Review : One Tiny Lie by K.A Tucker

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title: One Tiny Lie (Ten Tiny Breaths #1)
Author : K.A Tucker
Publication Date : June 11th 2013
Publisher : Atria Book
Goodreads - The Book Depository


Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents' tragic death and Kacey's self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would...and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.

Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?

As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.

Personal Thoughts

The first book in this series didn't really go well with me because I found it difficult to connect with the main character and her emotions didn't come through to me. However, I did like one of the secondary characters in that book, Livie, and I was quite excited to get to her story. Now, that I've read her story, I can safely say that K.A Tucker is not the author for me. There's so much that went wrong for me in this book, so I apologize beforehand if this review sounds overly negative.

I'm going to come out with my biggest problem right away : CHEATING. I'm one of those readers who seriously condones a terrible thing like cheating in books because it spreads a wrong message. I know it's something that happens often in real life, but do we need books romanticizing this? No. Definitely not. Livie and Ashton both cheat on their significant others and I was completely disgusted by them. What's worse, they kept justifying the cheating! Livie is dating Connor, Ashton's best friend and roommate, while Ashton has a long term really sweet girlfriend. Not once do these two think about how hurt their boyfriend/girlfriend would feel like when they get it on. At least Livie feels some guilt, but Ashton? No. The douchebag has been cheating on his long-distance girlfriend for a long time with his string of one-night stands. I'm not sure, was I supposed to be swooning over this guy? All I wanted to do was punch him in the face. The cheating started quite innocently in the form of kisses only, but then things started to go a little too far. And every time they would proceed to do some form of sexual act (not intercourse itself), I would cringe. Plus, each time Ashton would be like, "Go back to Connor. What we have is not serious" EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. And then, he'd come back to Livie and seduce her all over again. This went on for over half of the book and what made it even more frustrating was that Livie would allow him to come back even though she promises herself she won't for over half of the book. After that came the big turning point, when they actually sleep together, while Connor is downstairs. Turns out, right before all that happens, Ashton proposes to his girlfriend and get engaged!! Here's what Livie thinks right after she has sex with Ashton : "I can blame Connor for the breakup. He pushed me too far. He knows I want to take things slow and he groped me like a thirteen-year-old boy playing the closet game."  Excuse me, but WTF? Do you see how wrong that is? She knows very well that she cheated on him, but decides that it's a good idea to blame him. (BTW, he was drunk out of his mind when he was groping her). That was about the point where I gave up because I could not digest anymore of Ashton and Livie's disgusting behaviors.

My second problem : Livie's sister. God, what a terrible role model she was. In the beginning of the book, Livie was a sweet, hardworking girl who wasn't involved in drugs and alcohol. When Livie enters Princeton, her sister Kacey decides that she needs to learn to socialize a bit. So, she takes her to a party on campus and forces her to drink, allows her to do ridiculously stupid things, like encouraging her to get a tattoo she know her sister will not approve of when she wakes up, licking some guy's, whom she just met by the way, chest. I'm not against partying/drinking but would I let my younger sister behave like that? Not at all! And why does socializing always have to be about partying? There are so many ways that students can socialize in colleges, especially one as prestigious as Princeton. In addition, the two sisters have a psychiatrist who probably would be sued if he actually existed in real life. He encourages Livie to do all these things and he intrudes into their life so much, like his life depended on it. It was strange, to be honest, how he kept forcing himself into Livie's life, especially since he was not being paid by either of the sisters.

Another thing about Livie, at first you get the impression that she's extremely hard-working and willing to really strive to get into med school and get good grades. When she finds out about Ashton's engagement, she decides that Princeton isn't for her and gives up all her dreams. O_O Seriously, who decides to leave college just because of a guy? College couples are constantly breaking up, but no one decides that it's time to abandon their dreams when they do!! That was so ridiculous that I just wanted to rip my hair off. At one point in the book she starts crying the heck out when she receives her first bad grade. I'm sorry, but does she really expect to pass with flying colors when she's constantly out drinking and partying with her roommate, sexing it up with Ashton and skipping classes on a regular basis? *Insert major eye-roll* Here's the thing though, Livie could have been a great character and there were few moments that I really liked her, especially those involving her volunteering at a local hospital, but the author practically butchered her character by involving her with Ashton.

All in all, this book left a sour taste in my mouth and I'm actually surprised that I got through almost three quarters of this book. Piece of advice, if you ,like me, absolutely hate cheating in your books, then stay very far away from it. It's not worth angering yourself over this book.

Rating

DNF