Two Roads - L.M. Augustine Review

Title: Two Roads

Author: L.M. Augustine

Genre: NA, Contemporary, Romance

Publish Date: Aug. 24, 2013

Length: 210 pages

Format: paperback, ebook

Tour Organizer: Romance Addict Book Blog

Goodreads: here

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Description: The only person poetry-loving Cali Monroe hates more than herself is Logan Waters, the geeky kid who lives in the dorm building next to hers.

Ever since Cali's parents told her she would amount to nothing, she has felt entirely inadequate. Friendless and alone, she takes on the mean girl role in hopes it will make her feel better--and Logan serves as the perfect target. He infuriates her with his obnoxiously long lashes, his all too perfect dimpled smile, and his complete lack of personality outside of his intelligence. It doesn't hurt that he's part of the reason her brother is dead, either. So Cali hates him, and he returns the favor. Thus, their prank-filled, insult-driven rivalry is born, and torturing Logan quickly becomes the highlight of her life.

But when Cali's parents set them up on a blind date, she begins to realize Logan might not be as boring as she always thought. He shares her love of poetry, takes a sadistic pleasure in making fun of crepes, and he makes her blush when he calls her smile pretty.

And hey, maybe those long lashes of his aren't that obnoxious after all…

Two Roads is New Adult Romance about finding love, standing out, and learning to embrace who you are. It contains some language and mild sexual content.

My Review: Quite honestly, I wasn't really thrilled with this novel at all. I really liked Logan as a character. I think he was fun and nerdy, in a cute way. I also think that he was just trying to move on with his life and survive after the death of his best friend. In general, the book was written well and the story flowed nicely. However, I had a big problem with Cali and her actions and since the novel revolves around her, I had an issue with this book.

Cali is a self proclaimed Mean Girl. She wears the mask of a popular, shallow girl who only cares about sex. Cali is the Queen Bee of her school. However, I did not like her at all. Cali is dealing with the loss of her brother who committed suicide four years ago. As a result, she is cold and forbids herself from forming any real bonds with the people around her. Although Cali is dealing with this tragedy, and I can respect her for it as I have also lost a sibling, I find her characteristics and mannerisms to be completely horrible. She is just not a good person. 

Her actions are childish and she is very immature. I think this would be acceptable, not really but maybe, if she were in high school but she is a sophomore in college and twenty years old. At this stage in your life I think you should have a bit more maturity than to reduce yourself to petty insults and childish pranks. Logan is in no way exempt from his part in their little "feud" but it seems like it is Cali who initiated it. She somehow blames Logan, and her parents, for her brother's death and for a little while I was curious as to how he could have been responsible. When I discovered that her brother committed suicide and she still blamed Logan, I found her actions to be even more ridiculous.

I think someone in this book should have confronted Cali and call her out on her actions. Someone should have told her that she is not a child and that pulling childish pranks is not a way to deal with death. I'm sure this book could have been really great but because of Cali I really wanted to stop reading after the second chapter, I didn't but I wanted to.

Quick Opinion: In my opinion Two Roads was not great at all. The story itself seemed to be good, the writing was very well done, but the main character Cali just infuriated me and the book is centered around her so I was bothered the whole way through. I will not be reading this book again unless I can somehow tune Cali out. I give this novel 2 stakes because I was looking forward to this book and I ended up being very disappointed.

Get to Know the Author: L.M. Augustine is a YA romance author who is obsessed with writing about dorky teenagers, love, and happy endings. He currently lives in New England, where he spends far too much time reading books and screaming at his computer, and he believes that the solution to the world’s problems can be found in chocolate cake.

Author Links: 

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Where to Get Your Copy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | Smashwords

Giveaway: 

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Please let me know what you think of Two Roads. Have you read it? What did you think?