180 SECONDS

  

 

 

Some people live their entire lives without changing their perspective. For Allison Dennis, all it takes is 180 seconds…

After a life spent bouncing from one foster home to the next, Allison is determined to keep others at arm’s length. Adopted at sixteen, she knows better than to believe in the permanence of anything. But as she begins her third year in college, she finds it increasingly difficult to disappear into the white noise pouring from her earbuds.

One unsuspecting afternoon, Allison is roped into a social experiment just off campus. Suddenly, she finds herself in front of a crowd, forced to interact with a complete stranger for 180 seconds. Neither she, nor Esben Baylor, the dreamy social media star seated opposite her, is prepared for the outcome.

When time is called, the intensity of the experience overwhelms Allison and Esben in a way that unnerves and electrifies them both. With a push from her oldest friend, Allison embarks on a journey to find out if what she and Esben shared is the real thing—and if she can finally trust in herself, in others, and in love.

 

 

 

QUICK INSIGHT

 

Author: Jessica Park

Genre: YA Romance

Traditional or Self-Pub: Self-pub

Pages: 290

Cover art: 5/5

Cover by: Adil Dara

Overall Reading Experience: 3/5

First 5 Chapters: UH-mazing! You get to know the character really well and it helps considering the journey Allison goes on in this book.

Reasons to keep reading: Adoption awareness, anxiety awareness. Terribly sweet guys.

Get it Here: 180 Seconds

 

WRITING!

Jessica Park has an easy way of writing, everything is simplified and not over detailed. As well as each character were loveable in their own way. I did notice a lot of heartfelt conversations were really repetitive, just saying the same thing over and over again, and it felt like that dragged out the book for me, where I was actively scanning to the next section.

 

 

HOT or NOT?

 

180 seconds. A lot can happen, but none of which I thought were going to. Two people are brought together by a social experiment, which leaves the reader jaw dropped, aka me.

 From the beginning I rooted for Allison. I understood Allison and the terrible past she endured. But it almost seemed like every character in the book went through the same exact thing. There was no originality. 

And after the second half of the book the story started to decline. The ending felt rushed, cluttered and there was one disaster after another. Like give me room to catch up and breath!

I get it, every romance novel has to have the character break up before they can have their BIG “come back to me” moment. But the way this one played out made me roll my eyes.

As much as I love a hero complex as the next girl. I hated that for Allison. As someone with anxiety, it took a lot of hard work for me to overcome it. But for Allison it was magically cured when a guy waltzed right into her life. Or in Allison's case, stares his way intensely into her life. And even though it was repeated that she was healing for herself and he had nothing to do it with it, the story still read as he had everything to do with fixing her. 

Overall it was a nice enjoyable read. And will possibly make you cry.

As always, I do recommend forming your own opinion, so there is a direct link to the book up above. And I always welcome feedback on my own critique as I’m not always right.