The Gravity Between Us

by Kristen Zimmer

• ISBN10: 190949013X
• ISBN13: 9781909490130
• Publish Date: 17 October 2013 (first published 11 October 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bookouture
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 310
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

Being a massive fan of New Adult, I was quite thrilled to be offered the chance to read and review The Gravity Between Us. I don’t read many novels about being gay; in Chick Lit they just don’t seem to exist, the gay guys/girls are always best friends to the main character. So I was very interested to see how The Gravity Between Us played out. I’m quite open-minded, I do believe it doesn’t matter who you love, as long as you love someone. Obviously society doesn’t accept that, at all, though you’d like to think that in these so modern times it just wouldn’t matter, but it does. I dunno why. I’d still think a Manchester United player was a great player if he were gay, I’d still watch Sandra Bullock movies if she were gay, it’s about people’s ability not their relationship preferences, but being gay is still taboo in most areas of life, and that is a bit of a shame.

The Gravity Between Us was an okay novel, it didn’t blow my socks off and there’s things I’d have preferred to have chnged, but for the most part I enjoyed it. The fact it was written from both Kendall and Payton’s point of view was fabulous, if a little irritating; to see two people clearly so into each other but not voicing it to each other drove me to distraction. To see them both so clearly wanting each other but to stuff it down deep just got annoying after a while particularly as it lasted ages. It should have been a quarter of the book max, and then it should have got to the nitty-gritty of their relationship as more than friends. I wanted to see how that relationship developed, not spend most of the novel having them question their feelings for the other. The book would have moved at a quicker pace if they’d got that talk outta the way sooner.

I thought Kristen Zimmer was rather brave, not only writing a novel about two gay girls but to make one of them a Hollywood star, that takes guts and it worked really well. I loved how down to Earth Kendall was, despite her fame (sorta like I imagine Jennifer Lawrence is, actually). Like, it is what it is etc. I love famous people like that. I enjoyed the book for the most part, considering the book was about a famous actress I felt it came across as very realistic. I don’t know if this is a groundbreaking novel; but it is certainly new territory to me personally. I enjoyed it; it didn’t blow me away, but I’d definitely read a second novel by Kristen Zimmer.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

After Jim of YA Yeah Yeah raved about The Gravity Between Us by Kristen Zimmer to me and several others on Twitter, I bought the eBook as it was cheap and sounded awesome. However, I didn't finish this book, and stopped reading at 41%. I wasn't enjoying it at all.

The two characters, Kendall and Payton are 19, yet they are so juvenile most of the time in the way they think, I just couldn't warm to them. This is generally, as well as about/with each other. They could both be a bit melodramatic. I started off rolling my eyes, but it became frustrated thoughts of, "Oh, for god's sake!" I really didn't like them.

You don't necessarily need to like the characters to enjoy a story, but this wasn't the only problem I had with the book. The plot didn't hook me, and there were multiple scenes that felt completely unnecessary. The writing felt kind of clunky in several places. And that's still not all.

The love story just didn't work for me. These two girls have been best friends for years, and then all of a sudden they're in love. Literally, everything is normal, and then within the space of minutes, Payton is in love with Kendall. Just like that. And as soon as Payton comes out to Kendall, her own feelings start to change. Granted, she takes her time coming to terms accepting what she feels, but the change happens super quick. It just wasn't realistic, so I couldn't believe it as I was reading on - and that along with the melodrama, it was just too much. Reading it became such a chore, and I knew, if I didn't stop, it would be good few days before I finished it, because I simply didn't want to read it.

Really not for me. However, there are people who have loved it, so do read some other reviews before making a decision on whether to read it or not yourself - try Jim's review over on The Bookbag.