This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce
Harper hasn’t had the most conventional of upbringings, raised solely by her marine father, who is distant and has always made it quite clear he wishes Harper wasn’t there. Now eighteen, Harper is leaving behind her secluded life to start a new life at college. She hits it off with roommate, Bree immediately and through her meets Brandon and Chase, two housemates Harper finds herself falling in love with. Brandon and Chase feel the same way about Harper and she must choose between the pair, but even when she does end up with Brandon, she can’t stop thinking about Chase.
Taking Chances started off as a reasonable read. Although I admit I didn’t really ‘get’ the sudden and incredibly intense attraction the two guys feel for Harper, but it was a decent enough love-triangle based story. However, I became increasingly frustrated as Harper yo-yoed back and forth between Brandon and Chase, never able to make up her mind and stick to it as she was apparently so deeply in love with both. Meanwhile, the guys take on the reasonable stance of waiting around while Harper scuttles between them. Yes, they growled at each other and had the odd scuffle and even sulked but not once did they seem fed up with Harper’s behaviour and take themselves out of the equation. They seemed so reasonable about the whole situation and that was the biggest problem with the book for me.
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It seemed Harper could do no wrong in the eyes of those around her. She cheated on and hurt Brandon and Chase and yet their families welcomed her like a long-lost daughter and treated her as though she was made of china, not minding at all the havoc she had selfishly wreaked on their loved ones. I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but it got to the point where the acceptance of those around Harper became ridiculous and the oh so reasonable reaction when Harper yo-yos for the final time was the last straw for me. It was beyond believable and became a complete farce.
5/10
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