When it Hits You was written by Nicki Elson and published 25 January 2017, though it was originally released in 2015 under the title Vibrizzo.
“Lyssa Bates doesn’t need a man. The twenty-six-year-old financial analyst is more than fulfilled by her career, friends, and a ready supply of double-A batteries. Her relationship with Hayden King is purely professional—and that’s how she intends to keep it. But accidental kisses in Dallas, all-nighters in Chicago, and hot tub confessions in Baltimore mess with her head and shake her resistance. Especially when he turns his charms full on her.”*
I was given a complementary copy of When it Hits You to review. It in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion/review of the book.
Not every book on this earth was made to be a life-altering, earth-shattering, break-your-heart whirlwind. Such an example is When it Hits You, written by Nicki Elson. Middle-aged Lyssa battles common enough themes, such as an overbearing mother and boy (or lack thereof) troubles. Elson writes with quick humour, presenting a character and a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s no groundbreaking revelations here – much of the plot and characterization has been seen before, and will be seen again.
However, that doesn’t mean it was a bad book. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little lighthearted romance, as far as I’m concerned! It was a quick read for me, and if I had the time to properly sit down with it, I would’ve finished it in one sitting with no problem. It’s that kind of book – you know what to expect, but even when you put down the book, you’re satisfied.
Lyssa is another woman who’s satisfied in this book – but not with men. She begins to develop a relationship of sorts with her vibrator, so much so that it is actually the ruination of her long-term relationship. I applaud Elson for tackling sexual pleasure from a woman’s perspective – it’s rarely mentioned (even in passing) in female-driven novels, but Elson delves deeper into the subject, usually effectively.
The actual writing of the book was usually very entertaining – I actually laughed at “Somewhere along the way, she got “lei’d”. It’s these puns that present the book as an ebullient read you’d take to the beach. The banter between Lyssa and Hayden was realistic and charming, even if Hayden’s character sometimes flip flopped between two extremes.
By the middle of the novel, I too has fallen for Hayden’s charms, and again I commend Elson for writing a character so well that I actually went from hating him to loving him by the epilogue. Lyssa’s pragmatic approach to all of her problems was also refreshing – too often we get caught up in the emotional side of a character. Lyssa’s logical personality was honestly just…really amazing.
However, there were some problems I had with the book. First of all, the typos. This is a published book that shouldn’t have those kinds of small mistakes. That being said, there weren’t too many and so it didn’t impact the overall reading experience.
Also, while I enjoyed Elson’s writing and dialogue between characters, sometimes someone will say something completely out of left-field that just doesn’t fit with their overall characterization. Take Lyssa’s sadistic thought of her mother:
“Squeeze until Mommy turned blue. Squeeze until that larynx could never again spew its torturous revelations”.
Whoa. Sure, Lyssa’s character is generally witty and totally hilarious, but that was a tad (or maybe more) ridiculous. I can tell there is meant to be humor there, but it didn’t translate well. While Lyssa’s contempt for her family is made very clear throughout the novel, the reader understands that truly, deep down, she loves her family. So wanting to choke her mother with the string of a violin? Harsh. It’s a very descriptive few sentences, but in this case, there was no need for it. Other parts of the book lacking a strong description/effective word use (such as using vignettes to describe the outdoors) could have used a description as lush as “that larynx could never again spew it’s torturous revelations”.
In addition, the time-hopping in When it Hits You can seem kind of confusing. Holidays come right after one another, leaving little downtime for both Lyssa and the reader. By the time we’ve been exhausted by her Thanksgiving disaster, suddenly it’s Christmas and her nieces/nephews are smoking fake cigarettes (though I will admit that part was actually hysterical. Gateway candy!). The time jumping and sometimes confusing work that Lyssa and Hayden do tend to muddle parts of the novel.
Finally, the texting style of this book might prematurely age it – everyone I know (and text) uses sentences that, while usually clipped, have all the words spelled out fully. ‘C’ and ‘U’ just aren’t used anymore, and as time goes on, these abbreviated words will seem really out of place in an otherwise timeless story.
Overall, did I absolutely love it? Not totally. But I definitely didn’t hate it either! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to people looking for a light and sometimes unpredictable read to occupy them for a few hours. Not everything you read has to be dark and heavy – When it Hits You is a fine example of this.
While I think the book could have used some fine-tuning, I’d definitely read future books penned by Ms Elson.
Three out of five stars.
* Blurb by Goodreads
