Book review: The Next Big Thing by Sadie Hayes

NOTE: I received the book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this cover the moment I saw it!!! So pretty! It's kind of an upgrade from the first installment too.

Let me say now that book one in this series was nice. I liked how the characters developed gradually. So I thought... I'd like to see how the story progresses. Right?

Well. I was mostly confused in this second installment. Why? Too many characters come and go and it can blow your head off your neck. I had hard time following what was going on most of the time. I got confused who was who and which story was whose. Also, I had a hard time concentrating on the book because of the neutral voice of the narration. For some reason, Sadie Hayes wasn't quite able to pull off the 3rd person POV. Which is unfortunate because this story has got potential. Like, lots of it.

Not to mention the unrealistic development of some relationships. Sure, the reader is meant to believe what they see on the page, but seriously? We're not that naive to take every word for granted. I, for example, like to ask questions of the characters. Especially 'why'. Like, why would a grown guy, who's been played by the world not once, be so naive that he's borderline stupid at times, and blind to the truth all the time? It's frustrating and irritates me way too much. I mean, it's just a book.

Let's get a bit into the characters now, since they make or break a book most of the time.

Amelia Dory is the same trusting, amiable, good-natured person she started out to be. I guess she's a bit more realistic to the world's machinations, but not entirely. What I love about her though is her quick wit, her undying energy to create perfect code and her determination to stay true to herself. No one, not even her own brother can sway her once she's made up her mind.

Adam Dory is the type of character who evolves so much, you can barely keep up with him. He started off as a good boy, striving to find riches through his talents. But he changed. He almost sold his soul for money. He most certainly sold his sister, so no wonder there. This was the book where Adam was to be pitied and hated and cast aside to cry (or whatever it is that guys in his situation should do.) I did hate him. I pitied him too. But then he was reborn and gosh! He was like a phoenix coming out of the ashes. The only thing he isn't grown enough to do is apologize. He acted like a complete arse throughout the entire book, and not only with Amelia. Lisa, his sweetheart who he dumped and embarrassed on several occasions suffered his ego, too. All in all, I can sum up Adam as an insecure, jealous guy who was always in the shadow of someone else (and hated it). He was incredibly naive, easy to lead on, susceptible to all sorts of influence.

T.J. Bristol is another favorite character of mine. He's the regular player, bad boy, yada yada. He's also gotten his heart broken by a girl long time ago. But the pain is fresh, and I believe he's acting all cool, composed and womanizing just to protect himself. Then Riley comes back to town and he's all riled up again. But he's got feelings for someone else too. What I didn't understand was how come one minute T.J.'s all into Riley again, then next moment he's only thinking about Amelia? It's not making sense to have your heart go in 180 just like that.

Patty was another character that needs to be mentioned. She was creative, innovative, quick-witted. But she lacked the luck to see into reality. I think she was a little blinded by her success to see what her venture had turned into. I liked her though, for how strong she was, how true and honest.

The ending threw me off. Perhaps it was the take it or break it moment and it broke it for me. You'll see why if you read it, but dang! I didn't expect it and was seriously whacked by it.

My rating is