3 Sides to a Circle

by Janna Watts

• ASIN: B00BLQ4SIC
• Publish Date: 2013
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 204
• Language: English

Reviews

[e_rodz_leb]

3 Sides of a Circle is an amazing story of three college freshman that happen to find each other and become best friends.

The story is told from the first person point of view, alternating between Honor and Toby. I always enjoy this format because it allows for a better insight of the characters. Honor is very uptight, uncomfortable around people and with the way they react to her looks. She has been a model for years and is conscious of how people treat her after that fact is known. Toby is a shy, mildly nerdy and an awesome guy. He falls by accident in the tornado that is Libby and he quickly learns to care for both girls deeply. It was very easy to guess what was wrong with Libby and I wasn’t surprised at all.

Now, on to Sawyer. Sawyer is an artist and Honor’s ‘painter’; he is handsome, talented and very… intense. That’s the best word I can find to describe him. He is a great guy, but a bit scary if I want to be honest. Other characters are minor and not explored nearly as much as Sawyer and our circle of friends.

The plot is easy to follow and original. The story deals with intense feelings and delicate topics, such as mental illness, homosexuality, and hate crimes, but it’s not preachy. The writing was clean and eloquent and I’m curious to know who the writing partnership worked. The book starts very funny and progresses to be ‘jumpy’ and erratic, to match Libby’s behavior and the feelings that it provokes in Toby and Honor.

There were two things that I didn’t find believable. The first one was that no one figured out that something was seriously wrong with Libby. I mean, no teachers (and I doubt that she was getting good grades), if I were her mom I would be visiting at least twice a month. The second one was that Libby, Toby and Honor became such good friends, to the point that they were almost dependent of each other very quickly; the main part of the story takes place in a span of about three months. Please note that the story contains language and sexual references.

Overall, 3 Sides to a Circle was a great read and I will definitely look for more books about these authors.

Quotes for you:

“You didn’t even have to tell me the room number. Just follow the nose, it always knows!” she sings…
“…We’ve come to move Toby out, because you smell like… Body odor just doesn’t cover it.” Libby shakes her head and step inside.”

“I’d do almost anything for Toby or Libby – even though she makes me crazy. But what does that make the three of us? Odd parts of a circle?” – Honor

“I’ll make myself worth keeping. I’ll be the anchor for you” – Toby

[lizarodz]

3 Sides of a Circle is an amazing story of three college freshman that happen to find each other and become best friends.

The story is told from the first person point of view, alternating between Honor and Toby. I always enjoy this format because it allows for a better insight of the characters. Honor is very uptight, uncomfortable around people and with the way they react to her looks. She has been a model for years and is conscious of how people treat her after that fact is known. Toby is a shy, mildly nerdy and an awesome guy. He falls by accident in the tornado that is Libby and he quickly learns to care for both girls deeply. It was very easy to guess what was wrong with Libby and I wasn’t surprised at all.

Now, on to Sawyer. Sawyer is an artist and Honor’s ‘painter’; he is handsome, talented and very… intense. That’s the best word I can find to describe him. He is a great guy, but a bit scary if I want to be honest. Other characters are minor and not explored nearly as much as Sawyer and our circle of friends.

The plot is easy to follow and original. The story deals with intense feelings and delicate topics, such as mental illness, homosexuality, and hate crimes, but it’s not preachy. The writing was clean and eloquent and I’m curious to know who the writing partnership worked. The book starts very funny and progresses to be ‘jumpy’ and erratic, to match Libby’s behavior and the feelings that it provokes in Toby and Honor.

There were two things that I didn’t find believable. The first one was that no one figured out that something was seriously wrong with Libby. I mean, no teachers (and I doubt that she was getting good grades), if I were her mom I would be visiting at least twice a month. The second one was that Libby, Toby and Honor became such good friends, to the point that they were almost dependent of each other very quickly; the main part of the story takes place in a span of about three months. Please note that the story contains language and sexual references.

Overall, 3 Sides to a Circle was a great read and I will definitely look for more books about these authors.

Quotes for you:

“You didn’t even have to tell me the room number. Just follow the nose, it always knows!” she sings…
“…We’ve come to move Toby out, because you smell like… Body odor just doesn’t cover it.” Libby shakes her head and step inside.”

“I’d do almost anything for Toby or Libby – even though she makes me crazy. But what does that make the three of us? Odd parts of a circle?” – Honor

“I’ll make myself worth keeping. I’ll be the anchor for you” – Toby

[Angie]

So, I love the title. I know circles don’t have sides, but I think 3 Sides to a Circle totally works given the situation that our three characters are in. Honor, Libby, and Toby meet on their first day of college, and become almost inseparable. However, things start to get a little weird in their circle. No, there’s no crazy, wild, threesome between them. In fact, I should mention that for those of you who complain that New Adult is just sexed up Young Adult, this one does not fit that description. Yes, there are mentions of sex, but the focus is on this unstable friendship.

Honor is very uptight. She’s a model, but she doesn’t want that to follow her to her new college life. It’s also made her quite self-conscious. She knows she’s pretty, but it worries her that all people see is a pretty face. Luckily, that’s not the case with Libby and Toby. Or with Sawyer, the sexy painter she starts dating.

Toby is so sweet! I adored him from his very first chapter! I loved how he was written honestly, and we get a glimpse into the male mind. I couldn’t help but smile or laugh whenever he started to have inappropriate thoughts about his two gal pals despite trying hard not to.

Libby, Libby, Libby. I was a little disappointed that she doesn’t get to narrate, but after getting to know her, I don’t think I could handle her interior monologues. That sounds kind of me. I loved Libby as a character, but she has such a hug personality, that she already steals every scene she’s in. We don’t really need her perspective added to the mix. She’s very vocal about her feelings, so it’s not like we need to get into her mind much.

The plot is very character driven being a Contemporary novel. It’s by no means slow or boring though! We get to know each of these characters to their core, and under the seemingly happy surface of their friendship, it’s obvious that something is not right. I had also figured out Libby’s secret on page one, so it was a little frustrating how it took Honor and Toby so long to realize it.

I really enjoyed 3 Sides to a Circle. The characters felt very real and not cliche. Even though I couldn’t personally relate to each of their individual struggles, I was still cheering each of them on. It’s a pretty short novel, so it didn’t go as deep into the main issue as I would have liked, but I think the authors did an amazing job with it in the pages that are there.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.