It began with a drunken kiss, a furtive but passionate grope atop of pile of discarded winter coats. Downstairs, the party raged on, but all Jess hears is the pounding of her heart as Finn Evans – the guy she had fantasized about for God-knows-how-long – ran his hands along her body. It isn’t until Finn staggers from the dark room that Jess realizes she has not only lost her virginity, but her … underwear as well. Things only get worse when she sees Finn again and realizes he doesn’t even know it was her in the bedroom that night! She heads to the Jersey Shore with her best friend, hoping a summer of fun will heal her broken heart.
Finn awakes with a colossal hangover and a pair of girl’s underwear jammed in his pocket. It’s not the first time he’s had sex at a party, but it is the first time he doesn’t know the girl’s identity. Thinking he’ll never see her again he heads to the Jersey Shore for a summer of sun, sand and sex.
While down at the shore, Jess and Finn find themselves thrown together time and time again, eventually forging an unlikely friendship. By the time Finn realizes he’s fallen for her, Jess is with someone else. Will Finn be able to convince Jess that he is the one for her, or will his bad boy reputation haunt him forever?
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I love reading romance novels and this book is yet another addition in the list of my all time favorite romance books. Finished kept me hooked till its end. Young couples, beaches, parties, and just sheer fun, a colorful book that deals with the feelings of millennial generation to which Jess, Jill, and many of other young characters of the story belong to. The book does have a bit of thrill that kept me intrigued and its romance element kept me entertained. I really liked the writing style of the author and the flow of the book from one chapter to another.
The characters are pretty entertaining and at the same time each one has its own set of problems to deal with. The book beautifully captures the emotions and feelings of each of its characters. I really like the female protagonist and her best friend Jill. The conversation between the two was quite interesting and often left me laughing silently as I flip through the pages.
Finn, the male protagonist however at times gave me a bad taste but as the novel progresses his transformation from a reckless and spoiled youngster to a caring lover exploring and understanding the universal emotion of love was something that made his character appealing and vividly clear in my mind. The only thing that bothered me was the title of the book – Finished. Though derived from the name of male protagonist, Finished sounds something like a book dealing with action, gore, or destruction rather than a fun-filled colorful romantic story that has a sweet and happy ending.
—3.5 Stars—
This book is an interesting take on a modern, summer romance filled with drama and some unsettling poor judgments. This book starts off with the two main characters, Jess and Finn hooking up at a party. Jess has had a huge crush on Finn and is thrilled that he is finally paying her attention. However, Finn is beyond drunk and later doesn’t remember who he slept with or even really the details of that night. When Jess realizes that Finn doesn’t remember being with her, she is crushed. So her best friend, Jill convinces her that a fun summer at the Jersey Shore will help her get over Finn. However, Finn is also renting a house on the Jersey Shore. Jess and Finn are continuously thrown together in some awkward and intense scenes that makes for an amusing summer on the beach.
This book overall was interesting and had some fun and hilarious scenes. I liked this book for the most part as it was quite entertaining. However, I found the characters to be unrelatable and beyond juvenile – not agewise – in terms of their maturity level. There were a few surprises, but sadly I felt that this book rested on many cliché scenes.
The pace of the book was mostly steady, but did have some slow passages. The way this book was written skips over days, weeks even – instead of most books that account for each day, sometimes even each hour of that day. It wasn’t necessarily confusing, just odd being like a Monday and then all of a sudden it’s the weekend. I want to know what happened on those missing days.
I wasn’t truly a fan of the characters. I found Jess to be sweet, but very naïve, simple, and unaware. I found Finn to be rude, immature, and basically a jerk. He is a total player and completely girl crazy – hooking up with girls that he can’t even remember their names.
I know in today’s culture something like losing your virginity at a party to a guy who is drunk may not be so out of the norm. However, I just felt like this was so trashy and disconcerting. I like books with strong, positive characters that you can relate to or look up to and Jess was not that. I personally wouldn’t have acted like that and I’d hope my friends would have more self-worth and respect for themselves. Now, now, I’m not a prude and I think it’s important to have fun, live your life, make mistakes and learn from them. It just seemed unclassy and Finn doesn’t even remember it was her he had sex with! How far from special and for your first time?!
Yes, we were all teenagers at one point. I remember going to parties and being around sex, drugs, alcohol, etc., and although I was raised somewhat strict, I knew right from wrong and how important it was to make the right decisions. As I said, I think it’s important for new adults to make their own mistakes and grow from them. This book definitely highlights that, but doesn’t really focus on the consequences or go into too much detail about the lessons from those mistakes.
There is a lot of miscommunication between the characters and that is very realistic especially around the YA/NA crowd. I think Finn did work hard to redeem himself in the end and he does get a point for that.
All in all, I did find this book entertaining – more like an episode of Jersey Shore or Jerry Springer lol. Filled with lots of laughs, gasps, and shock; however, hard to sometimes look away. I would recommend this book to someone interested in a book filled with drama and questionable young adult decisions. However, I would not recommend to a teenager as it isn’t something I would support them reading. It was fun and entertaining. I don’t regret reading it, but it won’t be something I would re-read.
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**