Review: Scarred by J.S. Cooper

Scarred
By: J.S. Cooper
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Series: Scarred #1

Description:
Sometimes the deepest scars are the ones you don't see.

Everyone in Jonesville thought that Bryce Evans had the perfect life in High School: he was the Mayor's son, the quarterback for the football team, the boyfriend of the head cheerleader and had a 4.1 GPA. His acceptance to Notre Dame came as a surprise to no-one. However when he chose to enlist in the marines instead everyone was shocked.

Lexi Lord was the quiet girl in school and kept to her small group of eccentric friends. She had no connection to any of the popular kids except for one incident on Prom Night when her path crossed with Bryce's. When Bryce enlisted, Lexi was the only one that wasn't disappointed and decided to send him anonymous letters as a way to feel connected to him. She stopped after a year because she felt there was nowhere for their relationship to go.

Fast-forward four years and Bryce is back in Jonesville and once again he and Lexi cross paths. Only he's no longer the seemingly perfect man and Lexi's no longer the quiet girl. This time their relationship is quite different but both of them have secrets from the past and friends that threaten to ruin their chance at happiness together.

Review:

When I started this book I was really interested because of the blurb in the back.  It seemed like it could be a really great in depth story.  But I felt as if everything was a little rushed and pushed.  The characters didn’t really feel connected to me.  I couldn’t feel for them as much as I wanted to.

We meet Lexi who is portrayed to be a quiet girl, or at least was in high school, now works in the library and is still helplessly in love with Bryce.  I’m not really sure why other than he looks really good but she sees something else in him that other people don’t see, she sees depth.  Bryce, just home from being in the marines is the Golden boy of the town.  He still acts like he’s that golden boy as well.  They both share an incident that happened their last year in high school and it may have changed both their lives in different ways.  

There’s a lot of guilt that’s felt by Bryce because he feels that he is the one that caused the incident to happen in the first place, but all Lexi wants is Bryce.  It’s almost a little to obsessive, kind of when you’re so obsessed your avoiding the truth that is right there in front of your face, that’s how I felt at least.  I don’t want to say too much because it wasn’t that long of a book so I don’t want to give it away.  I really did enjoy her friend Luke, he seemed to be the only one with a good head on his shoulders, and he seemed pretty hot.  Her other friend on the other hand, Anna, seemed very jealous deep down inside, you know keep your enemies closer.  She didn’t seem very bright to begin with.

Anyway, overall the book was just okay, and the ending felt extremely rushed to be finished, and then add to it a cliffhanger.  I just really wanted more in depth characters, they all seemed very two dimensional and not necessarily realistic, which I know it doesn’t need to be but I just didn’t feel for them.  But I will read the next book just to see what happens.

Disclaimer:
I received this book from NetGalley and All Night Reads, so that I may give my honest opinion and a review. Whether it is good or not please do not let it discourage you from purchasing/reading the book yourself and forming your own opinion. What might be good for me may not be good for you and vice versa. With that said, Happy Reading Everyone!!!