Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins


Release Date: 26th June, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin

Pages: 304pgs

The Story

Your heart misleads you. That's what my friends and family say. But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other's arms. It should be ROSE & NOAH forever, easy. But it won't be. Because he's Amish. And I'm not.

The Review

A big thanks to HarlequinTeen Australia for sending me an ARC copy of this book!

TEMPTATION is a young adult Romeo & Juliet-esque storyline, only it features your average teenage girl with a not-so-average teenage boy and as soon as these two people are brought together by fate, they end up falling in love through their different circumstances and with this love comes many consequences that they never saw coming. For Noah's world, boys aren't supposed to get involved with girls outside their close-knit community. They're supposed to get married young, build homes for their new wives, inherit their families lands, have children and continue the proper traditions of their community. For you see Noah's family are Amish and that's the way they live their lives. However, for Rose's world, she is a girl with a life full of freedom and is rather normal. But Rose's life is far from perfect. She wants more for her life and when Noah enters her world . . . everything changes.

When I received this ARC copy of the book TEMPTATION I had no clue to what it was about, other than it being about Amish people with a forbidden love story being interwined with it. Now I've always been fascinated by the Amish communities (even though they still gives me the creepers) not only because it's far from your average way of living life but for the simple fascination of the way these people - whom still exist mind you - choose to live their lives through and by true innocence and traditions, which, for people like you and me, we do not often live by because we choose our own paths rather than follow strict rules of our family and our family before that and so on. I might not know too much about how real Amish people live but I thought the author portrayed the Amish community with such strength and genuinity, which I was rather surprised by, and for once in a contemporary young adult novel, the author also tackled a great romance and a storyline that was a little different compared to your typical cliche american love story so I enjoyed that rare element.

As for the characters themselves, they were a very interesting bunch. Rose for example, one of the central characters of the story, was immediately liked by me. She was easy to relate to and she felt like a friend to me without truly needing to know her more, so she was a great MC for me. But while I might've liked her a lot character-wise but she had her faults too, which I'll get into detail soon. As for Noah's character, the love interest for Rose, was someone that took me a while to warm up to. I mean he was obviously handsome, polite and a true gentlemen to Rose, since he had grew up in an Amish society and he knows how to treat a girl special, but there was just something about him that turned me off at times. Partly because of his Amish upbringing . . . the lifestyle and the ways Noah continued to forever influence on Rose. To be honest with you and without offending the Amish out there, it gave me the creepers. Sure, Noah cannot help how he was brought up and really he knows no different, but at times he seemed too possessive of Rose (i.e. he suggests things like 'Girls shouldn't be by themselves' and 'You need a chaperone because it's the proper lady thing to do') and I was a 'little' weirded out by it all. But as the storyline slowy came together, I started to enjoy Noah's company and began understanding him more and more. Thankfully.

The only real problem I had with TEMPTATION was the believability of the events in the book and how everything was wrapped up by end of the story. These two teenagers - Rose and Noah - come from very different worlds and I see how their love for one another came crashing together, but what I struggled most to believe was how Rose handled particular situations. For one, there were times where she had loved Noah and came to be invested by his Amish world, but there were other times too where she often disliked the way he forced upon her his Amish-ways, and when there's a certain storyline 'twist-turn' in the book . . . she made one decision regarding this certain 'twist-turn' that I respected her for because that's what I would've decided if I were in her shoes, but then after another unfortunate incident, she immediately changed her mind regarding this 'twist-turn' and went the completely opposite way to where I didn't want her to be. Still . . . I understood why she made that choice at that time and place.

Overall, I thought Karen Ann Hopkins's TEMPTATION was a fantastic YA debut novel and offered a realistic Amish setting and a traditional lifestyle that I could see many readers being intrigued by. If you love a different take on contemporary novels, a forbidden romance that may seem forever impossible or if you simply love a book with some real human emotion inside it, then you're going to love this!

The Rating


4 1/2 / 5 stars

28 comments:

  1. I haven't heard much about this one, I think this is the first review I've read for it, but it sounds really good! The characters seem complex and I'm definitely intrigued by the setting. It's a shame about the unbelievable parts but I'm glad you enjoyed it overall. Fab review!

