body-image issue or two. Maybe it's the flabby love handles or even the uber-wide forehead (which I have, by the way). I have never met a girl who doesn't have body-image issues. I guess, as girls, we can't help it. We're too critical of ourselves, and it translates into how we deal with other people. Especially in today's society where stick-skinny women are constantly objectified and marketed as the definition of 'beauty'.

In this book, we find a relatable female protagonist in the person of Dani Walker. She's not stick-skinny, she gives as good as she gets, she's hilarious and she has a smart mouth. Let me just say that I applaud this book for having a chubby heroine rather than stick to the conventional beautiful woman. That in itself is proof of the realism that is depicted within the pages of this book.

Dani is chubby. Her weight has become a baggage that it interferes with her love life. She's the kind of person who would settle for a one-night stand just because it's the only thing that most guys would be willing to give her. They don't want her as a girlfriend because well, she's not hot. In short, she settles for something way lesser than she deserves. And as a reader, instead of hating her for it, I actually understand what she's going through.

Secondly, THE TWIST! I love the twist! It wasn't something I expected and it definitely blew me away.

When I started reading this book, I was expecting another conventional contemporary romance, something sweet, light and predictable. Boy, was I so wrong. Not only does this novel have an unconventional heroine, it also has a very unconventional male lead on par with the heroine! And it tackles lots of common issues!

The male protagonist is Liam. He's way out of Dani's league and coincidentally, they became acting partners in class. The amazing thing was, even if Liam was way out of Dani's league, he was able to keep up with Dani's self-deprecating humor and wit. I love witty banters and the exchange of sarcasm and wit between Dani and Liam was something I thoroughly enjoyed.

When Dani and Liam actually became involved with each other, I was cheering for them. Sometimes, I wanted to whack Dani's head for her failure to see just how awesome she was, but then Liam would do something amazing for her, and that in turn, keeps my hand off the virtual ultra-dimensional mallet of doom I keep in my pocket. Everybody happy.

But then, like I said, the twist in this story was something that blew me away. I hate putting spoilers in my review so I'll just say that it was something both Dani and Liam had to deal with.

In the end though, I love how they both accepted each other whole-heartedly; quirks and faults included. The ending was also satisfying despite the fact that the ride itself was bumpy.

Just one thing though, I would have given this book 4 stars if it weren't for the fact that it wasn't explained why Liam turned out the way he was. It didn't give an ample back story as to why Liam had such a weird hobby. That was the only question which ran around inside my head after I finished reading the whole book.