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The Art of Life

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Jeremy is a devastatingly attractive 21 year old guy with a secret, who just has to walk into a room and flash his winning smile to melt a girl's heart. Isabelle,"Izzy", is a barely noticeable artist, whose home life is less than to be desired. She feels completely alone in the world, that is until the fateful day when Jeremy saves her from school tormentors and changes both their lives forever. Isabelle cannot believe her good fortune when Jeremy forms a friendship with her because nothing goes her way. After all, she is blatantly tormented by her peers, ignored by her school crush, has never been kissed, and her mother is an alcoholic. How could she ever have a relationship, even a friendship, with anyone, let alone someone so good looking and altruistic? Though, it's not all good looks, good deeds and fast cars for Jeremy, whose past still haunts him. Can a horrific event that forces Isabelle out of her home and into Jeremy's spare bedroom teach these two how to live and love?

621 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 2013

101 people are currently reading
854 people want to read

About the author

Sarah Kay Carter

11 books161 followers
Sarah Kay Carter is a self-published author. Sarah writes young adult science fiction, romance, and science fiction romance novels. Sarah is supported by her two brothers, father, mother, 2 Heathers, Pene and her 3 dogs. She enjoys hearing from her fans. Don't be afraid to message! She can always be reached on her facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSarahK...

Sarah hopes to publish two more books this year. Like her facebook page to get previews of future books and bonus chapters!

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5 stars
719 (49%)
4 stars
383 (26%)
3 stars
240 (16%)
2 stars
69 (4%)
1 star
50 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
Profile Image for Christi Greer.
37 reviews1 follower
June 10, 2013
WOW....why aren't there more stars?? This book is probably THE best stand alone book I've read this year. I sit here and try to write something profound or thought provoking but I can't even summon up the right words. I'm speechless.

First of all -- I can't believe I picked up this book for less than a dollar. It was over 600 pages which to me translates into 'hundreds and hundreds of hours' and again, I just can't believe how incredibly cheap it was. Mrs.Carter...this book is worth so much more!!

Second of all, with it being 600 pages there would be a time or two where you would think that things would seem redundant or over worked...but somehow it's not. The image she paints in your mind is beautiful and clear.

Three....this book is super clean. I read a lot of stuff...I mean A LOT and the one thing that I wish YA/Romance writers would get is that you don't need a lot of "added stuff" (if you know what I mean) to get your point across. Yeah its okay to read about it here and there but it's not the entire story...and that's what I liked about this one. It was important to Mrs. Carter that the reader understood that the heroine couldn't handle anything other than hand holding and kissing. Forcing this character to fit into the "romance" mold that we love to read so much would just be wrong. Izzy, the heroine, needed to take it slow, learn to trust then learn to love.

Four....with it being 600 pages you would think 'what could she possibly have to say?' Well a lot, I think. This story is about a young insecure girl who has never felt love or affection from any individual especially coming from a single parent home. Then you add a guy who's an orphan and kind of has a sketchy background yet he seemed to know way more about love and affection than she did. Taught her more. Showed her more.

Fifth....I love how this book didn't have a cliffhanger. I thoroughly enjoyed how the writer took her time to write us a story that she knew needed to be taken slow. AND I L-O-V-E LOVE how she didn't split the book up into two parts and made us wait seven billion months to find out what happens between Jeremy and Izzy...and trust me, with it being so long she SO could have done that. So, Sarah Carter...thanks for not doing that :)

Finally, as a writer myself I used to get so worried about the 'filler content' that fits between each major event. I would worry for hours on what to say and how to transition from one point to another and was anxious that what I was talking about made the book too long. Now, I understand that if it's done right....it can work. Now I see that if you transition slowly it can really be a benefit to the story. I am SO SO SO glad I read this book as I do believe it will make me a better writer.

So to the four people out there who will actually read this :) read this book....share it with your friends....it will change the way you look at life.

Sarah Carter, I can't wait to read your other stuff. Hope your working on it right now...as we speak!
Profile Image for AndreaE.
49 reviews
December 5, 2013
Para mi este ha sido la mejor novela de amor que he leído este año.
Es hermoso, y aunque sean 620 paginas y puede parecer cansado nada que ver se te pasa rapidísimo queriendo saber que más sigue, los personajes son todos geniales ... solo me queda decir quiero un Jeremy para llevar por favor!!!!!

