Easy (Contours of the Heart, #1)

by Tammara Webber

Tara Sands (Narrator)

• ISBN10: 1469255286
• ISBN13: 9781469255286
• Publish Date: 20 November 2012 (first published 1 May 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Brilliance Audio
• Edition: Unabridged
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 8 hours and 53 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[jnikkir]

I really, really liked this book. It felt like a timely read, too, because of what's been in the news lately (the rape case where the rapist got a disgustingly light "punishment"). I was incredibly impressed by how everything surrounding Jacqueline's assault (and the guy who assaulted her) was handled -- even though I disagreed with some of Jacqueline's decisions, they were all too believable. I also really loved Lucas and Jacqueline's relationship, how so much of it was about Jacqueline finding her own strength and independence separate from Lucas (and separate from her ex). I do think the ending dragged things out a bit after what felt like the book's main climax, and the final issues were resolved in a bit of a rush. But overall this was a great book. Highly recommend.

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Review to come!

[reveriesociety_]

:o Way better than I expected.

[thebookdisciple]

I really liked this book. I thought the characters were realistic, the plot moved along, and over all it was just enjoyable.

[Amber]

This review was originally posted on Books of Amber

After having avoided New Adult books for so long, I was a little hesitant to pick up anything by Tammara Webber. However, I read her Between the Lines series and loved it, so I thought I would give Easy a try when I saw it in Barnes and Noble for $5. I wasn’t sure what to expect, because of my thing about going into books knowing nothing about them, and I was very surprised by what I found.


Easy is a story about a girl who is attacked and almost raped, is saved by a stranger, and then stalked by the would-be rapist. It’s intense, and deals with some tough issues, but it is oh-so-good. I was surprised to find that this isn’t really a story about a boy and a girl, a man and a woman, but it’s about a sexual assault survivor who is fucking awesome.

Jacqueline is attacked early on in the book, and throughout the story she has people spreading rumours about her, and she feels awful about herself. She goes through a phase of thinking that the assault was her fault, and that she could have somehow prevented it. But the entire message of this book is that it’s not her fault, and it’s never any woman’s fault if they are assaulted in that way. Webber handled the topic very well, in my opinion, and I was getting very emotional while I was reading.

Jacqueline goes through so much over the course of the book, and she changes as a person and that is fantastic. I loved her, and I was cheering for her the entire way through. The classes she was taking, the email exchanges, the self defence classes, were all brilliantly done and helped to develop Jacqueline’s character further, and Webber has created a brilliant character with Jacqueline.

The secondary characters are freakin’ awesome. I loved Jacqueline’s friends because they were constantly reassuring her and were so patient and kind. Lucas, the love interest, was also great, and totally not my type but I still wanted him and Jacqueline to get together. But, for me, the love story wasn’t the most important part of the book. At all. It was all about Jacqueline, and the overall message behind the story.

I did kind of enjoy the forbidden love thing, because that’s usually awesome, but in the grand scheme of things it didn’t really matter to me. Because I didn’t really feel much for Lucas… as in, I wasn’t attracted to him and I thought he was only important because Jacqueline considered him to be so, I won’t be reading the sequel to this book, because it’s all about him. I don’t really care about finding out more about him, which may sound harsh, but Easy was all about Jacqueline and her story, so I have no feelings towards the companion book.

If you enjoy reading contemporary stories that deal with darker, yet very important topics such as assault and rape, then I would highly recommend this book. Easy can be triggering, I’m sure, but it’s a fantastic book about a woman who survives a horrible attack with the help of her friends, and who comes to recognise that sexual assault would never be her fault.

[Rowena]

Holy batballs, this book was good!

I really enjoyed this book and am super thankful to my besty Ames for turning me on to this author. I’m very wary of trying out self-published authors because I’ve had my fair share of pissed off self-published authors after reading my reviews. I’m actually not even accepting self-published authors for review but Ames assured me that this book was good and she’s never steered me wrong so I went ahead and got down to reading it.

