Review: Flat-Out Love

He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother's? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn't supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she's never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here's the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.

Title: Flat-Out Love (Flat-Out Love ~ Book 1)
Author: Jessica Park | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: April 11 2011
Publisher: Self-Published 
Length: 389 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US / Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: So very cute, fitting and flat-out perfect
Point of View:  3rd person, following Julie mostly

My Rating: 5 Stars

I loved this book.  I loved every tiny little detail and there is absolutely nothing that I would even dream of wanting to change.  The setting, the humor, the characters... *sigh* the characters.  Every one of them are special and add so much life to the story.  It is going to be difficult to write a coherent review so if you get bored of my rambling and move on to the next review I just want to say, right up front, read this book.  If you have then you know how very special it is, if you haven't yet then please do so soon.

“Gut-wrenching, overpowering, crushing, fulfilling, complex, bring-you-to-your-knees love.”

When I started Flat-Out Love I was expecting the same old Young/New Adult romance.  But I could not have been more wrong.  Yes there is romance, and yes the characters are of the right age for this genre but this was just so much more.  If I had to pin point one reason that made this book stand out for me it would be the characters.  They are so witty and smart and I just found myself smiling from ear to ear for almost all of the book.  The action that they take, the way they speak, the way they interact within the family and with the outside world. I can't say it enough.. it is just something really special.

 “Mom, I have to go. I think this Matt character is here."

"Are you sure it's him?"

Julie peered into the car as the window lowered.  "I see a maniacal-looking guy with brightly-colored candy in one hand, and he's waving a sickle in the other.  Oh! He's beckoning me to the car.  This must be my ride.”

I am not going to get into a large plot retelling because honestly the less you know going into the story the more enchanted you will be about the journey it takes you on.  I honestly hadn't even read the synopsis before I started and I am so glad that I hadn't.  I only knew I saw my friends on Goodreads talking about it so I knew I wanted to give it a go... I am so glad that I did.

“He just wasn’t the guy, you know?  I want the guy.  The everything guy.  Not the dumb Prince Charming, nauseatingly-perfect everything guy.  That’s pathetic.  I want the flaws-and-all everything guy.”

I can't even pick a favorite character if I tried.  Julie was simply amazing and as of right now probably my favorite female character of all time.  She is smart, strong and understanding.  And Matt is just perfect.  Smart, geeky, loyal and has so much love to give.  I didn't even care that when he starts to go on about his physics work and the classes he takes at MIT that I didn't understand even half of what he was talking about.  I was captivated by what he was saying even though I didn't have a clue.  And his banter with Julie is epic.  Honestly, just thinking about it now is causing me have the silliest grin on my face.

“It's just that Celeste is...”  He seemed to struggle to figure out how to say what he wanted.  “Well, she is an interesting kid.”

“I like interesting,” Julie said, pulling a suitcase from the truck.  “I like interesting a lot.”

Then there is Celeste, Matt and Finn's little sister.  Amazing.  That is how I describe Celeste.  I have never wanted to crawl into a book more.  I wanted to just crawl in and give her the biggest hug and let her know how much I loved her.  Thankfully that is what Julie is there for because if I were to find a way to crawl into the world of Flat-Out Love, I wouldn't want to crawl back out.

“I think I am falling for you.”

“Good. I think I'm falling for you too. Let's not pull this chute.”

I feel I haven't done enough to express how completely spectacular this book is but I also feel that if I keep going on I will just get all mushy, you will get bored of my ramblings of love, and stop reading.  So even though for me this seems like a short review I will leave you with only this.

Read.  This.  Book.

Please do not hesitate.  You will fall in love with everything about it and then you will be the one trying to write a review or trying to find the appropriate words to explain how awesome it is to your friends.  Trust me when I say that it is not an easy task.

 “I tell you that I like being this close to you and how you feel against me.  But now even I'm hesitant.  I'm afraid that when we hit the ground, this will be over.  We'll land and this feeling between us will vanish.  That you won't feel it any longer.  I can't stand that thought.”

MORE QUOTES FROM FLAT-OUT LOVE