Thoughtful!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a love/hate relationship with the Thoughtless/Effortless/Reckless series. And by love/hate, I mean that I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove Kellan and I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate Kiera. It’s just how it is. Kellan is the definition of everything I could ever want in a fictional boyfriend (BTW: Are we sure Kellan has to be fictional??? Because if not, show me the way to Pete’s!!!) while Kiera is everything I want to punch in the face over and over again.

It has been awhile since I read Reckless so I think I blocked out just how much I haaaaaaaaaaaaaated Kiera in Thoughtless. But I love Kellan so much that I was ready for any way Kiera could possibly annoy me in Thoughtful. Or not. I was definitely NOT ready because by the time I finished Thoughtful, I was in a complete and total rage. I vented to my friends. I tried to watch Goonies to distract myself from my heartbreak. I went to bed early and slept a really long time…but now I’m up and my heart still hurts. I think the rage helps mask my heartbreak but let’s talk the rage and the heartbreak, shall we?

Oh! Wait! Before we talk rage and heartbreak, I need to take a moment to say a little something about SC Stephens. Her writing is incredible. I dare to say her writing is flawless. Her books are full of depth and meaning and heart and pain and love. I wouldn’t be able to hate Kiera as much as I do and adore the ground that Kellan walks on if SC wasn’t so damn talented. Pure talent. More! I want more!!! And by more, I mean I need SC to write Effortless and Reckless from Kellan’s point of view also. Okay…back to Thoughtful.

Before I get to the pain, I should note that the good times through Kellan’s eyes in Thoughtful are so incredibly perfect. The first time I heard him say, ‘Mornin’ I squealed like you wouldn’t believe.  Dude. Kellan freaking Kyle smiling and saying ‘Mornin’ as he leaned against his counter? I die. I love him. Can you tell??? Oh! And Kellan with Evan and Matt and Griff? So great from Kellan’s point of view. So freaking great! Okay…on with the pain…

This book will crush you. If you remember all of the feelings you had when you read Thoughtless for the first time, multiply those feelings by the biggest number you can multiply by because Thoughtful will crush you. We read Thoughtless through Kiera’s point of view and as a result, I was constantly screaming things like this at her: What is wrong with you??? You are breaking him! Stupid! I hate you! I need you to get hit by a bus.  Choose Kellan! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU????  So! I was surprised that I didn’t completely abhor Kiera until about 30% through Thoughtful. That had to be some type of record. But then…then it happened and my hatred for her spiraled completely out of control. Why??? Oh…let me count the ways.

In Thoughtful  we get to hear all of Kellan’s inner monologue and it hurts. Every time Kiera rejected him or turned him away or chose Denny, it broke him a little more and Kellan did not deserve to be broken. He deserved so much better. I just want to scoop him up and run my fingers through his hair and love him. Love him because he is truly, genuinely a beautiful soul deserving of love and not because he is a super hot rockstar (although: bonus!).  

I don’t want to include passages of Kellan’s internal monologue from Thoughtful because I want you to read them and feel them in the moment-like I did-so that you can get the same punch in the gut. It hurts. We get to learn more about Kellan’s childhood. And his awful parents. And his pain. We get to hear all of the emotional baggage that Kellan carries around with him and it will break you. And if that’s not enough! There’s Kiera-playing with his heart-and seemingly reinforcing all the feelings he already had about himself. Stupid Kiera!!!

Something that enrages me now more than it did when I read it from Kiera’s point of view is when she slaps him multiple times. She. Slaps. Him. Multiple. Times. *insert all the angry emojis in the whole entire world HERE* After learning about the depth of abuse Kellan suffered at the hands of his parents…I hate Kiera. Now and for the history of forever. I hate her.

Phew! That’s a lot of anger I’m carrying around. Geesh. But again! I couldn’t have such strong feelings of hatred for Kiera and love for Kellan if SC Stephens wasn’t so freakishly talented!!! How many ways can I beg her for more of Kellan’s point of view?

If any fictional character deserves a happily ever after, it is Kellan. And even though I wish that Kiera would have taken a kick to the head in that parking lot that would have resulted in her never waking up again. Ever. You know, so Kellan could find someone who wouldn’t torture him over and over again…she did wake up. And Kellan loves her. *heavy sigh* I remember thinking when I finished Reckless…I thought: Okay. Maybe Kiera isn’t that bad. She can live. But I don’t know now. After feeling Kellan’s pain in Thoughtful, I’m going to need SC to write Effortless and Reckless from Kellan’s point of view to see if she can change my mind:)  

If you need me, I’ll be begging SC for those requests (over and over again). In the meantime, pre-order Thoughtful HERE!!! Before reading, prepare to cry, yell, scream, swoon, and completely have your heart ripped out. It will hurt but it will be oh so worth it!

As I was tweeting while reading Thoughtful  I had some people tell me that they haven’t read Thoughtless, Effortless, or Reckless for a variety of reasons. To those people, I have said this: If you aren’t sure you want to invest the time and money into these three books, wait. Wait until Thoughtful is released and buy Thoughtful. Once you read Thoughtful, you won’t be able to turn back. I personally think that Thoughtful  is THE best of the entire series. I should also note that I stand by my assessment that the epilogue in Reckless is the best epilogue in the history of epilogues. It is. And on that note…I’m gonna go listen to Debbie Gibson’s Lost in Your Eyes:) Buy this book, beautiful people!!! Buy it!!!

Thoughtful  releases on February 24th so be sure to pre-order it now so that Kellan is waiting for you in your Kindle when you wake up that 'mornin'. :) One more thing!!! As I was looking for the links for Thoughtless, Effortless, and Reckless, I noticed they are now super cheap!!! If you don't have them, buy them! OR gift the goodness of Kellan! Thoughtless,  can be one-clicked HERE for 99 pennies!!! Only 99 PENNIES!!! Effortless can be found HERE and Reckless HERE for only $2.99! What a deal!!! Spread the Kellan love!

xoxo