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    1. Yeah I assume a lot of people haven't heard of this title. The characters definitely are complex but in a good way. Thanks!

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  2. Great review, Erin, I think yours is the first positive review I've read. I was interested in the book because of the cover and now I want to read it and see what I think!

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  3. This one is completely new to me but I'm fascinated with stories focused on the Amish community and YA contemp is a fave genre so I'm guessing this is one I'd like. Enjoyed your review Erin :)

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  4. Yours is the first review I've read for this at all and it's safe to say you have me intrigued! I'm hoping to squeeze in my copy soon. I'm really interested to see how this romance plays out, since it offers such a different set of circumstances to the 'forbidden' aspect than what we're ordinarily used to. I'm glad Noah warmed up to you eventually!

    Awesome review Erin, I hope I love tis as much as you!

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    1. This book definitely offers a new 'forbidden' romance which I thought made me enjoy this book even more. It's something a different but something that can appeal to a lot of people. Anyway thanks!

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  5. Yay! I'm glad to see that you enjoyed this. Like you, I had no idea what the book was about, other than the fact that there'd be an Amish love interest in it.. Very cryptic review ;) Interested to see what happens in it!! Thanks!

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    1. I'm known to be very cryptic . . . haha. Hope you get to read this book soon. It's a different sort of read but I think you'll enjoy it.

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  6. This is the first (or second) review of Temptation that I've read.. I'm intrigued about the Amish. I've read and watched movies about them but to read an Amish-related YA book? That would be a first. This sort of reminds me of..a book that I read awhile back, I just cant remember..Anyway! I'm glad that you enjoyed it! :) I'll look into this. Great review!

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    1. Thank you! I too have only watched movies with amish-related things but never have I come across a YA book that's actually about the amish people . . . which I thought was pretty cool.

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  7. Oh! I have this for review too. You've made me want to get to it sooner! Lovely review, Erin :)

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  8. Oooh! Amish. I will have to pick this up. I've been obsessed with the Amish for years. There are a lot of Amish in Wisconsin. I drove by a buggy a few years ago. A teenage boy was driving his buggy and drinking a bottle of coke :-)

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    1. Haha drinking his coke . . . now that surprises me. But I've been interested in the Amish for a while . . . so definitely pick this book up when you can!

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  9. {i'm following your blog}

    I am leaving this note to let you know that I am following you. If you aren't already following me can you please return the favor and leave a comment on my most recent entry. Please and thank you! :)

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  10. Aaaah! So intrigued by this one! It was kind of like 'huh?' when it arrived, but then you go and review it like this! I'm really hoping to find time for it soon, too :)

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    1. I was exactly the same! I was 'huh?' when I got this book.

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  11. Oh WOW, Erin! This is the first review I've read for this and I'm so glad that it is, especially since the Goodreads description was so cryptic LOL -- I wasn't sure that this would be my kind of book! But it sounds AWESOME. I love how the author manages to make this more than your average American love story with the whole Amish thing! Plus, I can never resist a good forbidden romance! ;)

    Amazing review, Erin! I love all three of those things, so I think I'm going to love this book too! :) <3

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    1. The plot was very cryptic, wasn't it? At first I didn't think this was a book for me but I was pleasantly surprised by it. Anyway thanks!

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  12. EEp gotta agree with Mimi, this is also the first review ive read and soooo glad that you enjoyed it.I hope that I will enjoy this too! Loved the review, now I just nee dto find time in reading this book. Sounds awesome. FAb review Erin, <3

    Ƹ̴Ӂ̴ƷFICBOOKREVIEWSƸ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ

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  13. I hadn't heard of this one before, so thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think it sounds like an interesting story. I've never read a book about the Amish before, so that's kind of cool. I'm always curious about other ways of living, even if they are a bit "strange" to me, like being a gypsy. it's fascinating though.

    -Lauren

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    1. It's definitely fascinating . . . strange but fascinating!

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  14. I got this one from netgalley and after reading a few chapters I gave up. I just wasn't happy with it and Noah creeped me out too. I just didn't like him. I'm glad that you ended up warming up to him. Thanks for the review.

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    1. Noah does have that creeper factor about him . . . but he does improve.

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