Book Review: Because I Love You by Tori Rigby

Andie has her whole life planned out. She's going to be Homecoming Queen and then she's going to medical school to become a doctor. Then, she professes her love for her best friend and sleeps with him at a party. A few weeks later, she's puking every ten minutes and worried that her religious mother is going to disown her. Andie is pregnant, and scared, and loses everything she thought she wanted. Both of her best friends disown her. She is bullied so much at school that she has to drop out. Her mother becomes a surprising source of comfort, as does her ex boyfriend Neil. As she faces difficult decisions, like whether to keep the baby or put it up for adoption, Neil rescues her again and again until Andie can no longer fight her feelings for him.

Poor Andie just cannot catch a break. I don't want to give any spoilers in this review, but let's just say the world dumps on her time and time again. I actually felt like she faced too many obstacles, that her luck was too bad to fit naturally into the story. That being said, it's one of the only cons I had with this story.

There is an undercurrent of religion throughout the book, but I feel like it never gets preachy, and it's not so heavy that the book becomes unreadable.  I would also recommend not reading the book at work as your co-workers will begin to wonder why you keep crying at your desk. Also, the epilogue was a wonderful way to bring everything to a close.

The book is well-paced and the characters are likable (except for those that aren't supposed to be). Rigby captures the distress and confusion, loneliness, and frustration of a young, pregnant girl really well. Andie's emotions are a bit of a rollercoaster, but that's to be expected when your hormones are raging out of control because not only are you a teenager, you also happen to be growing a new human. This was a quick read, but an enjoyable one. I give it three out of five stars.

PAD challenge

April always seems to be the month I decide to heap too many things onto my plate. At the beginning of the year, I began a writing challenge with a small group of friends. We each write a 300, 500, 1000, and 1500 word short story every month. We also give feedback to the other writers. It's been wonderful motivation to maintain the daily habit of writing. So, I have to write four short stories before the month is through. No biggie, I've done that for a few months already.

However, April is also National Poetry Month. I've got a soft spot for poetry as it was the first outlet I poured my creativity into. I've never been exceptional at it, but I love writing it all the same. Every April, in honor of NaPoMo, there is a PAD challenge. PAD stand for poem a day. Regardless of how busy I am, I feel the need to attempt this challenge.

We're on day two, and I've written two poems. It's far too early to consider this a success, but I've got a good feeling about it.

That being said, I haven't started any of my short stories for the month. The 300 word is due by the end of tomorrow. That means I need to crank out one poem and one story by day's end. Hopefully, tomorrow will be exceptionally inspirational.