I am a party-pooper. Although a sad one since I am somewhat sad I didn’t enjoy this. There is quite a bit of hype surrounding this book and all my friends who have read it so far have loved it so I feel like a complete buzz kill with my ‘hating’. 

On the Fence, quite frankly, sucked. I went in expecting a friends-to-more romance and got something else. 

For starters, I did NOT like the main character. I was cringing the whole time I was reading this book and was not the least bit amused. I think what bothered me the most was this whole normal girl vs not normal girl thing going on. I get that teenagers go through a phase where they aren’t sure of themselves, I went through it too but the whole changing yourself to fit in storylines have never worked for me. Perhaps it’s my fault but if I had known this book had a storyline that revolved around the character trying to change herself, I probably wouldn’t have read it. 

My problem with this whole thing is that it seems to say that there is a ‘right’ way to be a female but there isn’t! Femininity isn’t defined by whether you are girly or not! I am neither girly nor a tom boy but I am no less female then other girls out there. I think what made this worse was that Charlie seemed to be the only ‘tom boy’ in this book. She was surrounded by girly girls who only seemed to care about make-up. The stereotypes started getting to me and I ended up being so annoyed. Plus I never understood why Charlie felt this need to hide things from her family. Why was she so embarrassed if that’s what she wanted to be? Didn't she understand that her family would love her no matter what? I mean seeing that she is such a 'family' person... I kind of expected more from her.

It didn’t end there though. The romance bothered the living daylights out of me. WHERE WAS THE SWOON I WAS PROMISED? Braden and Charlie’s romance is basically non-existent. It seems like one moment she thinks of him as a brother and the next he isn’t a brother to her. Did she have a crush on him before the book started? I have no idea because it was never said (or I missed it). 

When the ‘other’ dude is brought into the picture things become even more awkward with Charlie sticking her head in the sand. She doesn't see that there is a reason why Braden does NOT like the dude while her brothers don’t mind him nearly as much. I never actually sensed sparks between them and while they didn’t lack chemistry, things seemed too rushed in the end. The L word popped out of nowhere. And I do say nowhere. Just because they have known each other forever doesn’t mean that they can pop out the L word and it won’t seem random. 

The only redeeming factor for me is Charlie’s family. Her dad is a sweet heart and I cannot imagine how hard things must be for him. Her brothers are also incredible and so fun to read about!

I guess one could also fault the length of the book in this case because it did seem quite short in the end. It’s not a short book by any means but it did seem a little rushed. Things started getting good about 80% into the novel but just as I was starting to like it, I was drowned in a bucket of cheese and that ultimately killed the book for me. I only felt relief when I finished this book. 

With all that said though, I do want to read The Distance Between Us because I think it might be more enjoyable for me as a reader and if not that, Pivot Point. I am not ready to give up on the author yet. 

Hi, guys! In celebration of Rashika's birthday today, we will be giving away three awesome stuff on the blog!

Philippines - a Php300 Fully Booked giftcard

United States - a finished copy of Richelle Mead's THE IMMORTAL CROWN

International - a $10 Amazon Giftcard

!!!!

Please join and spread the love! Give Rashika your best wishes!

http://thesocialpotato.maryfaye.net/2014/04/28/happy-birthday-rashika-

**This review has also been posted on Tangled in Pages

I like my historical romances but the ones I usually read are set in the 19^th century. My one attempt at reading something set farther back was a complete fail *cough Born in Sin cough*. This book is set even farther back, in ‘856 CE’  but the idea of Vikings being involved was intriguing enough for me to overlook the last time I got burned. 

This was certainly a whole lot more tolerable than Born in Sin but the story itself was lacking. The setting was pulled off really well but when it came to the plot and characters, things just didn’t work out.

Starting with the main character, Kaireen, who is a speshul snowflake. She isn’t ordinary like her sisters, her father taught her how to use a bow and arrow and she also happens to be the only sister who gets a dowry. I do not understand. Why is she so special? She seems too brazen for a girl in that time. and is always running around doing things she shouldn’t be. The only quality about her that I actually like was how she was somewhat self-centered. We’ve encountered all those female leads that are so nice it’s sickening. The ones who probably go skipping around town throwing flowers everywhere from their special flower basket *gags*. I liked how she was actually aware of her position as the daughter of the leader of the clan. She wasn’t rude to the servants but she didn’t go out of her to be nice… and she actually got pissed at how she was treated during the term of her punishment (which she got for running around doing things she shouldn’t have… so that’s another plus).

I was really surprised by how everyone around her seemed to be fawning over ‘the enemy’ and she was the only one who had the common sense to actually realize that he was the enemy. Hotness shouldn’t be used as a way to redeem a character. That never helps. I suppose he’s never done anything ‘wrong’ but how can they be so certain he isn’t like the rest of the Vikings that raid their lands? What happened to self-preservation?

Getting to said enemy, Bram, why? Why is he so enthusiastic to marry her? I mean from what I understand he basically creepily observed her and fell in love and wanted to marry her. What? No. Ugh. He also happens to be a tad bit too perfect for my liking. Stopping men from beating up their wives, rescuing sisters (not once but TWICE), swearing fidelity to a girl he hasn’t married and who knows nothing about him, oh and he’s really hot.

The romance set off all my alarms, INSTA LOVE ALERT. One day she is hating on him, the other she is worried he is going to die. What? How did you even get there? I thought you didn’t want to marry him and now you’re telling yourself you don’t love him. Huh? Let’s not forget they know NOTHING about each other (well Bram did creepily observe her).

The plot did not work at all. It lacked substance. It was like trying to piece a puzzle where the pieces obviously did not fit. The pacing in general was messed up. Events occurred one after the other but they were never dwelled on. It was almost like a check list. They get attacked, check, there is a fire, check, etc. I just don’t understand what the point even was. The villain was very dull and seemed more like a wannabe than anything else. Like being evil for the sake of being evil and nothing else. I didn’t completely understand what made her tick and why she was out for blood. Some of the things were just vaguely mentioned never to be talked about again. The plot was all over the place and things didn't really tie back.

Simply put, this book did not work. It was decent enough but it lacked substance and couldn’t keep my attention.