Review : Deeper by Robin York

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Deeper (Caroline & West #1)
Author : Robin York
Publication Date : January 28th 2014
Publisher : Bantam
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In Robin York’s sizzling debut, a college student is attacked online and must restore her name—and stay clear of a guy who’s wrong for her, but feels so right.  
When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.

West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.

They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.

When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.

Personal Thoughts 

I kept pushing back reading Deeper despite an amazing review from Giselle at Xpresso Reads because when the book came out, I was burned out on NA. I decided to pick it up a few weeks ago, and I devoured it along with the sequel in two days. Not only does this wonderful book have strong characters, but it also has a plot that is educative.

Deeper's strength lies in its strong characters that grow throughout the book. I've had issues in the past with NA books because I tend to prefer the hero to the heroine and it's been an obstruction that has prevented me from completely enjoying a book. With Deeper though, I loved both Caroline and West. I actually think I might have loved Caroline more than West, which is a rarity when it comes to NA books for me. When Caroline's douchebag of an ex releases intimate pictures of her that were taken in private, her world comes crashing down. Caroline has dreams of becoming a lawyer, but she knows that these pictures will ruin her future career. Add to that, she's on a college campus and everyone knows about the pictures and she can't seem to escape the looks. I truly felt for Caro in the book. I honestly don't know she controlled herself and managed not to sucker punch her ex-boyfriend. She tried to handle everything by herself, trying to get rid of those pictures, because she was afraid to open up to her father. Caro was a seriously strong girl and I couldn't help but root for her to find that happily ever after that she so clearly deserved. Her growth throughout the book was so phenomenal. She started off as a vulnerable girl, but she grew into someone brave and someone who knew how to stand up to the people crushing her. I was very proud of this girl by the end. While Caro actually did a lot of the growing up by herself, West was the one who gave her the push in the right direction. Gosh, West! I can't help but sigh and swoon whenever I think of him. He had his own share of issues, but he was so supportive of Caro and what I think loved the most about him was how he didn't take advantage of her vulnerability. He also didn't fix her problems. He gave her a helping hand and that's about it. He wanted her to solve her own issues by herself.

Caro and West's relationship was another beautiful part of the story. It's a relationship that is very slow-paced and grows from attraction to friendship. I completely appreciated the slow rate at which the romance developed because Caro needed her space to overcome her obstacles before she could become involved with someone else. Even though they were strictly platonic at first, there's no denying that intense chemistry that the two of them shared. It's the kind of chemistry that singes your skin and seeps into your bones. It's everywhere and you feel it on every page. My favorite scenes of these two were they chats they had at night at the bakery West worked at. They had an easy going and comfortable relationship and I loved how they got to know each other through these chats. Caro and West also had two great best friends Bridget and Krishna! They were supportive of their friends and the character dynamics was wonderful. Also, thank you, Robin York for writing a person of color who isn't stereotypical! What I really appreciated about this book was that it brought about the topic of revenge porn. This was the first time I had read of it and after I finished, I went to do more research and what I found was eye-opening. I always appreciate books that teach me a thing or two.

Deeper was a highly character-driven story. It's definitely slow, but the interactions of the characters, the butterflies-inducing romance and the strong growth of Caroline will draw you in.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5