A gritty, urban New Adult Cinderella story where the princess can do her own rescuing — she just needs someone to believe in her. Sister to car thieves, ex-girlfriend to a drug dealer, high school dropout, no-hoper and loser — Jess is on the sidelines, watching her life become one epic fail. Her dreams of university are fading fast, as the people in her life fight to confine her to their own expectations. Then she meets Sebastien, a gifted cellist from a very different walk of life. Sebastien is clean and strong and talented. He likes and respects her, but he too has expectations. Sebastien seems to think she can do anything, and Jess, despite her fears and the secrets she hides, is starting to believe him. But just as Jess dares to hope, the secrets in her past and the lies in her present catch up with her. All seems lost and she has to make a choice. Between past and future. Between home and hope. Between now and never. And this is now.
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- Young Adult Fiction
- This Is Now
This Is Now
Author(s)
Publisher
Age Range
16+
Release Date
February 01, 2014
ISBN
B00HQ5ZEKI
Editor reviews
2 reviews
Gritty and Satisfying
Overall rating
4.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
Writing Style
N/A
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
N/A
Now this was a great book! Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Enterprises Australia for the opportunity to read and review this book!
Jess such a strong character. She has a life pretty much set up for her, but she wants more. She doesn't necessarily think she can have more, but she wants it. She's currently "dating" Jay, who is actually dating her best friend, Anna. So she feels guilty and horrible for being the "other woman". I really wanted her to tell Jay off and her brothers! At first, I didn't care for Jess, honestly. She was going behind her best friends back with Jay. Not cool, Jess. However, the more I read about her, the more I understood her actions. Not that her actions were acceptable by any means, but just that I just understood them.
Enter Sebastien, Anna's older brother. First of all, who doesn't love a boy who can play the cello, am I right? *swoon* I loved how polite he was. He didn't treat Jess like a play thing (like Jay does). He never treated her like property or trash. Even though he is rich and Jess is not. That told me a lot about his character. While his sister Anna is selfish and self destructing, Sebastien has a good head on his shoulders and knows what he wants.
I really loved how Jess could have been totally find without a man in her life. I truly believe she would succeed without one. She has the "go get it" attitude without a man. It just would have been harder without Sebastien because he was the only one who believed in her! She had her brothers, Jay, and everyone else telling her she couldn't get out of the "slums". I really appreciated how she set her mind to something and then went for it.
Overall, a great read! I really enjoyed this book and it's characters. I will definitely be on the lookout for other books by Maggie Gilbert!
Jess such a strong character. She has a life pretty much set up for her, but she wants more. She doesn't necessarily think she can have more, but she wants it. She's currently "dating" Jay, who is actually dating her best friend, Anna. So she feels guilty and horrible for being the "other woman". I really wanted her to tell Jay off and her brothers! At first, I didn't care for Jess, honestly. She was going behind her best friends back with Jay. Not cool, Jess. However, the more I read about her, the more I understood her actions. Not that her actions were acceptable by any means, but just that I just understood them.
Enter Sebastien, Anna's older brother. First of all, who doesn't love a boy who can play the cello, am I right? *swoon* I loved how polite he was. He didn't treat Jess like a play thing (like Jay does). He never treated her like property or trash. Even though he is rich and Jess is not. That told me a lot about his character. While his sister Anna is selfish and self destructing, Sebastien has a good head on his shoulders and knows what he wants.
I really loved how Jess could have been totally find without a man in her life. I truly believe she would succeed without one. She has the "go get it" attitude without a man. It just would have been harder without Sebastien because he was the only one who believed in her! She had her brothers, Jay, and everyone else telling her she couldn't get out of the "slums". I really appreciated how she set her mind to something and then went for it.
Overall, a great read! I really enjoyed this book and it's characters. I will definitely be on the lookout for other books by Maggie Gilbert!
User reviews
1 review
Overall rating
3.3
Plot
3.0(1)
Characters
3.0(1)
Writing Style
4.0(1)
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
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This is Now
Overall rating
3.3
Plot
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Once again, the Australian author card has been played and a well-crafted, delightful story has been created! (Seriously, Australians, dude, ya’ll are awesome).
By far my favorite thing about this book is the characters. They aren’t perfect and I appreciate that so much! They’re honest and I probably know someone like each of them.
