The Romance Reader

I hereby confess...

My college experience was nothing like Amy Haskel's, but then again I don't think that many people could say that theirs was. Eli University Junior, Amy Haskel is surprised to find that she has been tapped by Rose and Grave, the most prestigious Secret Society on the Eli campus, especially since it is rumored to only accept men. (She was expecting Quill & Ink, a less prestigious, but still cool society.) At first, she's not quite sure what is going on and she's somewhat certain that she is being punked. She finally realizes that it isn't a trick and decides to go with the flow, for possibly the first time in her entire life. (Her friend with benefits told her to stop over-thinking things, so she agrees to be tapped.) From there, things get a bit...surreal: i.e. parties with rich people and pop stars, where they drink champagne, eat lobster dinners, and go swimming in their underwear--not to mention to sudden threats made by the society's alums, a minority of whom do not want women in their society (cause in their world women only want to have sex and then cry rape).

At first, I wasn't sure what to make of this book. It isn't what I normally read and until I got about 2/3 of the way done with the book I wasn't sure I was going to keep reading. It wasn't until all the crap with the Patriarchs (the oh-so sweet Society leaders that somehow think that it is still the 19th century) that I really got pulled into the book--not that I had to force myself to read up until then, but I just wasn't willing to commit to the book (I guess that makes me a bit like Amy since she kept vacillating over whether to (1) joint Rose & Grave and (2) fight to stay in it once the Board decided to nullify her entire class's membership). Once I got into the book, however, I couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it in less than 24 hours.

The one thing that I didn't really like was that I felt the end was a little rushed. As soon as the Society's current class confronted the board, everything was good again. It didn't sit right, which is why this book only got 4 stars instead of 5. I am, however, going to give the next books in the series a try--as soon as my library gets them to me.