The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen -- Welcome Aboard or Walk the Plank?

One look at the Goodreads reviews would show that I'm in the minority by not liking this book--and that's okay.

I was so excited to read this book after reading the beautiful book that is The Coincidence of Kallie and Kayden, also by Jessica Sorensen. Admittedly, the blurb...was not the most exciting one.

Okay, okay, it was a very commonplace blurb. Like, I could put it on the back of any New Adult book and it would work. BUT STILL, I  held onto my hope, even though it was screaming obscenities at me to let it go and to find another book.

I should've listened to Hope, because this book was a major letdown. I had a constant headache due to the sheer stupidity and selfishness of our Little Miss Scarred Ella May [no, I have no sympathy for her--any sympathy I harbored for her died as the story progressed...that doesn't say much for you character, Ella, not much at all...]

Title: The Secret of Ella and Micha

Author: Jessica Sorensen
The Judgement: Scurvy Dog {I'm one step away from declaring this trash. I must've fallen for the cover. Wise men spoke true words: don't judge a book by its cover.}
           
Synopsis:

"Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever.

Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home. 

Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes. 

(New Adult Contemporary)
*Mature Content** Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language." 

My First Thoughts: The only reason I picked up this book, as I said before, was because of the author. Because of her beautifully crafted tale of Kallie and Kayden. And that was the only reason. The cover didn't strike me as anything eye-captivating and the blurb was boring. So, sadly, I was just a weeee bit disappointed with the book [I had high expectations and then the cover and blurb dimmed 'em down...sad that an author I was hoping to be a favorite didn't deliver]

Captain's Log on The Secret of Ella and Micha: I have to get this out of the way first. The word "aqua" was used to describe Micha's eyes exactly 9 times. Now, question about the book: what color were Micha's eyes, kids? AQUA. YES THEY ARE AQUA. I GET IT. AQUA EYES. EVERYONE GOT IT? 'CAUSE APPARENTLY, YOU DON'T KNOW THEY ARE AQUA UNTIL IT'S BEEN SAID 9 TIMES!

Okay, okay, I'm okay. I'm done. *Exhale*

Okay, back to the book. The story is of a girl named Ella May [I've finished the book and I STILL don't understand where the "May" part of her name comes from. It ain't her last name, I tell you that. Maybe I missed the explanation due to being bored out of my  mind =_= ] and her struggle to admit her love for Micha [...whiiiich she doesn't struggle with much either so...]. No, there is no emotional grappling with her self-hatred over being labeled her mom's murderer. How to say it...It's like she says she feels guilty, her family blames her, but I never got the feeling that she actually, truly regretted leaving that night. There was no conviction in her dialogue and her's family's accusations seemed to roll right off of her. After a hidden night of crying, she's flirtin' and makin' out with AQUA-EYED Micha. Yeah, not seeing much suffering. I expected angst. I expected emotion. But what did I get? An empty gap of eight months that could've been filled with her journey to where she ended up. 

That was my biggest problem: the eight month jump. It was a poor move on Ms. Sorensen's part. One day, she's about to jump of a bridge and kisses Micha, next thing you know, she's turned over a new leaf and is supposedly a devil-Barbie [ I stereotypical slut-shaming in this book was TOO DAMN HIGH. Just because Ella dressed like a cheerleader from their high-school {again, I don't get it--is the girl not allowed to dress differently? Does the cheerleader have a copy-right on those clothes} everyone flips their lid when she returns, mocking her. Like really, I thought y'all were out of high school, but I guess not.] 

Also, Ella's company that she was "running away" from, well, I don't get why she wanted back in--they were all a bunch of douches--but that's the problem again with her: that's the person she used to be. And some of those traits returned slowly as she hung out with Micha. 

Aaaand now we get to Micha...the blonde sexy boy [he's definitely an immature boy, no man] with dem aqua eyes. Aka another person who garnered zero sympathy from me. He had his daddy issues but again, they seemed so...nonexistent. Another bad move on Ms. Sorensen's part was leaving another gaping hole in the story. This was another missed opportunity on the author's part--the readers' could've witnessed Micha's processing of his daddy issues. But all we got to see was seeing him return and--you guessed it--makin' out with Ella. But I couldn't like Micha as a character because he thought bringing Ella back to her destructive ['cause that's what she was] self was the best thing to do. I'd give him plus points for trying to make her come to terms with her "self-loathing" but that's about it. He was more interested in getting in her pants.

I have nothing much to say about this book anymore. There are no words left to translate my disappointment. To sum it all up, the plot of this book was not the drama I was hoping it was to be. There were too many moments we were left guessing about the characters. For a book told in dual point of view, I can't tell you many meaningful things about either of them. Whenever something important was happening to the other, all we are left with is reading about the other character =_= All I was left to read was a story about a girl who tried to get away from the guy, but in reality, didn't try hard at all, and they just had a bunch of fun, sexy times. I couldn't take the "serious" moments seriously at all. All in all, poorly written book. 

PS: I AM SO MAD AT THE TREATMENT LILA GOT IN THE BOOK. So many moments, Lila is treated as not being their. Ella and Micha, at multiple times get their nasty on RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. *cough* fucking assholes *cough* And she gets the invisible treatment AGAIN when Ella and Dean are fighting. AND MISS PRINCESS ELLA doesn't give an explanation about it afterwards. Ella: horrible. Lila: from the few glimpses I got, has a goldmine of a story, so I'm willing to give her and Ethan's story a try. They sound sooooo much better. Here's Hoping I won't be disappointed again...

The end result...sorry The Secret of Ella and Micha, but I'm gonna have to ask you to leave my Jolly Anne and WALK THE PLANK!

-Captain Kaelyn