Muy recomendado.
Profile Image for Khadija.
4 reviews3 followers
October 18, 2014
I don't usually write reviews but I just had to address all the issues with this book.
Where to start? First of all, the writing was slightly horrifying. The characters in the book were in their late teens and early twenties and all spoke as if they were in their sixties. Nobody under the age of sixty calls anybody "toots", and would it have killed the author to use some contractions? Who in this day and age continuously uses "I am" instead of "I'm" or "you are" instead of "you're". There were so many others, it was ridiculous. That was just some of the few issues with the English.
Then came the issues with the storyline. First of all her supposed issues with her "self esteem and shyness". If you have these issues you don't go telling everybody that you meet that you have them and then act like Isabelle does throughout the whole book, like what kind of shy person climbs on a random guys bike and takes off with him? That is not how a person with those issues acts. For a person that doesn't want people to know about her life, she tells an awful lot of people about her life and the way in which she does it so easily and often is so unrealistic. The way she just told people that her mum was an alcoholic and expected people to think the worst was beyond stupid because her life could have been so much worse given how bad alcoholism can get and how dangerous it is. I'm not condoning the mental abuse but there was barely any if at all there was some. She complained about having to cook and clean up after her mother when it could have been so much worse. The same can be said about the "bullying". Again it could have been so much worse and her reactions were so unrealistic.
The writing style was ridiculously old fashioned but the storyline was seriously childlike. I personally am a sucker for a romance but the characters in this book were so unrealistic and the storyline written so badly I couldn't enjoy it at all. Why the book was so long when the ending was obvious is beyond me.
1/5 stars without a doubt!!
Profile Image for Meme.
166 reviews3 followers
May 17, 2014
me encanto demasiado, pero el final me dejo con ganas de mas.
si muestra todo la fase de enamoramiento y todo, pero necesitaba mas!
y si estoy conciente que el libro tenia 500 paginas !
Profile Image for Dulce Cruz.
29 reviews
January 28, 2014
Yo definitivamente amo este libro. Es desde antes que lo terminara uno de mis libros favoritos.
Isabelle es una chica de 18 que su vida no es un cuento de hadas precisamente. Al llegar a casa todos los días, se enfrenta con su increible madre alcoholica, he Isabelle hace todo por ella.
Isabelle tiene un autoestima super bajo, y sabemos que la mayoria de los libros con protagonistas no se concideran bonitas, pero Isabelle enserio tiene un serio problema consigo misma.
Después de un horrible día en la escuela, en una cafeteria conoce a cierto chico que la salva de unas tipas que la estan molestando. Jeremy, de 21 años con un pasado que no quiere recordar y que nunca se lo ha dicho a nadie. Él empieza a ayudar a reconstruir la autoestima de Isabelle. Con el tiempo se hacen amigos, pero el pasado misterioso de Jeremy le hace tener curiosidad a Isabelle.
Después de una terrible escena por la que pasa Isabelle en su casa, ella se va de su casa. Y sin saber por donde ir, ella cae en los brazos de Jeremy, y el le ofrece su casa.
Su relación como amigos obviamente mejora, y ellos aprenden a vivir juntos. Ella al vivir con Jeremy crece en muchos sentidos, los mas importantes son que ella ya es mas abierta, más social, y su autoestima ya esta arriba.
Como decia me encanto el libro, pero el epilogo pienso y siento que fue muy apresurado. Me encanto la boda y eso, pero queria algo mas... no quede lo suficiente satisfecha con el final, pero me gusto.
Cada personaje en el libro lo ame, Josh( yo imagine a Josh Hutcherson), Kent, Cassandra, Eric, Jack, y a Jeremy (lo amo!).
Definitivamente uno de mis libros favoritos.
Profile Image for Rossana Peña Rivera.
1,028 reviews45 followers
August 12, 2014
OMG estaba esperando un libro así desde hace unas semanas. Fue extremadamente divertido leerlo, solo pensaba en leer el libro cuando no lo estaba leyendo. Y creo que quiero levantarme un día cualquiera y encontrarme un J en la tarde para nunca mas dejarlo ir. Su historia fue perfecta . Aunque su declaración de amor fue la cosa mas ridícula que leí en mucho tiempo. Todos los personajes me gustaron,Personalmente estoy en el team Josh, de todos los personajes incluso de Eric, es Josh que quisiera saber que pasa después. Espero que se den la oportunidad de leerlo porque no se arrepentirán.
Profile Image for Marse.
600 reviews57 followers
April 16, 2015
Lo más hermoso que he leído en este último tiempo. Amo a Jeremy, lo amo, es perfecto pero DEMASIADO PERFECTO.
Diversa historia, media cliché, super romántica, chistosa y suuuuuuuuuuper larga jajajaja pero vale la pena cada página. Jeremy vale la pena.
Profile Image for Amandapanda potter.
21 reviews1 follower
July 2, 2018
I didn’t like the main character

