Discovering April is the first book that I have ever read by Sheena Hutchinson, but I was really interested in reading it after I read the blurb. I have to admit that I struggled with this story at times, and there were some things that just didn't work for me. I did have things that I liked and that kept me reading, but I will say that I almost gave up on this one especially at the beginning of the book.
April Landau is focused on her work, school, and her boyfriend Hunter. She chose to stay in her childhood home knowing that she would have to cover the costs in order to go to school and stay with her boyfriend. But when things between them start to unravel, April finds her life falling apart and she soon discovers that she has lost herself along the way. With the help of her neighbor and onetime best friend Jared, she finds herself rediscovering a friendship that she didn't realize that she had missed. April and Jared are almost as different as two people can be, but after spending time together again, they find themselves wondering if they can find happiness together.
I will admit that I had my issues with April right from the very start of this story. April didn't really seem to have a mind of her own, and I didn't understand her relationship with Hunter at all. She assumes he is cheating on her right from the start and they are always fighting which results in him taking off and leaving her multiple times. But then he shows up the next day and apologizes while saying he loves her and is instantly forgiven and they have sex. This seriously pissed me off, and I couldn't get over what a doormat she was. She had no backbone and just kept coming back for more. Then eventually Hunter breaks things off and she is devastated and goes on a crying binge where she can hardly function. I seriously almost quit reading because I couldn't handle it. I was intrigued by her neighbor Jared though, and I wanted to see how things would play out from there. As much as I liked Jared, I thought that he was a bit hot and cold with April. At times he would seem really caring and sweet, and then at others he refused to talk to her and was cold. It was hard to keep up with the whiplash and I honestly didn't really care at that point because I didn't like April. I do think that they had chemistry and a connection, but I just wasn't really invested in it.
Another big issue that I had with this story is that it felt similar in a lot of ways to a book that I flat out loved, and I found myself comparing the two. They had several differences (including a few huge ones) but I still kept thinking about the other story and getting more and more frustrated with this one. There were also several times that the story seemed to be a bit stilted and choppy, and it felt like this one was almost a debut novel. I think this one could have used a bit more polish as far as transitions and flow went, and I think that might have helped to make it more enjoyable. The other big thing that bothered me about this book was the fact that I thought several things that happened were unbelievable, and it was hard to get past them. I just found them to be unrealistic and it didn't make sense to me at all. Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this story after reading what I thought was a really promising blurb. I think that this one could have been a really great story, but unfortunately it didn't work for me.
**ARC Provided by Xpresso Book Tours**
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