All That You Are book review

💚Spoiler-Free Review!💚

All That You Are

By: Elicia Roper

★★

This novel tells the story of Athena and Caiden.

Caiden is strong willed and self-less, he puts the needs of his family and friends above his own.

Athena is a firecracker with a kind-hearted soul.

As they go through the journey of life you will see how Athena and Caiden bring comfort to each other, as they learn to cope and mend with the pain of loss and heartbreak.

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Thank you to the author, Elicia Roper for giving me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2 stars

I'm going to start off with some cover appreciation. That cover is gorgeous. 😍

Now, for the book. I was a bit misled by the category. I thought this was Young Adult contemporary romance, but turns out it's adult contemporary romance. Until like 70 pages in, I thought these characters were teenagers like 17 to 18 years old. But turns out they're 22 and 25! And still living with their parents lol. I was just put off by that.

Now for the characters. I like Athena and Caiden. They're both likable enough, albeit a bit stiff as characters, I feel like they could have been better developed. I think that overall, there were just too many characters. I had to keep track of so many characters that at times, I was just confused who was who.

I really liked the message of the story! I actually really liked the author's note, talking about her own experiences and I see what she was aiming for with this book. I get how she says that forgiveness is the key to happiness because that's so true. Harboring resentment towards people or yourself will only hurt yourself in the long run.

I also liked the dedication. Such a great message!

“This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever felt that they are not good enough. I want you to know that you are enough. A thousand times enough, and you will find someone who will love you; all of you, for all that you are.”

Although I like the message and the author's note and dedication, I feel that it wasn't executed very well. I'm not going to lie, the writing was quite disappointing. There were many blatant grammar and spelling errors as well as a subpar use of commas. I also felt that the writing was very wooden and robotic, it just didn't flow well. Very tell, not show; when it should have been the opposite.

However, that's not to say that it didn't have its good points. This quote in particular I really liked.

You give out love and rightfully expect back the same love in return. But that’s not because you are sensitive, it’s because you have a big heart so when you love someone, you give them all of you and it hurts if they don’t do the same.

I think it was very relatable and poignant.

The romance in this book was very bland. So bland in fact, that I would rather treat this book not as a romance, but as two character's journey towards forgiveness. The romance between Caiden and Athena was very lacking. They had zero chemistry and no passion. Their connection was platonic at best. There was barely any physical connection either. For an adult contemporary romance, this was tamer than most middle grade books. Not even one kiss! Just a couple modest cheek kisses. Although there's nothing wrong with that, I think this book has been marketed wrong. With a title and cover like that, I was simply expecting much more in the romantic aspect than I was given.

In conclusion, it was a good read but I would recommend reading it for the personal journey of the two mc's, rather than the romance.

Happy reading everyone!