This books was a little good, but it was so annoying and frustrating. The main character is so stupid, it made me want to bang my head against a wall.
Profile Image for Brandy  Garcia.
38 reviews
May 31, 2013
So hmm. I want to give this book more then three starts I really do but I just can't. Don't get me wrong I liked the book actually I really enjoyed it but it was beyond juvenile. I mean I totally support waiting for marriage to have sex but come on at 18 years old there is absolutely no reason to act like a 12 year old when you here the word sex. And that is exactly how Izzy acted. Sure she can be innocent and naive about it but not be childish. For Pete's sake she's in a sorta relationship with a 21 year old guy not that he wasn't totally respectful because he was but really if he had his shirt off she freaked out. She freaked out over every little thing which is why I wanted to throw my iPad down and punch it! Jeremy was great respectful, kind and awesome. Yeah he had a huge secret nowadays what book boyfriend doesn't bunt it wasn't so awful it ruined things. I wish there was more once again I need closure. I waited the entire book for them to finally be together and then bam it was over. I need to know authors what happens next. Marriage, babies, school? WHAT!! Oh and the grammar and editing was also why I didn't go above three. There were a few times I had to re-read because I just didn't get it. Was it a huge deal not really but it did make me rate lower then I might have had I been able to just sweep through it.
Profile Image for deb22luvsbooks.
721 reviews33 followers
May 4, 2013
This books storyline had alot of potential...but the book was a hot mess!

I hate go give unfavorable reviews, because I am sure that a whole mess of work goes into writing a book...but this one needed some serious help. For example:
The fact that the entire book did not use a darned contraction....nobody talks like that and I had to re-arrange the wording while reading to just make it make sense to me. Nobody says "I do not like to go shopping"...they say " I don't like to go shopping".....and it went that way through the entire book.
The overuse of the word "Retort".....first, If I noticed it, I am sure you will too...plus, to me a retort is a snarky reply, not like using the word "said".
There was alot of useless filler in this book in my opinion...alot of shopping trips that really did not give us any useful information.
Then, most of all, much of the story was pretty unrealistic in a bad way. There was alot of potential for some real angst, that never really materialized and it just fell flat for me.
Needless to say, the book needed some serious editing.
I stuck with it because I hate to give up on a book, but I kinda wish I had.
Profile Image for GTR33GURL.
850 reviews1 follower
May 1, 2013
I just loved this book from start to finish it was sweet romantic funny sexy sad heartbreaking and beautiful loved the length of the book so worth the money Jeremy ahhh wonderful sexy hero yet another book boyfriend to add my list lol Isabelle was the sweetest broken girl I just loved her and could see why the gang took her under there wings I hated the mom for what she did but was teary eyed by her courage to seek the help she needed and make amends with her daughter only thing missing for me was An Epilogue I just love me an epilogue or a sequel lol come on Sarah do a sequel lol fan 4 life!!!
Profile Image for Grace.
106 reviews1 follower
September 5, 2013
Love, love Jeremy! He's so damn sweet, caring, thoughtful, sexy and gorgeous! Love him and his heart! I also feel for his pain and Isabelle's. I really think that to have this in Jeremy's POV will be truly awesome.
Profile Image for Agustina.
423 reviews32 followers
March 1, 2018
2'5, creería.

