'89 Walls by Katie Pierson

Quinn and Seth are so different.  Seth is living just above poverty with his single mom, who has MS.  Quinn's family is well off and she has a bright future planned for herself.  And that's before we get to politics.  Quinn's been brought up to believe in right-wing values, while Seth is Mr. Liberal.  But Seth has a crush on Quinn.  And Quinn is going through some things that makes her question everything.  Can these 2 come together and show each other that things in life aren't black and white?  That maybe seeing the other side will show them that life can be what you make of it, if only you see all the grey?














Wow this book is hard.  I found a lot of good in it, but I guess I didn't realize how political it was going to be.  Because it was a lot of the politics.  And a lot of the very strong politics.  Quinn's dad was super stereotypical Republican.  And Quinn was raised in that, so she thought she was that too.  Seth was completely opposite.  They clashed A LOT in their U.S. foreign relations class.

What I Liked:  The setting of the late 80's was sort of genius for such a political book.  There was a lot of current events for them to discuss that had clear "sides" to take.  The climate of the time worked with what the author was trying to do with the book.

I liked the way Quinn broke up with her boyfriend because he didn't "get her".  I wish I had that kind of perspective at that age because hey, like 99% of all the guys I dated did NOT get me!  I liked that this book made me think about things like why I view issues the way I do.  I asked myself more than once: do I really agree with this stuff, or do I think that because that's how I was brought up to think??

Stuff I Didn't Care For:  I felt like I was being pushed into the author's viewpoint.  It clearly felt to me that the author was on Seth's "side" and she was trying to make him seem right by making Quinn seem wrong.  I felt like Quinn gave up a lot of her own passion because she wanted Seth.  I also didn't like some of the TMI sexy-time moments.  I'm no prude, and I can't explain why exactly I didn't like the sexy-times, I just know they felt a little icky to me.  (I don't need to know that much about ejaculate, for example, I know what happens at the end of sex, but I don't want to read descriptions I guess).

So yeah, the romance was nice.  I liked Seth.  I wanted good things for him.  There were emotional times.  I wished I felt more of that emotion towards Quinn and her sister and BFF.  The girls in this book were not as likable in my opinion.  I did really enjoy Seth's mom though.  Her relationship with her son was kind of beautiful.

OVERALL:  Not for everyone.  If you like political debates, you might want to try this.  It's a lot of heavy politics.  It's a romance, but the main girl wasn't my favorite.  I would recommend cautiously.

Add this to your To-Read List!!

My Rating: 2.5/4

Date Published: 6/5/2015
How I got this book: Thank you to the author for sending me a copy to read and honestly review
Publisher: Wise Ink