Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 322
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin)
Synopsis:
“I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly before turning around. It was Lucas who stood there. His gaze was penetrating, not wavering for a moment, and my pulse hammered under his silent scrutiny. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so full of pure, unqualified desire.”
Lucas is the stranger who saved Jacqueline from an attack by a fellow student – she’d never noticed him before then, and now he’s everywhere. But can Jacqueline trust him – or will the secrets he’s hiding come between them?
Trigger Warning: Sexual assault/rapeMy Review:
You ever get into those moods where you just want to read something trashy, quick and easy to read? In other words, you ever just really feel like picking up an NA romance just to give your mind a break from the fantasy worlds and the hard-hitting contemporaries? That’s how I felt when I picked up this book. I hadn’t read a New Adult novel in forever, and I’d heard pretty good things about this one so I figured, why not? To say this book shocked me is quite an understatement.
Yes, it was still a trashy romance with some steamy scenes, but it was also so much more than that, which was not at all what I was expecting. This book actually blew me away. Like, ‘I finished the book and now I’m going to stare at the wall because HOLY SHIT’ blew me away. I don’t even know where to begin, so if this review is a mess, I apologise in advance.
This novel had everything you want when it comes to New Adult romance. It had a mysterious bad boy, a steamy romance, and it was super quick and easy to read. I read it in one sitting, which, again, was a little unexpected, though I do read NA novels pretty quickly anyway. Honestly, I expected a lot of toxic masculinity and for the relationship to be unhealthy because this book was written in 2012 and most older NA romances are full of those awful tropes. Thankfully, and again to my surprise, this book was the complete opposite.
A major focus of this novel was consent, which was both surprising and welcoming. I loved that this novel showed the importance of consent, and that consent is sexy and you don’t need the love interest to force himself on the main character because ‘he can’t help himself or control his urges’ or whatever unhealthy bullshit is often used in sex scenes. The fact that the love interest in this novel asked multiple times if what they were doing was okay and if the main character was feeling okay during those steamy moments was something that I shouldn’t be applauding but I will because it’s not nearly seen enough in NA or YA sex scenes.
Easy also focuses largely on rape culture and victim shaming. As stated above, there is a definite trigger warning for rape and sexual abuse in this novel, but my god was the way it was handled done so damn well. It was all about supporting the victims, trying to get justice for them, and it so easily dismantled victim and slut shaming and, like I’ve said so many times already, I was so shocked. I did not expect such important and empowering messages from an NA romance, but I think it worked perfectly in this novel.
Overall, this novel was everything I didn’t know I needed from a New Adult romance. It made me smile, it shocked me, it made me angry, but most of all it really spoke to me. I absolutely loved this book and it is easily one of, if not my absolute favourite New Adult novel. I highly, highly recommend picking this one up if you love NA or are wanting to branch out from YA romance. This is such an important and phenomenal story that I think everyone should read.
My Rating:
Have you read this book? Were you as surprised as I was?
Until next time,