Tengo más desilusión por el hecho de que pensé que me iba a gustar mucho más esta historia que por el hecho de la HISTORIA en sí. Porque no es MALA MALA, peeeero tiene sus errorcitos.
Entre ellos: La narrativa de la historia, para mí la escritora al principio me parecía fresca y liviana, algo normal y fácil de leer, pero luego cuando ya me adecué a su escritura se convirtió en cualquier cosa menos en una pluma desarrollada y BUENA, si venimos al caso. En un momento, sentí que estaba leyendo una novela de Facebook. Además, en un punto hace MUY DE REPENTE un cambio de persona narrativa, que me desencajó totalmente. Aparte de que en un capítulo podía relatarte TOOOOODO un día de la PARA-NADA-INTERESANTE-VIDA de la protagonista, y al siguiente relatarte su vida en un torbellino en el que pasaron MESES.

description

Siguiente cosa---> CANTIDAD DE PÁGINAS, ¿en qué estaba pensando esta mujer cuando escribió más de 600 páginas para un libro que totalmente NO lo necesitaba? Es decir, entiendo que el romance que se desarrolla entre ellos está bastante bien construido por el hecho de que se recorre un largo tiempo, en el que CLARAMENTE está claro que no es un insta-love de esos. Pero aun así, me parecieron totalmente innecesarias ciertas escenas, que no aportaban nada, era como leer relleno tras relleno. Al mismo tiempo creo que la buena construcción de personajes se debió a esto: que tuvo muchas páginas para explayarse, pero en el fondo sé que una muy buena escritora sabría transmitirte todos esos sentimientos, construir las relaciones y los personajes con muchas menos páginas.

CADA VEZ QUE JEREMY SE LE TIRABA PARA NADA SUTILMENTE A ISABELLE Y ELLA DECÍA: OH, THAT'S SO SWEET!, como REALMENTE ella tenía una enfermedad con esa puta frase que me hacía rodar los ojos más de lo estrictamente recomendado.

description

LA CANTIDAD DE MISTERIO INNECESARIO SOBRE EL PASADO DE JEREMY ¡oh! y acá podemos agregar LA SUPUESTA TIMIDEZ DE IZZY, DE "YO NO LE CUENTO A NADIE DE MI PASADO" Fue absurdo, las dos cosas. Lo de Jeremy me pareció bastaaante predecible, ya me reía con el constante tabú que existía al rededor del tema. Y lo de Isabelle ya ni puedo hablarlo pero era muy exasperante; que te describan al personaje como algo y termine siendo todo lo contrario.

description

Y, por último, pero no menos importante, EL TEMITA DE LA VIRGINIDAD Yo sé, que esto es muy personal y subjetivo, que cada uno basándose en sus creencias e ideales sacaría una conclusión, pero yo como defensora de lo mío no pude evitar molestarme cada vez que se daba mención al tema del sexo como si fuera algo totalmente extraño y religioso. Como se degradaba a las mujeres que se acostaban con tipos por diversión, PORQUE QUERÍAN, pero a aquellas que se """guardaban""" (OJO, con esta palabrita mágica) para el GRAN amor de su vida, o para (por supuessssto) después del matrimonio eran más dignas, más importantes, más MUJERES.
Todo esto lo transmite, tanto entre líneas como no, varias escenas de este libro. Y me molesta. Mucho. Nadie es más mujer que nadie por no tener relaciones sexuales. Y MUCHO MENOS, una mujer es menos mujer por disfrutar de su sexualidad libremente. Es que, ¿seguimos en el siglo XV y no me enteré? La virginidad es una construcción social para intimidar a todas las mujeres con el tema del sexo, una construcción que la iglesia alimenta (y me atrevo a decir que creó) y que, lastimosamente, hasta el día de hoy la mayoría de las sociedades perpetúan. NO se los permitamos naturalizar más. Y empecemos por no aceptarlo en la literatura.

Cortita y al pie

Aun así, no se asusten tanto tampoco, no es que lo odiara. Es, simplemente, lo que dice la descripción de 2 estrellas en goodreads: it was ok. JUST OK.
Profile Image for Zoe and the Edge.
674 reviews68 followers
June 15, 2015
This review is really messy. My main point is that the author is pretty freakin' hilarious but she really cannot write.

This book is way too long. Ridiculously long. My opinion of it kept going up and down. At first I thought it would be a DNF, and then a third of the way through, I though it would be a 5 star, and then I started getting annoyed with the characters, so I thought maybe a 4, and then it got worse so a 3. Some of the reactions are really off and the way they talk is so stilted and unrealistic. The bad guy is irksome and the money part of the story almost worst. Oh the awkies.

The characters really develop and it ends up being really fabulous by the time you get a third into the book.
I like that they are so unusual and maybe a bit controversial but it totally works (until it doesn't, like I said, it's looong). I enjoyed seeing the shy little mouse grow in confidence.

