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nerdinthelibrary 's review for:
Birthday Girl
by Penelope Douglas
content warnings: discussions of past parental neglect and physical abuse, violence, underage drinking, graphic sexual content, infidelity, death of a friend
This is a kind of book that seems like it was written for me and I'm always a little wary about those kinds of books because it seems too good to be true. I've been burned too many times by mediocre books that seem flawless and yet I keep reading seemingly perfect books. Thank god I do because then I can find masterpieces like this.
Birthday Girl is my first Penelope Douglas book, and definitely not my last. It follows Jordan, a college student who, after her boyfriend Cole fucks up, is forced to move into his dad's place until they can afford a place of their own. Jordan quickly starts falling for Cole's dad, Pike, who in turn is falling for Jordan.
That is an extremely cheesy and tropey setup that can absolutely be written badly, but Penelope Douglas makes you almost instantly forget how ridiculous it is. Everything about this book feels surprisingly realistic even though if you think about it outside of context it obviously isn't. I think a lot of this comes down to how well-written the characters are. They're unlikeable sometimes, but incredibly consistent in their characterisation so it's never a huge surprise whenever they do anything. This means that the relationships they form also feel more authentic than many others I've read in new adult romances.
Jordan is such a fantastic main character. She's only nineteen but spent her childhood being neglected by her parents and was forced to grow up way too soon. She's spent her entire life worried about money, and that hasn't stopped since she's moved out; if anything, it's gotten worse. She's fairly mature for her age, but it never felt to me that Douglas was writing her that way to justify her relationship with Pike, just that this was who she envisioned Jordan to be. Douglas also doesn't just boil her character down to a young person stressed about their future. Jordan has so much personality that shines through at every moment, full of optimism and life, and it's easy to see why Pike falls in love with her so quickly.
Pike is a polarising character and I understand why. Honestly, it's shocking I don't hate him. He's aggressive and reacts irrationally in ways that I normally hate in male romantic leads, and yet. I spent every second of this book rooting for him and hoping he would end up with Jordan. I think that at least part of this is that he's actually shown to acknowledge his shitty behaviour, which doesn't make up for it necessarily but already puts him miles ahead of most similar characters. And, I dunno, maybe I just thought he was hot.
This is a long book, clocking in at just over 400 pages, and it's also a slowburn. When I heard that I physically recoiled, assuming that it would spend 300 pages being boring and then 100 pages of hot sex. Don't worry, that's not true at all. Sure, there isn't a lot of sex in the first half (though it's certainly not devoid of sexual content) but it's full of tension that's almost better than sex. By the end of the first chapter, there's already something between Jordan and Pike, and it doesn't go away for the whole book.
Obviously this is an erotic book. It's full of incredibly written sex scenes and sensual descriptions, all of which I loved, but something that struck me as I neared the end of the book is how deeply romantic it is. It isn't obvious when you're reading most of the book because the connection between Jordan and Pike is so carnal but as the ending draws near, the sex just kind of falls away? No, that's not the right way to describe it because there is still sex, but it's different. You're rooting for these characters to fall deeply in love with each other instead of just getting into each other's pants, which I think is what made me okay with the ending. The last chapter and epilogue of this is normally exactly what I hate in romances and normally would make me take off a star, but in this I was so in love with the character's love that I swooned over it.
This not being Penelope Douglas' most well-regarded book makes me so excited for my future of reading her books, especially since one of my friend's loves so many of her other books. Birthday Girl well and truly exceeded my expectations, and I kind of want to reread it already.
“I want to know everything about him. But maybe, I figure, we’ll keep having a reason to find each other if we save some things for later.
And right now, I’m desperate to see what else his mouth can do other than talk.
Touch me. Please.
Kiss me.”
This is a kind of book that seems like it was written for me and I'm always a little wary about those kinds of books because it seems too good to be true. I've been burned too many times by mediocre books that seem flawless and yet I keep reading seemingly perfect books. Thank god I do because then I can find masterpieces like this.
Birthday Girl is my first Penelope Douglas book, and definitely not my last. It follows Jordan, a college student who, after her boyfriend Cole fucks up, is forced to move into his dad's place until they can afford a place of their own. Jordan quickly starts falling for Cole's dad, Pike, who in turn is falling for Jordan.
That is an extremely cheesy and tropey setup that can absolutely be written badly, but Penelope Douglas makes you almost instantly forget how ridiculous it is. Everything about this book feels surprisingly realistic even though if you think about it outside of context it obviously isn't. I think a lot of this comes down to how well-written the characters are. They're unlikeable sometimes, but incredibly consistent in their characterisation so it's never a huge surprise whenever they do anything. This means that the relationships they form also feel more authentic than many others I've read in new adult romances.
Jordan is such a fantastic main character. She's only nineteen but spent her childhood being neglected by her parents and was forced to grow up way too soon. She's spent her entire life worried about money, and that hasn't stopped since she's moved out; if anything, it's gotten worse. She's fairly mature for her age, but it never felt to me that Douglas was writing her that way to justify her relationship with Pike, just that this was who she envisioned Jordan to be. Douglas also doesn't just boil her character down to a young person stressed about their future. Jordan has so much personality that shines through at every moment, full of optimism and life, and it's easy to see why Pike falls in love with her so quickly.
Pike is a polarising character and I understand why. Honestly, it's shocking I don't hate him. He's aggressive and reacts irrationally in ways that I normally hate in male romantic leads, and yet. I spent every second of this book rooting for him and hoping he would end up with Jordan. I think that at least part of this is that he's actually shown to acknowledge his shitty behaviour, which doesn't make up for it necessarily but already puts him miles ahead of most similar characters. And, I dunno, maybe I just thought he was hot.
This is a long book, clocking in at just over 400 pages, and it's also a slowburn. When I heard that I physically recoiled, assuming that it would spend 300 pages being boring and then 100 pages of hot sex. Don't worry, that's not true at all. Sure, there isn't a lot of sex in the first half (though it's certainly not devoid of sexual content) but it's full of tension that's almost better than sex. By the end of the first chapter, there's already something between Jordan and Pike, and it doesn't go away for the whole book.
Obviously this is an erotic book. It's full of incredibly written sex scenes and sensual descriptions, all of which I loved, but something that struck me as I neared the end of the book is how deeply romantic it is. It isn't obvious when you're reading most of the book because the connection between Jordan and Pike is so carnal but as the ending draws near, the sex just kind of falls away? No, that's not the right way to describe it because there is still sex, but it's different. You're rooting for these characters to fall deeply in love with each other instead of just getting into each other's pants, which I think is what made me okay with the ending. The last chapter and epilogue of this is normally exactly what I hate in romances and normally would make me take off a star, but in this I was so in love with the character's love that I swooned over it.
This not being Penelope Douglas' most well-regarded book makes me so excited for my future of reading her books, especially since one of my friend's loves so many of her other books. Birthday Girl well and truly exceeded my expectations, and I kind of want to reread it already.