Suzanne H. reviewed on 9/17/2013 + 23 more book reviews

Real, by Katy Evans, is the story about a young woman who falls in love with a bad-boy boxer who is promiscuous, dark and dangerous. It's love at first sight, of course. I have to admit that during the first few pages of this book I thought for sure I wouldn't like it--it seemed to cliche, too much like I'd read it before. I thought it might end up a poor version of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. However, I stuck to it, mostly because of all the good reviews this book was given, and in the end I'm glad I did. Overall it was well written, with likable characters and enough drama and intimate love scenes to keep me interested. My copy included the extended ending, which I enjoyed (better than the original ending). I admit I was left feeling happy and experiencing some tears, which for me is a sign of a good book. There were a few things I didn't like--I thought it got a bit wordy from time to time--too much description about every little thing and not enough actual story. **Spoil Alert** I didn't like the male character's black-eyed HULK moments, which not only included monster-sized temper tantrums but memory loss, which I thought was over the top. Yes, he suffered from bipolar disorder, and perhaps there are extreme cases really like this, but as someone who knows a great deal about the disorder, I thought his episodes were a little far fetched. All of what I liked about the book still greatly outweighed what I didn't, however, and it's a book I'd recommend. Easy read, enjoyable, nice surprise twist ending. 4 out of 5 stars.

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