This has such a bizarre storyline. But it's kind of fun in a juvenile na-na-na-boo-boo way. I'm really bad at reading bullying stories. Mainly, because I've never been bullied and I just can't imagine responding the way these characters respond.
It's been a while since I came across the dreaded no-contractions syndrome.

“No, I am kidding. I am 21.”

Jeremy appears out of the blue like some kind of fairy godmother. The only thing that saves him is that he knows he's being a weirdo and that the relationship is completely platonic.

Isabelle's mother is a codependent and grumpy alcoholic.

Jeremy - “You really are worried about me seeing you at home, aren’t you?”
“Nobody should see my home life,” I respond. “I don’t want to see my home life.”


On the plus side, they're not poor and Isabelle has plenty of cash to splash.

Jeremy is very closed in and fields all personal questions but he makes up for it with his outgoing personality.

“We will get you there, even if I have to sell some of my organs.”

His jokes are a hit and miss but some of them are pretty good.

Isabelle - “It will be nice to have your advice if I do start dating. I have never been on one before.”
“Well, I will give you a play by play then,” Jeremy laughs. “And I will call you half way through and ask how it is going. If it is going badly, you can pretend your house burned down and leave.”


“I made you something.” I put my backpack down and unzip it.
“Oh, oh, oh, is it made out of macaroni noodles?” Jeremy giddily jokes.
“Now you aren’t going to get it,” I laugh, “make fun of my macaroni noodles.”


The pair get up to all sorts of shenanigans.

The check out girl obviously cannot take her eyes off of him....He saunters over to the cashier. “Hello.”
“Hi,” she replies, in a girly, giggly sort of way. I roll my eyes. “Did you find everything alright?”
“You know, we got a little hung up in the contraceptives aisle, but I think we figured it out.” I haul off and kick Jeremy in the shin. He bends over and screams, “Ow!”
I cross my arms and smile. “No need for a contraceptive when you can’t stand up straight.”
Turning his gaze on me, he says, “Well honey, now you aren’t going to need them for a while.”
“Boohoo,”...
“So, you found everything alright then?” The cashier asks, staring at us.
I nod my head. “Yes, I am sorry for him. I only let him out of the house once a month, if you can’t see why.” Doubling over with laughter, Jeremy turns around. I walk over and pat him on the back. “He is single if you are interested.”
“Oh, honey,” Jeremy interjects. “Are you dumping me?”
“Yes,” I reply dramatically. “I am moving on to bigger and better things.”
Giving the cashier his alluring smile, Jeremy asks, “What’s your name?”
The cashier looks at him like he is crazy...“You’re total is 85.68.”
“Now, you have to pay for your stuff. I will no longer be your sugar daddy,” Jeremy says, crossing his arms.
“Fine,” I sigh. “I don’t know what I will do now. Oh wait, it’s called a debit card.”


They like to pretend they're a couple and after a while I couldn't stop giggling because Jeremy is so flirtatious and Isabelle is so mild and shy.
They're both really open about their love life. I liked how they were interested in other people and not just each other.

Isabelle is crushing on a classmate.

“I don’t let anyone see where I live. Sorry,” I quietly mutter.
With a quizzical look, he says, “Alright. Do you live in a box or something?”
“Yes,” I reply. “Two boxes actually, held together with that tape that fixes everything.”
“Awesome, I hope you at least have a great view.”


I thought Eric would fall flat, but he's pretty cool too. I'd give him 5 stars.

Looking at me, he says, “Give me your cell. I will put it in.”
“Umm, yeah,” I retort. “I don’t have a cell phone.”
“Wow, okay, get out a piece of paper then. I hope you have that.”


And Isabelle's honesty that was so grating in the beginning starts to work in her favour.

“I am sorry Eric, but I have to go. I understand if you don’t want to deal with my melodramatic butt, but some things are hard for me to talk about.”

Jeremy
It made me curious as to how Isabelle and Jeremy would ever cross that line into romantic territory especially with Jeremy sort of being cast in the “older guy” and mentor role.

“I will probably need to sleep in. I am going out with the boys Friday night, lots of debauchery and craziness.”
“Debauchery, you know what that means right?” I ask.
Giving me a perplexed look, he responds, “No, not really.”
“It’s like saying you are going to have sex with a whole bunch of people or have an orgy, and I hope that isn’t what you have planned.”
Jeremy suddenly bursts out laughing. “I have totally been using that word wrong.”


