NA Review: The Shape of My Heart (2B Trilogy #3) by Ann Aguirre

Title: The Shape of My Heart
Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: 2B Trilogy
Book #: 3
Pages: 352
Reading Level: NA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.72
Published: Nov. 25th, 2014

Some people wait decades to meet their soul mate. Courtney Kaufman suspects she met hers in high school only to lose him at seventeen. Since then, Courtney's social life has been a series of meaningless encounters, though she's made a few close friends along the way. Especially her roommate Max Cooper, who oozes damaged bad-boy vibes from every pore. 

Max knows about feeling lost and trying to move beyond the pain he's been on his own since he was sixteen. Now it's time to find out if he can ever go home again, and Courtney's the only one he trusts to go with him. But the trip to Providence could change everything because the more time he spends with Courtney, the harder it is to reconcile what he wants and what he thinks he deserves.

It started out so simple. One misfit helping another. Now Max will do anything to show Courtney that for every heart that's ever been broken, there's another that can make it complete.

Taschima's POV:

The Shape of My Heart was both a combination of "I liked it" and "It was okay"; all around i'd give it 2 1/2 stars. This story centers on Courtney, the new comer to apartment 2B who is attracted to Max, the guy the story is kind of about but not told through (even though it should have been cause he is an original member of the 2B apartment cast), but who thinks that because she is a "Butter" face Max will never be attracted to her. Max, of course, is god's gift to women everywhere. He is sexy, sculpted, a bad boy with issues. Courtney is Max's best friend, and so when max gets devastating news from his family about the death of his grandfather he asks Courtney to go with him to the funeral. Courtney agrees to accompany her friend, not knowing that it takes only ONE trip to turn friends into something more...

Things that bothered me while reading The Shape of my Heart:

1. Much too cheesy dialogue.

"True north is a fixed point, the constant that never changes. And no matter how fucked up everything else is, as long as you're here, I can always deal."

It just goes on and on and on...

"I can't lose my true north, Courtney. So I will always come and find you. No matter how long it takes."

"What other people saw as Max being a player, flirting with everyone, was more like him paying compliments to offer some good to balance the bad in the world"

SERIOUSLY? Does this mean he can still flirt/give compliments to every girl in the world? Even when he is with you? That is a lame/stupid excuse for his slightly slutty behavior.

2. Predictability.

I pretty much know how these novels are set up, I know how it is going to go, so much so that it flirts with the line of becoming boring.

3. Promotion in all the wrong places.

 "He clicked a music player into the dock, starting a song I didn't recognize. The hook caught me right away. "Who's this?" "Electric President. If you like this, you'd probably enjoy Radical Face, too."

Good point Max! I am going to go google that right now instead of walking into your bedroom to have a serious conversation with you! Or in my case I am just going to put this book down (because let's be honest that sentence just broke me off the "reading flow" I had going on), go and research this random band, and then not pick up the book again for a couple of days. Hey, how about a list at the end of the title that showcases the bands that inspired the characters? That sounds good.

4. Weirdly possessive boyfriend/girlfriend relationship.

"He's weirdly possessive about you. I mean, he knows I won't try anything so..." "Her time is mine," Max said flatly.

The first sentence came from a GAY best friend. I mean seriously Max, cool it man. And then...

"I've memorized your class schedule like a good boyfriend. I'm here to pick you up."

Okay... we might need to set some ground rules...

Courtney

"It was kind of my deal to be out there, unshockable, edgy and outrageous"

Courtney is special... Perhaps too special. She is the "cool" chick who doesn't judge anybody by their physical appearance...

"People always say this, but I swear it's true--I don't really have one [a type]. Physical traits are ephemeral anyway, while the core of the person won't change over the years."

Although...

"...I'd totally flirt with her. Though she looked nothing like Amy, they shared the leggy build that rang my bell."

...she is into music (her dream is to open up an indie label and promote bands no one else listens to -unless you are like her and you actually do listen to these bands), she is bisexual, she is ubber rich, she is in a BAND! In fact, the only other character in fiction that I have seen be as "perfectly described" as her would be the Mother in How I Met Your Mother. She is the rich kid who is so rich she/he doesn't understand how the world really works when you have no money to throw around. But I loved how she cared about Max, I loved her past history and I would totally read a novella about her time with Eli (her dead boyfriend she sometimes has conversations with in her head).

Max is a cool guy too. His upbringing was the worst, and he has had to support himself throughout his life. Bu he makes it work, so much so that he got into college with only himself to thank. He is a very independent guy, who can get very attached to his significant other. I wasn't too invested in their relationship to be quite honest, their relationship seemed very normal. Friends who became something more with little to no obstacles. It was easy, maybe too easy.

The good thing about these novels is that they always have a section where the main heroine takes time for herself, learns from her mistakes, and improves upon herself somewhat. The bad news is that it has become predictable when this is to happen, how, and by the page count how long they have to do so. Sometimes I just like to be surprised. I like my twists and turns, but The Shape of My Heart was so "by the books" that I felt like I was just riding along for shits and giggles. By far my favorite one of the series is I Want it That Way because it was smart and sexy and it dealt with real relationship issues so well I couldn't put it down. Plus the sex scenes were tremendous.

That is something Ann Aguirre KNOWS how to write very well. Her sex scenes are so juicy you can't look away. They feel real. Though the sweet talk between the couple has deteriorated if you ask me. Max and Courtney were often very open to each other about everything in their hearts (and minds) that I just felt like it went overboard. They complimented each other so much and so often that it just made me want to roll my eyes. Yes, I get it, you love her for this and that reason and no you don't care how she looks it or whatever. I get it, now can we please move along?

You could read these books as stand alones if you liked, but I would definitely start off with I Want it That Way and go from there. Is The Shape of my Heart the last of the series? Perhaps, but the author introduced a lot of new characters in this novel to make the continuation of the series a possibility. Even giving us a tid bit in the epilogue about Max's brother getting it on with one of their roommates and how that was a good story for a later time. Truth be told The Shape of my Heart wasn't a favorite, but I am glad I read it if only because I am a sucker for finishing series and the writing is fresh enough so I finished the book pretty quickly.