Unmaking Hunter Kennedy

by Anne Eliot

[nitzan_schwarz]

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3.5 of 5 stars
Let's start with saying this: without a doubt one of the cutest books I've ever read. I am still grinning. And that sappy ending *giggle giggle* love it!

Hunter Kennedy is a famous pop star. The kind girls get all incoherent around; textbook good looks, abs to die for, eyes to dive in... perfect. But Hunter doesn't feel perfect. He feels depressed... which leads to all kind of stuff that lend him in Colorado, spending his time under the disguise of Dustin McHugh.
I simply adored Hunter/Dustin's character. He wasn't mean, jerky or full of it at all. Even when he spoke of stuff that others considered him "being full of it", he explained quite nicely how that really wasn't what he meant at all.
He was just sweet, nice and funny, and I loved him. The guy deserves sooooo many hugs!

Vere Roth is a cute, geeky girl. She is pretty much a reject in her school because she has what I call super-blush-attacks, and she get's so embarrassed by them she can't talk or breath properly when they happen.
She was sweet, shy, full of excitement about everything in life - ice cream, heart-shaped rocks, water... She approaches everything with enthusiasm and with all her heart, and she really cares about everyone around her.

Charlie is Vere's brother, and contradictory to typical sibling-relationships in books, they've got the kind of relationship I envy. They love each other deeply and are very protective and supportive of one another.
He's also a fan of Hunter, but personally I thought he had a weird way of showing it; being kind of mean to Hunter most of the time. Though, he was just doing his brotherly duty...

Jenna is Vere's best friend, and she's a pretty cool girl. She's another outcast, as Vere is, but she acts like one of the popular kids sometimes. It was a weird but interesting combination. Also, I loved her and Vere together because even though they're like the lowest in the food chain in their school, they talk cloths and boys and appearances just the same, which from experience is something I know to be true. At least in my case, anyway.

Curtis is Charlie's best friend and the guy Vere's in love with. Personally, I've no idea what she finds in the guy...

The romance was very sweet.
I loved that Hunter/Dustin knew when he fell for Vere, and never once pretended to himself otherwise. He crushed on her basically from the get-go, and was very open with himself--and later on with Vere and the rest of the world--about his feelings. I love when a guy knows and is alright with loving someone!
I was a bit frustrated with the promise he made Charlie--especially since he realized he was crushing two minutes later--and the way he stuck to it, even though he knew his feelings.
On the other hand, it was very sweet how he tried to give Vere what she wanted and what he thought would make her happy!
Vere had been in love with Curtis forever. I was a bit angry with her when Curtis started to pay attention to her and they started hanging out because every time she mentioned Curtis, she said annoying, creepy and stuff like that in her head. Girl, when you think those things about a guy so many times... figure out you don't really love him already! Please!

The ending was so sappy, but damn, I couldn't stop grinning! I wish we got to see them at homecoming or something, though :/

The bad parts in the book were mostly that some times - I did not understand the character's behaviors! They would suddenly get mad or something, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why!
Or they'd just contradict themselves, like how Hunter keeps saying he loves and enjoys his life in Colorado, but seconds later he wants to get back home and screams at people that this is putting his life on hold and they don't understand how it is for him... WTH? It didn't add up.
Then there was the fact all the parts people figured out who Hunter was came out a bit over the top. Lots of AHHHHHHHHHH and DUDE, DUDE and OHMYGODs and what's not. It felt a bit too much to me...
And lastly, Hunter's depression and all he's been through were handled pretty lightly and too easily. Same goes with Vere's super-blush condition. It seemed like it was just solved too shallowly, easily and quickly.

However, this is, to me at least, just a light, fun, cute novel, and so I forgive it for handling the dark parts lightly, because at the end I enjoyed it despite of it. I wasn't looking for a heavy read, anyway.