I love the way they became friends and then tried to fight the attraction and chemistry that they established through getting to know each other. Wow, what an unusual concept. Thank heck, no insta-love.

Part 2


Jeremy kind of turns into a major asshole for the second half of the book.
Chauvinistic, manipulative, it was a struggle to get to the end.
I hated that Isabelle let it all slide because he makes her feel gooey.
Jeremy knows how messed up Isabelle's head is and it just seems so selfish of him to take advantage of that.
If Isabelle says anything that remotely annoys him he takes it out on her with “physical affection”. I really felt trapped in that kind of relationship.
Then it starts going round and round in circles. Isabelle tries to get a life outside of Jeremy and they're both miserable and then he tries to get a life outside of Isabelle and then they're both miserable. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

And of course, when they finally get around to it, they have to do it in the weirdest way possible. I don't know if I love or hate these two.

“There is something in this bathroom that I love very much.”...Jeremy looks me right in the eyes, and says, “I am….in love….with something in this bathroom.”

Sexual Content: No graphic sex scenes but a lot of steamy flirting
Profile Image for sandra.
676 reviews
August 24, 2018
Personalmente, no me gustan los libros largos. Se me hacen muy interminables y siempre me ocurre que los abandono por aburrimiento o los leo de mala gana. Con The Art of Life casi me pasa lo primero pero tampoco me ha pasado lo segundo. El caso es que se me ha hecho muy pesado y eterno. Solo siento que esta historia podría haberse contado igual de bien con muchísimas menos páginas y detalles innecesarios.

Isabelle y Jeremy empiezan como amigos, que pasan a ser mejores amigos y que, obviamente, desarrollan sentimientos por el otro. Pero claro, no quieren que su amistad se pierda ni nada. Todo muy típico. Lo que realmente me ha molestado de esta "relación" es que se comportan como una pareja desde prácticamente el principio, escudándose en el "solo somos amigos" cuando en realidad parecen un matrimonio. Lo siento, pero no voy por ahí besando en la boca a mis amigos. Y, de hecho, Cassandra y otros personajes se lo dicen continuamente, pero Isabelle lo niega (más bien se lo niega, porque sus sentimientos eran claros como el agua). Entonces, que se comporten como una pareja pero que son amigos, con continuas muestras de afectos y todo ese rollo se me ha hecho bastante extraño. Que sí, que me ha gustado, pero no ha terminado de convencerme. Y para más inri, estos dos están siempre diciéndose "cuando consigas un novio/a", "tienes que tener una cita" o "ve a besar a esa chica" los dos tontos están muriéndose por dentro pero ninguno dice nada, ninguno admite nada. Eso me ha desquiciado.

Aun así ha sido una buena lectura, que he disfrutado mucho leyéndola (y sobre todo a Jeremy, súper adorable ese hombre).
Profile Image for Laura Clark.
123 reviews16 followers
February 18, 2014
I love my books - Seriously if I have a spare second my nose will be in a book. So I like to think I know a thing or two about good books.

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST BOOK EVER!

Please note I do not say this lightly.

The Art of life, follows Isabelle a nerdy high school girl who has a pretty rubbish home life and not a lot going for her in general.

One coffee and her life changes course with the arrival of the BEST book boyfriend EVER! Jeremy Stoll. If I could crawl into this book I would.

I don't want to ruin the magic that Sarah Carter has create in this book, so I am keeping mum on this one. But if you have ever felt low, sad or alone you need this book in your life now.
I have lost count the amount of times I have read it and every time I pick it up, I still get caught up by it.

Sweet, touching, heartfelt, funny and hopeful! The Art of life is all you really need!

Love you Ms Carter, please, please, please write some more about Izzy and the gang. I cant get enough and I don't think I ever will. This is a story I will take well into my old age.

xoxo
Profile Image for Karen.
90 reviews
October 29, 2013
2.5 Stars

So I really, really, really wanted to like this book.

The premise seemed like it could be interesting. I am only writing a review simply because I am absolutely baffled how anyone could have given it 5 stars. As one of the other reviewers said, the dialogue was probably the greatest distraction due to its stilted cadence. I mean no one, really talks like that. At one point, it was so distracting that I almost did not finish the book. Also the plot line had a lot of potential but simply did not translate in the end. The supporting characters were somewhat more interesting and nuanced than the main characters and the female main character was especially weak.

