So I really didn't know what to expect from the back cover, or front cover for that reason. The first sentence on the back almost turned me away immediately. "He was kind of hot, in an intense and geeky way." Yeah. I know. BUT LETS GO ON. So as you should know by now (BECAUSE YOU STOPPED READING THIS POST, READ THE BOOK, AND CAME BACK, RIGHT? ) that this is Micah. He's *so* adorable, right. Yeah. RIGHT. I had no idea that Micah would turn out to be the jerk he was. I felt like I was figuring out Micah's true personality ALONG WITH Tess. Although, I would like to say that when Toby first showed up, I was like oooo grab him now! I don't know why, I just kinda had this instinct. So Tess still hangs out with Micah, and for the longest time I think he's cool. Until he started doing classic jerk stuff.
I really wanted to slap him when he called Tess clingy (for reference, that's page 129). Like what the heck dude? And then he just is like, "I'm sorry, don't be mad." *raise eyebrows* So basically around the middle of the book, I started to really stop liking Micah. I know, I should have caught on quicker. Whatever. And then he mocked Laura? That was bad. (pg 154). But really, the moment when my mouth dropped open, LITERALLY (sorry Isha! She thinks I say literally too much) was when he and Tess got in their first big fight. Tess asks why he is such a jerk and Micah asks why she hangs out with him then. Then Mr.Jerk McGee answers his own question. "Oh, right. It's because you're in love with me.' Now there was a cruel glint in his eyes. 'Deep, unreciprocated love. Honestly, Tess, its kind of pathetic." WOAH DUDE. STOP RIGHT THERE. That was WAYYY uncalled for. You are MOCKING her and making it perfectly clear that you don't return her love. Unlike Tess, if my (hypothetical) "boyfriend" said that I would stand up, slap him, and walk out of there. Which is almost what Tess did, but not quite. Anyway, so I was so angry at Micah.
So you know that Micah is a jerk wad. Finally Tess figured it out. Then you realize just how much her dad is ALSO a jerk. Poor Tess. All men around her are jerks. Except for… drumroll please….TOBY! Woohoooo! Anyway so fast forward to the party. So Tess is hanging out with Laura and Toby when she sees Daisy. Its obvious whats wrong. So she follows her to the river. They have their little heart to heart (which not going to get into) and Tess realizes that Daisy has the exact same problems as her. Throughout the whole book, Daisy was portrayed as the "bad one" , the one everyone hated, the one Tess was jealous of. And truthfully, I hated her too. So they have this talk, and everybody (aka Tess + readers) realizes that Daisy isn;t so bad. And then she throws herself in the river. AUGGHHHHHH WHAT? *silently sob for ten seconds until you realize Tess is freaking LIFEGUARD and that they just had a heart to heart and NO WAY is Tess letting Daisy die*. But I wasn't completely sure that Daisy would survive because I have read books where a main-ish character has committed suicide, WITH the main character present. So Daisy is saved and then they head off to break up with Micah, as a team. GO DAISY!! Its hard to do that, very hard, and she just went up and got after it. (Course, she did just try to kill herself, so she still might be a little unstable).
Loved it so far, but went a little droopy when she rejected Toby. SOB SOB. But hopefully "give me time" means "I'll date you in approximately ten seconds". OK, probably not. But maybe it means "I'll date you in a few months". Thats more likely.
Overall, my favorite part of this book was the parts when Tess totally dissed Micah. It didn't happen that often, but when it did I totally was like oooooooooo (ya know like when a kid is called to the office in elementary school? Yeah, you know.).
Anyway so if you didn't heed my warning before and you read this post without reading the book, I still recommend reading the book. It's really good. Alright! See you soon! LITERALLY.
-Colleen