More Than Friends

Something about Jordan Tuttle and Amanda Winders draws me to their story. Known to everyone as “Tuttle” he is the rich, gorgeously beautiful, popular guy, the one that is known to throw the best parties, and the star quarterback. He is the one girls want on their arm and to capture his attention in hopes for more. Amanda is the low key, average girl who decided to drop out of band her senior year thanks to catching her ex boyfriend and ex best friend in bed together. She is determine for her last year off high school to be remember filled with new friends, new job and interests, and even a guy out of her league that she is unexpectedly drawn too.

The chemistry is brewing between these two; however, their mind has them acting hot and cold with one another. Afraid to get too close just to end in heartache. As you get to know more of each of their story you begin to fall to understanding the hesitation of wanting something/someone that you do not think that you cannot have. The question is whether to risk your heart for some moments that can possibly break you in the end.

Disclaimer: This review MAY contain spoilers.

This was just as addicting as the first book and the prequel! I couldn’t put it down. I still have some of the same feelings about this book as the last book. It isn’t easy for me to rate or review since this is a “guilty pleasure” kind of book. My rating reflects my enjoyment of the book in this instance when I normally rate based on the merits of the book in terms of plot, writing, characters, etc.

So yes, I enjoyed this book a lot. More than the first book actually. I loved Amanda and Jordan’s story. More so than Livvy/Ryan/Dustin/Em I think. Amanda and Jordan’s story seemed to be more substantial. The one thing that I didn’t like about this book was the blatant watering down of Livvy and Ryan’s conclusion. The first book ends in a cliffhanger, and this book doesn’t even start with the same characters. I felt cheated. I would have liked to finish their story with them instead of getting it from other POVs.

The plot is much the same as the first book. All about teenage drama in regards to their romantic lives. While the drama points in this book were just as heavy as the first book, they didn’t feel as exaggerated. There is a different kind of drama going on with Amanda and Jordan than there was with Livvy/Ryan/Dustin/Em. More star-crossed lovers and less backstabbing friends. I felt like more actually took place in this besides the romance, whereas the first book’s plot was pretty much only about the teenage romance.

I loved the characters in this. Mostly. I found that I liked Livvy less in this book. She felt more selfish and annoying in this book than the first one, but it may just be since this book is coming from different POVs. And I found that I liked Ryan more in this book. His feelings for Livvy seemed to cure his douchebaggery from the first book. It’s almost like he was a different person. Amanda is definitely a much more complex character than Livvy was. The book actually delves into her family life, her problems outside of the romance, and how she spends her time when she isn’t with Jordan. Jordan’s character is easy to like. He is a troubled boy deep down. We only get to see a glimpse of his troubles and I think that it just hits the tip of the iceberg.

I loved the romance between Amanda and Jordan. It felt more real and less superficial than Livvy and Ryan’s romance in the first book. It had a different feel overall from the first book because it is more about star-crossed lovers that won’t admit their feelings and keep skirting around them instead. And then there is a little drama and a little heartache. I am anxious to read the next book. This book is much like the first book in terms of heated scenes. I recommend for mature teens. I personally wouldn’t want my high school aged child reading this.

Another cliffhanger. Now, this is just torture.

Overall, this is an addictive series. I enjoyed this book very much and the series is extremely entertaining. If you are looking for a plot with some depth then you’ll need to look elsewhere though. This story is mainly character driven. If you like angsty teenage romance with plenty of drama then you will enjoy this one.

This book is perfectly executed, I felt and lived all the crazy high school drama as Amanda and Jordan traverse the trials and tribulations of young love. Amanda sees herself as the band geek/Brainiac that the cute boys don’t notice so when Jordan Tuttle suddenly shows an interest in her, well, she’s shocked and skeptical. Jordan seems to have it all on the surface but we finally get to peel back the layers in this book and find out what his life has been like to shape his distrust of love and commitment. Yet, there is still so much more that he needs to face if he will ever be open to love. I loved learning that he always had a crush on Amanda. EEK! I love these two characters, high school is hard, growing up and figuring out what to do next and Monica Murphy captures all of the angst, struggles, challenges for Amanda and Jordan. I was stunned with the ending and anxiously await the next installment to see what happens for Amanda and Jordan. Loving how real this series feels.

I received More Than Friends by Monica Murphy from a Goodreads giveaway, which I think is quite lucky as I doubt I’d have read it otherwise. And while this review is going to be quite scathing, I am glad that I read this book and I’ll tell you why. More Than Friends is a deeply problematic book. In fact, this book is so problematic that I find it to be more of an affront than the trash that is 50 Shades of Grey, and from me that’s really saying something.

Within moments of starting this book, I found myself horrified at the level of abuse romanticizing that Monica Murphy does throughout her novel. And I would be doing an incredible disservice to all the young girls out there unfortunate enough to come across this book if I didn’t take the time to discuss this issue. The main love interest in this book has the makings of an extremely abusive boyfriend.