Sigh. I really feel like this is a draft version of a potentially stellar book.
Profile Image for Jing.
276 reviews5 followers
January 8, 2015
this book is so slow at times but i love it! i love this book so much. :D the editing seems strange in this book, like the author is not a native english speaker. that or she hates using contractions.

the characters seem a bit too juvenile or perfect, but hey, we all have our flaws, but despite all these, i am so in love with this book.

this book is not realistic at all, the heroine's life was bad until the guy came along and then all of a sudden, she seemed to have a charmed life, but if you just want to have a sweet romantic book, this will do it for you. :)
30 reviews
June 7, 2013
While I enjoyed reading this book and I liked that the main characters actually got to know each other and it wasn't just insta-love, I didn't like reading, repeatedly throughout the entire book, how the main female lead has never been around boys before. Yeah.....I got it the first 50 times you said it. And really, constantly calling a 21 yr old guy being....well, a guy, a pervert is just odd. The main character acted more like a 13yr old, not a shy 18yr old.
Profile Image for Meli A..
Author 1 book16 followers
December 2, 2013
Asdjflksjdf... No tengo palabras para este libro... solo... Es de mis favoritos. No quería terminarlo. ME ENAMORÉ de él.
Profile Image for Melanie Douglas.
376 reviews4 followers
December 26, 2013
I kind of really loved this story.. It really warmed my heart, and it just worked for me ;) I would LOVE a book two.. Jus sayin :)
Profile Image for Kim Pow.
819 reviews7 followers
February 10, 2023
Terrible

Childish, awful prose, ridiculous plot. The characters all come across as ridiculous and underdeveloped. A chore to even attempt to read *face palm*
Profile Image for Mar.
336 reviews8 followers
October 22, 2017
ATENCIÓN:
Este libro pertenece a mi shelf "tratos", pero no hay uno explícito dentro de la trama.

No sé ni por dónde comenzar con esta reseña ...

Izzy, ha sido víctima del bullying durante muchos muchos años y eso, ha destruido su autoestima y su capacidad de ver el talento que ella posee. Afortunadamente, un día llega un "caballero de brillante armadura" a salvarle de un ataque.

Jeremy, es un chico tan atractivo como reservado que nunca le cuenta nada a nadie. Cautivado por las barreras de Izzy, le propone ayudarle a construir su autoestima y ser "una chica normal".

La historia es buena, no me mal interpreten. Es larga y por momentos en extremo detallada (cada día puede abarcar 5 capítulos, no kidding), llegué a sentir la conexión de Jeremy e Izzy y me enamoré profundamente de Jeremy.

Pero ... ¿cómo explicarlo? Jeremy es tan perfecto que es muy muy irreal. Porque ¿qué amigo que te conoce desde hace cinco meses te compra un auto y te paga un sustento? I mean ... es too much. Creo que me sentí más apenada que Izzy cada vez que Jeremy le compraba algo. "¿Oh, quieres un vestido de 600 dólares? Cómpralo. Todo lo que quieras, cariño." Y es un ejemplo de todo lo que él le compra.

Por momentos me recordó a Beautiful Disaster because; chico que conduce una moto, súper popular con las chicas y enamorado de su mejor amiga, aunque él lo niegue. Y por otros, a The Education of Alice, The Deal y demás .. (especialmente a The Education Of Alice) por el "trato" entre ellos, que nunca ponen literalmente. Pero se da a entender.


Pese a que el libro tiene casi 600 páginas (la versión que yo tengo) y 550 páginas es de su amistad, muchos gritos de frustración y el haber dejado los ojos en blanco como unas tres mil veces, me gustó el libro. Me pareció una historia bonita y siento que pudo haber estado mucho mejor escrita. Pero sigue siendo enviciante haberla leído.