So the story follows Jacqueline as she makes her way in life as a sophomore in college. She’s not at a performing arts college like Juliard because she followed her high school sweetheart to college, something that her music teachers and parents weren’t too happy about. But she’s in love and she goes anyway. When he dumps her so that he can sow his wild oats at college, two months into their sophomore year, Jacqueline finds herself single in a school that her ex-boyfriend is pretty popular at. It takes her two weeks to start failing a class for the first time in her entire life.

When she leaves a party by herself, she’s almost raped by one of her ex-boyfriend’s frat brothers. Before that could happen though, Jacqueline is saved by a stranger who would later because very important to her.

I really enjoyed Webber’s writing style, her words kept me invested in not only Jacqueline but the other characters as well. Jacqueline had a fabulous support team in her dorm roommate Erin and in Lucas. I really liked the way that Webber strung us (the reader) along with the whole who is Lucas and who is Landon and why are they the same person? I thought Lucas’ back story was heartbreaking and it made so much sense, considering the kind of man Lucas grew up to be. I heart that guy so much and was thrilled with the way that this story ended. The romantic in me was on cloud 9 by the time I finished this book and a little bit bummed that I had finished the story.

As a character, I loved Jacqueline. I thought that the way that she was portrayed and the way that she slowly came back to life after first the break up and then the attempted rape was done in a way that felt real and authentic. As frustrating as it was to see Jacqueline not report the incident to the police, it rang true with how I think that a person her age would handle the entire situation. As the story continued and the more that I got to know Jacqueline, I really came to like her character. She was strong and the way that Lucas was with her was so sweet, that I ate it all up. I loved it. I really loved the friendship between Jacqueline and Erin. Erin is one of those friends that you want in your corner, she does what she has to, to take care of the people she cares about and she takes stands that need to be taken. I admired the hell out of her.

I can’t recommend this book enough. To read it, is to love it I think and I don’t think very many people will be disappointed with it so really, do yourself a favor and get this book. It’s a good one.

[EBookObsessed]

I had a hard time getting into this story and a hard time liking Jacqueline. I listened to an audiobook copy and I had to turn is off 4x and just listen to music because I couldn't stand the stupid things she kept doing or the constant "I wanted to ask, but I couldn't."

At first I couldn't understand why so many people had recommended this book to me.

About halfway through the book, Jacqueline started growing up and standing up for herself and I enjoyed the second half of the book much more.

See more at http://ebookobsessed.com.

[Angie]

I’ll admit that I never read the blurb for Easy until after I read it. I’m not sure how likely I would have been to read the book if had read the description prior. It’s very vague, and I’m surprised that there’s no mention of the major conflict. Although I think I would have avoided it altogether if it had been. I am glad that I did read Easy though. Yes, the beginning had me totally out of my comfort zone, but the author handled the topic quite respectfully, so I was less antsy as the story moved forward and Jacqueline (don’t call her Jackie!) dealt with her assault.

One thing that I really loved about Easy was how balanced it was. It could be categorized as an issues book, since it deals quite heavily with sexual assault. But it’s also very much a romance book, with plenty of steam and swoon! I was amazed how seamlessly both of these plots fit together, since Lucas also has experience with rape, although very different than Jacqueline’s. They’re each able to comfort each other about their demons, and Lucas pays a pivotal role in helping Jacqueline become empowered.

The romance was also great! I absolutely loved the set up of Lucas being Jacqueline’s tutor. It’s a forbidden romance without being totally over-the-top or cliche. I actually wasn’t even aware that tutors couldn’t be involved with students in the class they tutor for. It makes perfect sense, but it’s not something I ever thought about. It definitely adds some tension to the relationship, since we know they’re not suppose to be having one. It’s hard to want them to follow the rules though, because holy crap, their chemistry is through the roof! I was dying waiting for them to finally go all the way!

I guess I’ll end with one negative, and that was how in the beginning Jacqueline seems more concerned about being dumped than being almost raped. This drove me crazy, probably because I was still dealing with reading the assault and couldn’t care less about her ex-boyfriend. It was just frustrating, and made me not like her for several chapters. Other than that, Easy is a great read. It takes a tough subject and educates readers about it, while still providing entertainment.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[blackbibliophile]

It was a good book but I think others hyped it up and I was left feeling disappointed. :-/

[anastasia]

Love this book!! OMG

Review posted at So Many Books, So Little Time