Book Review: The Vincent Boys

Title: The Vincent Boys

Author: Abbi Glines

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Year: 2012

Pages: 433

Genre: Romance/YA

Rating: 2 stars

One sentence summary: Ashton Gray is forced to choose between two boys: her boyfriend, who has left town for the summer, and her boyfriend's cousin, her childhood friend and the boy who steals her heart.

A full synopsis of this book can be found on Goodreads.

Spoiler Level: Low

“I was already headed for Hell, I might as well enjoy the ride.”

This book wasn't good. It was, however, an extremely fast read. I read it in one sitting. So there's that. When Ashton's boyfriend Sawyer goes out of town, she starts hooking up with his cousin, Beau. Of course, this causes trouble when Sawyer returns and Ashton is forced to confront her feelings and choose one of the Vincent boys. I knew this was a book about cheating before I started it, but this aspect of the book was handled so poorly that it made the characters completely unlikeable. Instead of a slow buildup of attraction between Ashton and Beau that led to their betrayal of Sawyer, the characters were immediately attracted to each other, and even worse, they acted on their impulses as soon as the opportunity presented itself. The characters themselves were already poorly developed, with Beau embodying the stereotypical bad boy and Ashton the good girl who just wanted to be bad, but their complete irresponsibility, lack of control, and lack of empathy made me lose any respect I may have had for them. They were also incredibly shallow and juvenile. The writing was just as bad as the characters themselves. There were a number of grammatical/spelling/punctuation errors, which is a major turn-off for me when I'm reading what is supposed to be a complete, polished novel. The sentences were also poorly constructed and awkward. The writing lacked imaginative language and was merely used as a means to get from one situation to another, as fast as possible. The dialogue was often cheesy and the character's inner thoughts made me cringe. The first part of the novel focuses on Ashton and Beau's relationship, but their interactions are so brief and surface level that their relationship never really develops. In the second half of the novel, Ashton decides to stay with Sawyer, not because she loves him, or for any good reason at all other than to create angst. Cue Beau being jealous, Ashton being indecisive, and then Sawyer turning into an actual jerk, thus validating her love for Beau. Throw in some references to God, a trailer park, high school drama, Ashton's need for patriarchal approval, and bad sex scenes, and this book really didn't work for me. Suffice it to say, this book isn't great. Mildly entertaining at times and a quick read, especially if you want something brainless.