From the BLURB:
The RITA-nominated author of The Edge of
Night returns with another seductive
novel, hailed by M. O’Keefe as “a dirty, gritty gem of a book.” As teens, Eric
and Meghan fell for each other despite the odds—but now that they’re all grown
up, they’re reunited by dangerous secrets.
Eric Hernandez is the bad boy of every schoolgirl’s fantasies—and
every mother’s nightmares. But after serving time for manslaughter, he’s ready
to turn his life around. He just needs a chance to prove himself as a
professional tattoo artist. The one thing that keeps him going is the memory of
the innocent beauty he loved and left behind.
Meghan Young’s world isn’t as perfect as it looks. The preacher’s
daughter is living a lie, especially now that Eric is back. Tougher, harder, and
sexier than ever, he might be the only person she can trust. But there’s no
telling what he’ll do to protect her if he learns the truth, and that’s a risk
Meghan won’t let him take. And yet, back in the arms of the troubled boy with
the artist’s soul, Meghan can’t help surrendering to the man he’s become.
‘Against the Wall’ is the
long-awaited sequel to Jill Sorenson’s 2011 romance book, ‘The
Edge of Night’.
Okay. I hate that I didn’t love
this book. Because I really liked ‘Edge of Night’ when I read it waaaaaay back
in 2011, and in my review of that book I plucked out my enthusiasm for the
secondary romance of Meghan and Eric, as much of that book’s saving grace. So
much so that I actually reached out to Sorenson to see when their book would be
coming … at the time I think she alluded to a possible next-year release – but
for various reasons that kept getting pushed back and back, and it’s by the
grace of the reading gods that I kept checking in every couple of years to see
if that sequel status had changed (seriously – the waiting was getting up there
with Lisa Valdez’s ‘Passion Quartet’
third book…) So imagine my happy surprise when I did my annual end-of-year
check-in and saw that the sequel dropped in February of this year!
I delved into the novel full of
expectations and enthusiasm, and things started out okay? … but then it got
wonky.
When we met Meghan and Eric in
2011 as a secondary teen romance in ‘Edge of Night’, their story was
reminiscent of ‘Perfect Chemistry’ by Simone Elkeles … if Brittany and Alex’s
happy ending had been totally flipped on its head, and Alex had ended up in jail
for manslaughter (because witnesses to the crime mislead investigators). So
when ‘Against the Wall’ begins, its been three years and Eric is getting out of
prison to discover Meghan has moved on with an abusive college beau. Thus
begins the book’s many false-starts and dead-ends … because ‘Against the Wall’
almost reads like a “Choose Your Own Adventure Novel” for how many different
pathways Sorenson sets up for the plot, but lets fall away one-by-one.
For one thing – I don’t know why
it’s only been three years since Eric’s imprisonment? Why not build on the
momentum of the anticipation for this novel and make it five?! This would have
also seriously raised the stakes – if Meghan hadn’t just been in her first
serious relationship with a college dude-bro, and instead was maybe engaged to
someone and in the middle of building her career when a convicted felon
jeopardizes her “good standing” in work or something? I don’t know. I felt
Sorenson’s insistence to keep this kinda college-based and New Adult was for
the sake of it, and it’s where opportunities were missed early on.
As to that “Choose Your Own
Adventure” vibe. Phew. Okay. First there’s the fact that Meghan has an abusive
boyfriend … but it seems that Eric’s reappearance in her life is what really pushes
him over the edge, and everything prior was heavy emotional abuse and isolation
– but clearly leading into something dire. Again though, the stakes weren’t’
quite there – because Meghan repeatedly admits to not being in love with him,
and between her Psychology major and having a brother who is a police officer,
we get Meghan’s inner-thoughts which reveal an acute understanding of what Chip
is doing, and her recognition that it is indeed abusive and she needs to leave
him eventually. Also: this storyline ends up going absolutely nowhere.
Then there’s the fact that Meghan
and her best friend Kelsea work at a college campus women’s centre, where they
do things like organize a SlutWalk and field vile online abuse that comes via
their website and call-centre. In the lead-up and following the successful
SlutWalk, the centre receives even more abuse that seems targeted at Kelsea
directly and becomes increasingly scary … again, the storyline goes nowhere in
this book, as it’s really more about setting up a future story for Kelsea and a
tattoo artist called Tank.
Then there’s everything that Eric
is dealing with – among them, sleeping with the girlfriend and baby-mama of the
man he killed and was sent to jail for manslaughter over. This was an
interesting turn early on, and I was intrigued to see it explored, weirdly. For
one thing, we got to see but a glimpse of what it’s like for women within
California gangs and there was serious emotional high-stakes … but again, it
peters out.
There’s also stuff with Eric
feeling sucked back into his old gang life because of his best friend, Junior –
but this was also lacking emotional punch because Eric is so determined not to
get drawn back into that life, and his interior thoughts tell readers that’s
never at risk of happening anyway. This also feels oddly unresolved and
half-assed.
What I really found interesting
and wish Sorenson had focused on, was how freakin’ hard it is for Eric to get
back to life after prison – because if you don’t already know, the American prison
system is fucked (seriously, watch the documentary ‘13th’)
and Eric alludes to this quite a few times;
I didn’t have any trouble getting my GED in Chino, though. I’m not a
dumbass like some criminals. I was born here and I learned English right off
the bat. I can read and write better than most inmates. As a convicted felon,
I’m not eligible for government programs like housing assistance or financial
aid, but I could save money to pay my own way. I could continue my education.
Get an art degree.
I glance around the library guiltily, as if someone might guess my
thoughts and rat me out for overstepping my place. Guys like me don’t become
college students. We beat up college students.
But he falls on his feet kinda
quickly. Between having a place to crash at with family who love and support
him, and nabbing a pretty sweet job working at a tattoo parlor, plus finding
outlets for his artwork … there were never any stakes here either.
And as for Meghan and Eric – the
romance that made me check back in for FIVE FREAKIN’ YEARS to see if it was
written yet … meh. The sex scenes were great, but I feel like because the plot
was all over the place, they were too. I never really knew how they felt about
each other; also because their thoughts belied their actions and whatever
hurdles Sorenson was trying to construct for them, they just seemed to jump
over easily because they had great sexual attraction and that cured all manner
of doubts? I mean … even Eric stupidly sleeping with the baby-mama of the man
he killed who’s also affiliated with a rival gang when he says he doesn’t want
anything to do with that violence anymore – Meghan is momentarily horrified at
his stupidity, but because that storyline for Eric didn’t go anywhere, it
likewise didn’t carry much weight when Meghan found out.
I just … I feel like ‘Against the
Wall’ didn’t actually have an editor? Because I think any beta readers would
have come in and said “You’ve already set up emotional high-stakes in ‘Edge of
Night’ for these two, they already have a story – you just need to pick a lane
for the plot to be in, and stick with it!”
Yeah, this was disappointing. It
just had so much potential, and as a reader I was totally there for Sorenson,
Meghan and Eric – I was rooting for them and this book for so, so long. But
this was a mess … a hot mess, to be sure for those sex scenes (which is the
only reason this isn’t get a 1-star) … but a hot mess nonetheless. Sorry.
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2/5