3.5 Estrellas para esa bonita relación y porque (evitando la parte del dinero) quisiera un Jeremy. Oh my.
11 reviews
May 10, 2024
Had lots of potential

I feel like Isabelle was too dramatic:
She's never done anything in her whole life, even eat steak or seafood. Her mom used to cook her roasts when she was little though??? She was way too much of a damsel...
Sonya was this girl who made her life hell, but there wasn't one instance in this book where Sonya came out on top or had one over Isabelle... She didn't even do anything really bad except call her some names! If anything, Isabelle came off as the tormentor to me.
From being soooo shy, she never had a problem talking to anyone.. and she freely told people her dramatic story of assault, which she feared getting out in the first place??? Whaat???
I liked Jeremy, he had a lot of endearing qualities, so did Josh, Kent and Cassandra, however, why did they like her so much, she was such a victim throughout this book, her mum was the worst mum ever apparently, but it wasn't depicted properly in this book, so everything came across as Isabelle was over the top.. she didn't know how to match clothes, people paid for everything for her, why didn't she go get a part-time job? Some of her rants were cringey.. there was also no real major conflict. It was all pretty much the same pace throughout!
I liked the bestfriend dynamic and with tweaks to Isabelles character and dialogue, as well as major build up to a significant conflict, this could have been really good.
Profile Image for Lizzie Warrick.
92 reviews
July 31, 2025
Look I don't want to be rude because I did like this book. It was just the main character was so annoying. She claimed she was shy but would just go up to anyone and talk. And saying how awkward every five seconds. Okay, maybe not that but still. She gets everything she wants, money, a home, a car, clothes, everything. And literally everybody besides like two people liked her. And even Sonya wasn't that bad. I feel like if I met a person like Isabelle, I would just not want to be near her at all. She stays the same the whole book. From the beginning to the end. The reason I gave it three stars instead of two or one waa become of Jeremy and the supporting characters. They saved the book. There is a sequel to this, which I might read but I don't know. Now maybe Isabelle changes in the sequel but I don't know. And the other thing is the lack of I'm or I'll. The author used it sometimes but most of the time, it wasn't there. Now other than the flaws I mentioned, I liked it especially the romance.
5 reviews1 follower
May 17, 2018
I thought it was a pretty good book, but the way some of the things were written somewhat bothered me. The book was about a girl who had a very bad life, but then things changed and she met someone who really helped her out. At the beginning of the book, the main character was pretty much a shell of herself, she was bullied and thought that she should be bullied. She had very low self confidence and was treated like garbage from every aspect of her life. As the book continued, she seemed to grow into a real person who had friends and had a fun life. She completely changed the way she viewed herself and she learned that she deserves to be loved. She also learned that there are many wonderful things about her and she shouldn't have to take crap from anyone.
443 reviews3 followers
September 25, 2023
Saccharin and light

Ok, I started out not really buying it, that continued but the story grew on me somewhat. Initially I found the MMC very mansplainy, but he improved. The MCs were very innocent considering their backstory, it didn't feel realistic. I sometimes wondered if she had FAS, she seemed entirely too simple and childish, but since she did well at school I'm guessing not. I am torn about the relationship, the girl needed support badly, but she also needs to spread her wings and find out who she is without the lens of the MMC. I can't help but feel the power balance in the relationship was too uneven and that this would ultimately cause dramas. It read as very, very young and this was amplified by the perfunctory (childish) language the author used.
Profile Image for Kat.
160 reviews10 followers
August 10, 2020
Me encantooo, creo que le hubiera dado 5 estrellas si hubiera un giro de la trama no sólo al inicio, sino algo que de verdad nos hiciera estremecernos a mitad o finales del libro. Sin embargo, lo disfruté muchísimo, el romance es maravilloso, me recordó demasiado a mis inicios en este mundo de la lectura (hace rato un libro no hacía eso). Isabella es super tierna (aunque admito que en algunas partes me desesperaba) y ni hablar de Jeremy que es tan perfecto y sexy que hacía que me diera vueltas la cabeza.
Por la portada pensé que iba a ser un libro triste, pero resultó siendo lo opuesto, me reí un montón y la pasé demasiado bien leyendolo (es adictivo) ❤️
Profile Image for La madriguera de Alicia.
46 reviews1 follower
April 14, 2019
Este libro lo leí hace años, pero cada vez que lo leo, me gusta un poquito más.
Si es cierto que es una historia predecible, pero aun así no puede dejar de gustarme menos.
Me gusta la relación que tiene ella con Jeremy, y por supuesto, me encanta Jeremy. ¡¿Dónde está mi Jeremy?!
También me gustaron mucho los personajes secundarios y como poco a poco ella va saliendo de su cascarón para convertirse en alguien nuevo y más fuerte. Aunque si es cierto que en más de una ocasión me han entrado ganas de sacudirlos a ambos, pero es un libro que he disfrutado mucho las 3 veces que lo he leído.
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