Unbreakable Rules (Too Many Rules, #3)

by G L Snodgrass

I've read quite a few of this author's works with varying degrees of enjoyment. None of them are ever bad as such, thin plot yes, but there's always swoon worthy romance to be found. This one on the other hand had too much plot. There were too many threads. Also, I haven't read any of the previous books in this series and it wasn't necessary to the understanding of the plot or characters. As far as I could tell, completely standalone except for the epilogue which has a brief appearance of Casey and Austin from Unwritten Rules.

Unbreakable Rules is your typical high school romance with star crossed lovers; Ryan, King of the Nerds and Hailey, Queen of the Celebrities (or basically just Queen of the Cool Kids). Ryan has been in love with Hailey most of his school career and she as per usual, barely knows he exists. One night the power goes out and when Ryan goes to check on his elderly neighbor, he finds Hailey there housesitting. He invites her over to wait out the blackout and so develops a beautiful friendship. Or something like that anyway.

The blackout storyline had too many dystopian vibes for me, but even aside from that the terrorism angle seemed a bit heavy for what was supposed to be a light hearted romance. But then it was a way to get Hailey and Ryan in the same room so best not to read too much into it I guess. Except I did and feel that it was one of those threads that didn't have enough room to grow and develop. But anyway, so Hailey returns with Ryan to his place where she spends the night with him, his best friend, Mark and his blind sister, Amanda. It is mentioned Hailey is scared of the dark but this is one of those plot points that doesn't really seem to go anywhere. Regardless, we see the interactions of the group as the night goes on. I actually really liked all the characters.

Amanda was quirky with a good sense of humour. I really liked the relationship between her and Mark, even though a lot of it is developed off page. I could see why she liked Mark though, he was so uncaring of the fact she was blind - making jokes when he remembered, forgetting half the time it was an issue and treating her the same regardless. I was disappointed to find their story wraps up in this book, I was looking forward to reading their story. As such, I felt that this was another one of those plot points which was just too big for what the story was. Or should've been.

Okay so the main couple - I liked Ryan and Hailey. I was pleasantly surprised by the maturity the main characters possessed. Ryan was confident, smart and nice. Hailey was a bit shallower but she quickly sees the error of her ways and becomes less concerned about appearances. Her discussion with Amanda was nice, it really highlights what she thinks and when she says it aloud she seems to rethink her views.

"If you want to get in with the right groups. To be accepted then you need to dress like you belong."

"Ryan and Mark don't belong?” Amanda asked. “Aren't part of the 'Good Group'? I know they've got a ton of friends. People are always coming over to talk to Ryan. Are you saying because they don't belong to the right group they are worth less as people? That they are less than successful in life?" Her brow had narrowed in genuine confusion.

My stomach turned over when I thought about what I had just said. Was I really that shallow?

Snodgrass, G.L.. Unbreakable Rules (Too Many Rules Book 3) . Purple Herb. Kindle Edition.

It was nice that when they get back to school Hailey doesn't ignore him. She says hi, she chats, she's willing to be seen in public. Although her popularity is slowly slipping away she never backtracks or hesitates to move forwards with Ryan - which I think is what made this solely unique. I liked the emphasis that there is more to life than high school. Which frankly never seems to be the case when you're in high school and sounds like the biggest cliche but actually is the case.

Besides any flaws Hailey has is made up for at the beginning. She might be shallow, but she dumps Jarret for one reason - he's a jerk. He might treat her well enough but he's mean and cruel to others and she finds herself ashamed to have been interested at all. I really liked this storyline. Guys get dumped for lots of reasons in young adult romances but never usually for this one. She recognises him for what he is and says that's not okay. But this is also another one of those plot points that doesn't get quite enough attention. It comes up at the start and the fallout of her dating Ryan culminates into violence at the end but I don't think the impact of this on Hailey is really explored properly. Actually come to think of it that probably makes it more scary - she just recognises it as everyday life.

Plus the fallout from this leads to the revenge plot which is crammed in and then brought up again briefly at the end. Either commit to fully destroying everything or destroy nothing. The impact falls short without showing what happens as a result.

Still as much as there was too much plot, the story was still really good. The characters were likable and there were many swoon worthy exchanges. Ryan was full of adorable words and he really worshipped Hailey. Less plot would've made this a 4.5. Without it 4 stars.