Troy and Michelle! My top 2 favorite characters. I wish they each had their own story or something. Two very family oriented people who I believe really just want to help Jess.
Sebastien is just sweet. “Wealthy, gorgeous, incredibly gifted and incredibly sheltered”. Yeah, basically. That’s him. Sometimes he would say things super smooth but so corny, and I kept being reminded of this guy that texts me sometimes and it is semi creepy. And for my own selfish reasons, I didn’t like him as much as I like Jay. (Yeah surprise, surprise. I like the sensitive bad guy).
Jess was forever blushing. For everything. The most random shit made her face heat. But she is a strong girl, and that made her an admirable heroin.
Now. I feel the need to bring this up because I see it so much in YA books. The texting stuff.
“Jst lvng now, soz. A.”
First off, I spent a few seconds trying to process that. I still don’t know what “soz” is and I can’t help but wonder if people actually text like that. At least no one I know does. Does it save time or something? I mean, you spend the time putting in that comma but you can’t spell out the damn words.
I hate that shit and I see it in books all the time and I don’t understand it.
Anyways.
“Music could get to me sometimes, made me ache for something I couldn’t really describe.”
That sentence is perfection. Yes. That’s exactly what music is.
This Is Now is full of sweet, little flawless sentences that made me stop and smile. I really appreciate a book that is actually original.
“I didn’t understand the attraction with nightclubs either: it was loud, the drinks were expensive and usually not very good, and the only guys that ever seemed to hit on me were drunk and obnoxious or drunk and charming because they thought this gave them a better chance at getting into my pants”.
Oh my damn, yes. That is how I feel about clubs. Jess, you understand me!
The whole time I was reading this I was thinking about something that I love as much as Sebastien loves his cello or Jess loves architecture and I couldn’t think of a damn thing that I could spend the rest of my life doing and never get sick of it. (I was told traveling the world doesn’t count. And I can’t make a living off of being a ridiculous fandom freak). And so now this book has given me a life crisis and I’m kind of freaking out.
Maybe we are all supposed to get something different out of this book. It’s not something I will forget any time soon.
If you’re looking for an easy, pleasant story, this is it
By far my favorite thing about this book is the characters. They aren’t perfect and I appreciate that so much! They’re honest and I probably know someone like each of them.
Troy and Michelle! My top 2 favorite characters. I wish they each had their own story or something. Two very family oriented people who I believe really just want to help Jess.
Sebastien is just sweet. “Wealthy, gorgeous, incredibly gifted and incredibly sheltered”. Yeah, basically. That’s him. Sometimes he would say things super smooth but so corny, and I kept being reminded of this guy that texts me sometimes and it is semi creepy. And for my own selfish reasons, I didn’t like him as much as I like Jay. (Yeah surprise, surprise. I like the sensitive bad guy).
Jess was forever blushing. For everything. The most random shit made her face heat. But she is a strong girl, and that made her an admirable heroin.
Now. I feel the need to bring this up because I see it so much in YA books. The texting stuff.
“Jst lvng now, soz. A.”
First off, I spent a few seconds trying to process that. I still don’t know what “soz” is and I can’t help but wonder if people actually text like that. At least no one I know does. Does it save time or something? I mean, you spend the time putting in that comma but you can’t spell out the damn words.
I hate that shit and I see it in books all the time and I don’t understand it.
Anyways.
“Music could get to me sometimes, made me ache for something I couldn’t really describe.”
That sentence is perfection. Yes. That’s exactly what music is.
This Is Now is full of sweet, little flawless sentences that made me stop and smile. I really appreciate a book that is actually original.
“I didn’t understand the attraction with nightclubs either: it was loud, the drinks were expensive and usually not very good, and the only guys that ever seemed to hit on me were drunk and obnoxious or drunk and charming because they thought this gave them a better chance at getting into my pants”.
Oh my damn, yes. That is how I feel about clubs. Jess, you understand me!
The whole time I was reading this I was thinking about something that I love as much as Sebastien loves his cello or Jess loves architecture and I couldn’t think of a damn thing that I could spend the rest of my life doing and never get sick of it. (I was told traveling the world doesn’t count. And I can’t make a living off of being a ridiculous fandom freak). And so now this book has given me a life crisis and I’m kind of freaking out.
Maybe we are all supposed to get something different out of this book. It’s not something I will forget any time soon.
If you’re looking for an easy, pleasant story, this is it
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