DNF Review: Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance

12:00 AM Serena 0 Comments

Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance by Danielle Younge-Ullman

Expected Publication Date: May 5th, 2015

Format/Source: eARC from Entangled Teen via Fancorps

Part of a series? No

Goodreads / Preorder: Amazon - Barnes and Noble

Lola Carlyle is lonely, out of sorts, and in for a boring summer. So when her best friend, Sydney, calls to rave about her stay at a posh Malibu rehab and reveals that the love of Lola’s life, Wade Miller, is being admitted, she knows what she has to do.Never mind that her worst addiction is decaf cappuccino; Lola is going to rehab.

Lola arrives at Sunrise Rehab intent solely on finding Wade, saving him from himself, and—naturally—making him fall in love with her…only to discover she’s actually expected to be an addict. And get treatment. And talk about her issues with her parents, and with herself. Plus she has insane roommates, and an irritatingly attractive mentor, Adam, who’s determined to thwart her at every turn.

Oh, and Sydney? She’s gone.

Turns out, once her pride, her defenses, and her best friend are stripped away, Lola realizes she’s actually got a lot to overcome…if she can open her heart long enough to let it happen.

I don't DNF many books, so I've never written a DNF review. I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to do this, but I'll give it a shot and we'll see how I do.

I gave Lola Carlyle's the benefit of the doubt when I finally decided to read my ARC because I've liked everything I've read under Entangled's teen imprint up until this one. Unfortunately, there were a few key things that I just couldn't get past, and they ultimately led me to DNF this book at 122 pages.

I didn't like the characters. Lola's mom was a piece of work. Usually awful book parents aren't an issue for me, but I did not really care for Lola either so her mom just added to my annoyance. Lola was petty, close-minded, and overly obsessed with appearances.

My biggest issue was the whole rehab thing. I thought I could get over it, but it really bothered me. Lola faked her way into rehab to spend time with her best friend and a boy she has a crush on (a boy I didn't think was all that swoon-worthy anyway). It felt like she was constantly making light of the situation and of the other patients in there. I really don't think mental illnesses and addictions should be faked because there are people everywhere suffering from these things and genuinely do need the help rehabilitation centers provide.

Maybe Lola rights her wrongs and becomes a better person in the end, and maybe she doesn't. I may never know, but I hope she does. Overall, while Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance's cover screams cute and fun, I did not have a lot of fun reading this.

If you read this, let me know! I honestly would like to know how it ends.