Book Review: 180 Seconds by Jessica Park

Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: New adult contemporary romance
Length: 300 pages
Author: Jessica Park
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date: April 25th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Some people live their entire lives without changing their perspective. For Allison Dennis, all it takes is 180 seconds…

After a life spent bouncing from one foster home to the next, Allison is determined to keep others at arm’s length. Adopted at sixteen, she knows better than to believe in the permanence of anything. But as she begins her third year in college, she finds it increasingly difficult to disappear into the white noise pouring from her earbuds.

One unsuspecting afternoon, Allison is roped into a social experiment just off campus. Suddenly, she finds herself in front of a crowd, forced to interact with a complete stranger for 180 seconds. Neither she, nor Esben Baylor, the dreamy social media star seated opposite her, is prepared for the outcome.

When time is called, the intensity of the experience overwhelms Allison and Esben in a way that unnerves and electrifies them both. With a push from her oldest friend, Allison embarks on a journey to find out if what she and Esben shared is the real thing—and if she can finally trust in herself, in others, and in love.

OH MY HEART.

Reading this book constantly made me think, this book is going to destroy me, boy was I right. Staying up way too late to finish this was necessary because I NEEDED a happy ending.

I absolutely loved that this book was about a relationship and not as you see typically a book where the characters are moving towards a relationship. Esben and Allison get together pretty quickly into the book and the emotion and moments created behind this made it feel like so much more than insta-love. I felt the connection between them too during their 180 seconds.

Esben is a new book boyfriend. What a man y’all. I loved how passionate and caring he was. Yet alluring and handsome. Could joke and be serious and really kept his priorities in check. The way he treated Allison made me absolutely melt.

Now Simon. WHAT A DAD. If I thought about crying at any point, it was the moments where Allison really let Simon be her Dad. I can only imagine how hard adopting an older girl out of foster care would be and the way that Simon loved Allison made my heart burst. He is one of the BEST book Dads I have ever read.

Allison was an amazing MC. You really saw her character grow and grasp onto the concept of being brave. She slowly learned to let others in while taking her walls down. Even fully understanding that she does have people in her life that will love her always. Allison showed strength and raw humanity dealing with the trials before her.

The reason I took of 1/2 star was because towards the end I felt like a lot of the social media interactions really felt far-fetched and a bit unbelievable. They leaned towards being there purely to push the plot along because otherwise there wasn’t an option. I understood the dynamic, but thought it a bit ridiculous at times.

This is my second Park book, and based on the raving review I gave the last one (Flat-Out Love, pre-blog/Goodreads days) I can’t wait to read more of her titles!

Overall audience notes:

• New adult contemporary romance
• Language: some
• Romance: kisses, make-outs, a spectrum (this phrasing was used in the novel) of moments from kisses to a sex scene, a few love scenes; all little to mild detailed with fade to black, nothing fully explicit
• Trigger warnings: high levels of anxiety, Ch. 19 – a main character describes finding a sibling after being sexually assaulted/raped (somewhat detailed)

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