Suffer Love - Ashley Herring Blake

Title: Suffer Love
Author: Ashley Herring Blake
Pages: 352
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads rating: 

About: “Just let it go.”

That’s what everyone keeps telling Hadley St. Clair after she learns that her father cheated on her mother. But Hadley doesn’t want to let it go. She wants to be angry and she wants everyone in her life—her dad most of all—to leave her alone.

Sam Bennett and his family have had their share of drama too. Still reeling from a move to a new town and his parents’ recent divorce, Sam is hoping that he can coast through senior year and then move on to hassle-free, parent-free life in college. He isn’t looking for a relationship…that is, until he sees Hadley for the first time.

Hadley and Sam’s connection is undeniable, but Sam has a secret that could ruin everything. Should he follow his heart or tell the truth? 

Suffer Love had...potential.  A slow start - there was a bunch of 'these people are acting this way because of REASONS, but these REASONS will not be discussed yet.  But rest assured there are REASONS.'  So yeah, it was kind of slow.  I really liked the middle section though.  Hadley and Sam start seeing each other on the DL (hello, dating myself) and it's really nice to watch their worlds start to come together.  The supporting cast is also really fun to watch.  I really liked spending time with Livy, Ajay (why is it spelled this way, why??), and Kat.

Now onto the parts I didn't love.  I know it was on purpose, but Hadley's mom was such a nightmare.  Like, stop with your passive aggressive bullshit and deal with your problems.  Stop vacuuming in the morning because your cheating husband prefers it quiet and don't put pepper on his food because he's allergic.  It's not healthy for anyone.  I also didn't find Hadley's making out with a bunch of boys all that extreme (probably because I read Firsts not too long ago, and hello, that was extreme).

The ending suffers (heh) from a little bit of melodrama.  As expected, once the secrets fall away Hadley and Sam have to try and figure out where they want their relationship to go.  It just becomes so overdramatic.  No one's dying, no one's at war.  "Seeing you and not being with you...it would be torture."  What are you, 17?  Re-fucking-lax.  "That's living, Sam.  It's always uncertain."  Bleck.  I can't.  I just couldn't get past it.

I go back and forth on Suffer Love.  A slow start and a super dramatic end is offset by a lovely little relationship in the middle.  The friends are fun to hang with for a while, but the parents are annoying and terrible.  All in all, this was a middle of the road contemporary for me.