In the first 20% of the book, Jordan Tuttle ignores Amanda’s lack of consent, has absolutely no respect for her in any real way, treats and refers to her in possessive ways indicative of a predatory and borderline violent need for control, and is blatantly disrespectful to women in general (see random girl at a party who performed sexual acts for him prior and he doesn’t remember her name or even have the basic human decency to apologize for it, but rather makes a snarky, disrespectful comment instead if you need an example).

And somehow we, as readers, are supposed to find this behavior romantic. When Tuttle says, “I’d take more, but you scare easy,” we’re supposed to love him for it. When he’s described as “star[ing] at [her] like [she’s] a rare, exotic animal” we’re supposed to find it romantic. When he glares at her and tightly grips his desk while she’s talking to another boy, we’re supposed to see it as some sort of cute jealousy. Somehow this is supposed to be representative of how much he cares about the main character because a) he’s obsessed with her, and b) he doesn’t give a damn about other girls. For the love of everything good in the world, I need people to understand that this is not romantic. This is abusive.

What truly frustrates me about Jordan Tuttle’s disgusting behavior is how the author writes the main character’s reactions to it. I don’t care that this creep has liked Amanda since he was thirteen, there is absolutely no excuse for how he treats her. And throughout the awful things he does, not only does Amanda regularly question if she is in the wrong for her reactions to his predatory and coercive behavior, she is manipulated by those around her into seeing his actions as okay. When he kisses her and she pulls away, “trying to escape,” his response is to manipulate her into feeling bad to the point that she proceeds to call herself lame.

And when Amanda expresses concerns about his feelings for her, Murphy attempts to manipulate readers into feeling sorry for Tuttle as though Amanda is somehow the bad guy for recognizing his predatory and womanizing behavior and calling him out on it. She presents Jordan Tuttle as a misunderstood guy who genuinely cares about Amanda since he “thought [he’d] already show[n her how he felt]” when his actions tell an entirely different story, when his thoughts show quite clearly that he sees her as an object he wishes to obtain.

Amanda is portrayed as viewing Jordan Tuttle as the bad guy she just can’t help being unreasonably upset with while simultaneously extremely drawn to while the abusively manipulating behavior of Tuttle is presented as something Amanda misunderstands. We’re regularly coerced into believing that Amanda is being unreasonable for not bending to his every whim, that she is entirely wrong to worry that he doesn’t want to be with her and only her. Her own thoughts are disturbingly toxic as she regularly references how “drunk” she is on him and is later criticized for being “rude” to Jordan. Predatory comments are referenced as cute or sweet, the moments of dark, “I should own you” like behavior made to imply the level at which he cares for her.

I left this book queasy and terrified. I already referenced that, at one point, Tuttle is described as glaring and gripping his desk tightly all because Amanda is speaking with a different boy in class at school. And how does the author have her main character respond to this enormous red flag? Amanda immediately wonders whether that means our dear abuser Jordan Tuttle is jealous. Is she creeped out? No. Scared? No. Instead, she calls herself a bitch for wanting to make him jealous.

And not only that, but when this same boy later asks her to be his lab partner, Tuttle rudely interrupts by claiming her as his partner and is described as “looking intimidating as crap with his arms crossed in front of his broad chest and a glower on his face that could slay a thousand dragons.” Then, to make matters worse, not only does Amanda express a very clear and strong desire to not partner with Tuttle for the lab, she is subsequently forced into it by the teacher’s inept misreading of the situation.

Listen, if the boy you like acts in the same way as Jordan Tuttle, you desperately need to run immediately as far away from him as you possibly can. This is the beginning of an extremely abusive and unhealthy relationship and the author should be ashamed and disgusted with herself for misleading young women into believing that this sort of behavior is in any way romantic or okay. It genuinely terrifies me that a book was permitted to push actions of ignoring a woman’s right to give consent, predatory and controlling behavior, and manipulations as romantic actions of a love interest.

For every girl who has developed a deep misunderstanding of what a healthy relationship looks like because they have been subjected to a book like this that promotes abusive behavior as a sign that he cares, my heart breaks for you. No one deserves to be brainwashed to fall for such horrible and disgusting misrepresentations of romantic relationships. This is not what a healthy relatationship looks like. And no one deserves to be treated so horribly.

If you decide to read this book, and frankly I urge all of you to do so if only for this purpose, I want you to take a serious look at how abusive it is and please spread the word so that no young girl has to go through an abusive relationship because some moron gave her the idea that harmful and possessive male behavior is romantic. I’m honestly furious and frankly you should be, too.

This book is the embodiment of my teenage years. From the drama to the longing lust, this book fits high school seniors to a T!

Above average teen romance. Author does a great job using baggage and immaturity as drivers for relationship challenges. I really cared about these characters.

Loved it except it didn’t finish. You have to buy the next book in the series to know the outcome. I hate books that do that.

Hidden gem, great for YA lovers

A great series…

I loved reading Amanda and Jordan’s story. It was heartfelt, funny, sweet, and awkward. Like every high school romance should be.