Waking Olivia by Elizabeth O’Roark

Published March 12th 2016

“That girl isn’t just trouble of the not-a-team-player, not-a-reliable-runner variety. She’s trouble of the devious, manipulative, too-f***ing-hot-for-her-own good variety. She’s the kind of girl who causes trouble merely by existing, and then makes sure to cause more.
And the last thing I need right now is more trouble.”

A failing farm.
His father’s debt.
And a struggling college track team.
Will Langstrom has too many responsibilities, and the last thing he needs is Olivia Finnegan, a beautiful but troubled new transfer student.

A smart mouth.
A strong right hook.
And a secret that could destroy her.
Olivia is her own worst enemy, with a past she can’t seem to escape, and the last person she wants help from is a cocky track coach she can never seem to please.
Refusing to be pushed away, Will is determined to save her.
And determined to resist an attraction that could destroy them both.

I’ve been really in the mood for a New Adult contemporary and Waking Olivia seemed like the perfect book to get my NA fix. It kind of did but not really in a positive way.

I really liked the plot of this book and the sports aspect. There was a lot of great plot points and it did keep my interest the whole time I was reading. I really liked how the author took the time to introduce the reader to the characters and didn’t just dump a bunch of backstory on the reader.

However, I didn’t like the characters. Olivia was so negative towards herself and it was annoying and a very typical trait in books that needs to end. She was always saying how she’s unlovable and no guy is ever going to see past her flaws. Honestly, I’m so sick of authors writing girls with no self esteem. They can write confident male characters but use a girl’s lack of self esteem to further the plot. Plus, Olivia was just a bitch pretty much 100% of time. Sure, she’s had a crappy life but that doesn’t excuse her bad behavior.
Don’t even get me started on Will. He was a jerk from the second he was introduced and he only gave a crap about Olivia when he felt sorry for her. He was always thinking about her physical appearance and was always alluding that Olivia used her good looks to get what she wanted and that men are so helpless around girls like her. On top of that, he cheated on his girlfriend and that is never okay. He treated his girlfriend like crap almost the entire book and I couldn’t stand to read from his perspective. There was so much angst and it made this book exhaustingly boring.

Overall, I wanted to like this book but the characters are awful and I hated them both. Olivia and Will sum up everything I hate in New Adult books and just reminded me why this genre needs severe help.