Through to You - Lauren Barnholdt

            The story of Penn and Harper is one that can and will easily stick with me. Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt is short, sweet and simply delightful.

            It starts with a scribbled note in class: I like your sparkle. Harper had casually threaded a piece of blue and silver tinsel through her ponytail in honor of school spirit day. And that carefree, corny gesture is what grabs Penn Mattingly’s eye. Penn—resident heartbreaker of the senior class. Reliably unreliable. Trouble with a capital “T.” And okay, smolderingly sexy.

Harper’s surprised by Penn’s attention—and so is Penn. The last thing he needs is a girlfriend. Or even a friend-with-benefits. The note is not supposed to lead to anything.

Oh, but it does. They hang out. They have fun. They talk. They make out. And after a while, it seems like they just click. But Penn and Harper have very different ideas about what relationships look like, in no small part because of their very different family backgrounds. Of course they could talk about these differences—if Penn knew how to talk about feelings.

Harper and Penn understand their attraction is illogical, yet something keeps pulling them together. It’s like a crazy roller coaster—exhilarating, terrifying, and amazing all at once. And neither knows how to stop the ride…

            I’ve read another Lauren Barnholdt book once before and I thought the same thing as I did this one: short and real. Although sappy and cheesy (in all of the right ways of course) I could imagine characters like Penn and Harper being real people. Something else I loved about the book was the point of views, it’s told from both Penn and Harper’s POV and honestly the reader just understands more from it. Barnholdt writes very simply, something anyone at any age can really understand.

            I really enjoyed the characters. Besides Penn, everyone was very light and refreshing. No one seemed to be stuck in “teen angst” like in most books about this topic. Penn is very attractive. I know I say that about every teenage boy I read about but Penn was attractive in a way that I’m not used too. He’s sarcastic, pouty, angry, yet charming and caring; something I don’t find myself usually falling for this much. Of course everyone loves charming but angry and dumb boy problems aren’t really my thing, however I loved Penn. Harper was cute and fun to read but she was whiny and a little overbearing. I think maybe she had to be with Penn to make him see her side but sometimes reading her sections felt more draggish than exciting!

            On a critics note: the characters relationship was a little annoying. Their constant fighting and bickering was redundant. The story wasn’t majorly exciting and riveting but definitely a cute read for anyone who loves YA romance like I do.

            Cute, easy, and simple!

           

Rating: 9/10

I got my copy from my local Barnes and Noble. It’s also available on iBooks, Book Depository, Amazon, Audible and more!