Upside Down by Lia Riley

Received for review
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 683 KB
Print Length: 224 pages
Publisher: Piatkus (5 Aug 2014)
ASIN: B00LV9AEEQ

If You Never Get Lost, You’ll Never Be Found

Twenty-one-year-old Natalia Stolfi is saying goodbye to painful memories—and turning her life upside down with a trip to the land down under. For the next six months, she’ll pretend to be a carefree exchange student. Everything is going to plan until she meets a surly surfer with hypnotic green eyes, and the troubling ability to see straight through her act.

Bran Lockhart is having the worst year on record. After the girl of his dreams turned into a nightmare, he slunk back to Melbourne to piece his life together. Yet no amount of disappointment could blind him to the pretty California girl who gets past all his defenses. He’s never wanted anyone the way he wants Talia. A single semester abroad won’t cover something this serious. But when Bran gets a stark reminder of why he stopped believing in love, he and Talia must decide if what they have is once-in-a-lifetime . . . or if there’s a plane to California with her name on it.

Cover: Pretty, romantic New Adult cover.

This is a difficult one for me to review.  There were aspects I really liked, and others, not so much.

I found the author's sense of humor difficult to connect to and just 'get'; I spent a while to get a joke, and then almost eye rolling at the imaturity of them.  Talia just came across as immature.

The beginning was a little dodgey.  It was all over the place.  I had trouble understanding what was going on.   It skipped rapidly before I could understand anything and just left me confused and needing to re-read lines.  It seemed to jump from scene to scene, place to place, character to character.
I wish the book could have had a better start.

Also,  the majority of the book is in Talia's perspective, and then for a few chapters we have Bran's POV.  I wanted more of Bran's perspective.

I liked the premise, and the over all plot.  Wished we had seen more of Bran as I didn't feel we actualy got to know that much about him.

Overall, nothing to get overly excited about, but still a cute and fluffy read for when you're in the mood for that sort of thing.  And I would definitely pick up the next book.

3/5 stars.