*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review*
Toby
Wright has always prided himself on being one of the most normal guys
at Whitman University. He loves his parents, has a great job lined up
after graduation, and with the exception of attempting to cross the
unbalanced Sebastian Blair sophomore year, has kept his nose pretty
clean.
But the rich never have empty closets, and memories long stashed away come spilling free when notorious party girl Kennedy Gilbert almost dies in his dorm room.
Nobody really knows how Kennedy manages to stay in good standing at Whitman–she never goes to class, doesn’t pretend to care about her future, and as far as people can tell, is never sober. This isn’t her first meeting with a stomach pump, but it is the first time she’s woken up to Toby’s concerned brown eyes. Despite the fact that she prefers life without friends, he gets under her skin with his insistence on playing her guardian angel.
No one knows better than Toby that people can only be saved if they want to be, but the realization that she has no one else draws him back into the shadows of Kennedy’s life–and eventually into her bed. But she long ago came to terms with a truth that Toby refuses to accept: she doesn’t want to be rescued, she only wants to forget.
Unwilling to give up on her, Toby’s dragged under by this broken girl and her dark, twisted Whitman University he never guessed existed. If he struggles to the surface, he’ll abandon someone he loves for the second time in his life. If he doesn’t, it won’t be long until they both drown.
But the rich never have empty closets, and memories long stashed away come spilling free when notorious party girl Kennedy Gilbert almost dies in his dorm room.
Nobody really knows how Kennedy manages to stay in good standing at Whitman–she never goes to class, doesn’t pretend to care about her future, and as far as people can tell, is never sober. This isn’t her first meeting with a stomach pump, but it is the first time she’s woken up to Toby’s concerned brown eyes. Despite the fact that she prefers life without friends, he gets under her skin with his insistence on playing her guardian angel.
No one knows better than Toby that people can only be saved if they want to be, but the realization that she has no one else draws him back into the shadows of Kennedy’s life–and eventually into her bed. But she long ago came to terms with a truth that Toby refuses to accept: she doesn’t want to be rescued, she only wants to forget.
Unwilling to give up on her, Toby’s dragged under by this broken girl and her dark, twisted Whitman University he never guessed existed. If he struggles to the surface, he’ll abandon someone he loves for the second time in his life. If he doesn’t, it won’t be long until they both drown.
“She had taught
me about real love – and that it had to be selfless.”
This book left me
speechless and broke my heart a million times. This is one of the
most emotional books I've read lately. Lyla Payne has a way with
words, and if you consider that the story was only told from the male
character's POV, Toby Wright, it gives you even more reasons to be
speechless.
It's not only about
love. It's about loss, pain, finding yourself, accepting who you are
and mostly about living life.
Toby Wright is not
the typical golden boy. He doesn't get into trouble, doesn't drink
much and is a good student.
Kennedy Gilbert is
not the typical girl. She's barely ever sober, doesn't plan her
future and only takes classes she neither has to work for nor attend.
Even though Toby
knows it's not a wise idea, he gets involved with Kennedy and her
countless problems. Kennedy tries her best to push Toby away, to not
feel anything good because she doesn't deserve it, and to piss him
off. She has more problems than anyone ever noticed and tries to
handle them her way. Toby failed once but now he wants to do the
right thing. After spending some weeks with a notorious party girl
and witnessing her ways of handling life he realizes it's not that
easy to save her from herself.
“You can't save
anyone who isn't willing to save themselves.”
How
do you save a person who doesn't want to be saved? How do you handle
someone who's so willingly throwing her life away? How do you live
when the only person left in your life tells you that you don't
deserve to be alive?
I
already loved the first two books in Lyla Payne's Whitman University
Series but this one is by far my favorite. Maybe it's because it's
written from the male POV only, or because of the fact that it's not
only about young love. It's not only about two college students
falling in love, it's about struggling with life, the past and the
fact that you can't save everyone.
Life
isn't always easy, and just because your parents are filthy rich
doesn't mean life's always fair or you're not struggling with events
that are long gone. Life is not perfect.
Even
though the reader only gets to read about Toby's thoughts we also get
a good impression about what Kennedy feels, thinks and about how she
sees her life, her future and herself.
I'm
still swooning over Toby and, damn, I totally fell in love with that
guy. He's no bad boy and he tries to be the hero in Kennedy's life,
but everyone needs a hero sometimes.
I
enjoyed this book so much and can't wait to read more from Lyla
Payne.
I highly recommend this book and the whole series!
