Review: The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

Title: The Promise of Amazing
Author: Robin Constantine
Series: Stand Alone
Published By: Balzer + Bray (December 31, 2013)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Contemporary
My Rating: 3.5 Stars!

Book Description:
Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how. 

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

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My Thoughts and Review:
I had high expectations going into this one, I don't know if it was the adorable cover or that title, I mean how can you go wrong with a title like that?  Or maybe it was the cute alluring description or the simple fact that I heard others talking about it so highly, but either way, there you have it. I was expecting something spectacular, something that stood apart from the others.

I tried not to have such expectations, I promise I really did but..I did nonetheless. And once you do have those expectations, it is really hard going into the read not expecting greatness, no matter how hard you try. 

 I liked this one but I didn't absolutely love it like I was really hoping I would. In fact I had a really hard time liking Grayson at first. Don't get me wrong, he had some redeeming qualities and he wasn't all bad, he just wasn't all good either. By the end of the story I did care more about him and the little bugger started to grow on me, bad actions and all. What he felt for Wren won me over. I think if the author hadn't done this one in dual point of views, I would have ended up hating the guy but getting that inner look into what he was thinking and really feeling, the fact that you could see that he really wanted to be a good person, really helped redeem him in the end. 

None of the characters in this story are perfect and that is okay, that makes it work, that is what makes this a very realistic read , one that I think any young person could relate to. 

Wren was a different matter, I liked her from the beginning. I really admired that she wasn't willing to change for anyone, instead, she was willing to change for herself. To become the sort of person she wanted to be. The sort of person that stood up for herself and wasn't meek and timid. 

This was a  really well put together story about two teenagers trying to find their way in life. With love, family, friends and with school. Two people struggling to find where they fit into the world around them and what they want out of life and regardless of whether I connected with the characters or not, I am always a sucker for those kind of stories. And this story was nicely done, very realistic in the author's approach of bringing Wren and Grayson together, the struggles that they were going through on their own and their struggles together as a couple as they both tried to navigate all the feelings and drama of first love and coming into their own. And really, I have to give props to the author for that. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*