Review: Affective Needs by Rebecca Taylor

Purchase on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

2.9 Stars
I have highly conflicting feelings about this book. I’m going to attempt to express them in a way that does not spoil the book or bash it in anyway. 

It took me a while to finish this book. It is only 235 pages, but I swear it dragged on. I found myself wanting to put it off because of the lack of interesting material. I kept waiting for the plot to pick up. 

The book attempts to establish a mystery of some sort by having the main character wonder about the new kid, Porter. However, I don’t think it was ever explained why she was fascinated with him in the first place. 

Another problem I had was that while reading, it was hard to follow. I’m not sure how to describe it but the author jumped to various settings without describing when the characters moved. One sentence they were at the library and the next they were in the classroom. It made the story seem sporadic. And at some points I had to read certain parts again, because I felt like a paragraph was missing. 

Another thing that the book lacked was descriptions. It felt like a lot of telling instead of showing. Settings and character descriptions were not there. The only physical characteristic that I know about the main character is that she is short. 

Characters
Ruby had potential. I enjoyed her character in the beginning, but as the story progressed, her likeable factor decreased. She was so set on her goal, but at the end she sort of let it slip through her hand. It felt a little out of character that she would not be too upset with how things had happened. 

I didn’t really know Porter, so I’m a little conflicted about him too. He was not as flushed out, and again, I honestly have no idea what he looks like because of the lack of descriptions. I know that he is hot. But that doesn’t cut it. 

A part of me felt like their relationship was problematic. The sacrifices were not worth it; and both parties involved seemed distant from friends and family while they were in the relationship. I was actually hoping that the book would end with them not together. Unfortunately for me, that was not the case. 

All and all, the relationship was a little rushed, and I saw little chemistry between the two leads. The book jumped a few months, so this could possibly be the reason why I felt like the development was nonexistent and the ending was rushed. 

Final Analysis
In conclusion, Affective Needs is a book where everything feels rushed. The lack of descriptions leave the book feeling very two dimensional, and the romance falls short.