{Review} Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Two-Way Street

Lauren Barnholdt

Pages: 288

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Format: ebook

Source: PulseIt

Age Group: Upper YA

Date Published: June 26, 2007

There are two sides to every breakup.
This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.
Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet.
It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care.
But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot.
Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other.

This is my first review in a while, so bear with me XD.

I will admit that this book was impossible to put down, and by impossible I mean I yelled at people who asked me to do things while I was reading. I'm not sure why, because, in retrospect, the plotline was kind of boring, Jordan was kind of a chick, they all used MySpace (a site I have never even seen and only heard of, yeah I'm young, and I can't really relate to MySpace as I have no clue how it even works and it played a big part in the book), and the ending was kind of anticlimactic. Despite all that, I genuinely liked Courtney, and there was so much tension between her and Jordan that I had to know how it was resolved. 

SO, the story is written going back and forth from before (AKA how Courtney and Jordan started dating, while they were dating, etc.) to the present (AKA the road trip and after the road trip) and between C & J's perspectives. It created a lot of suspense, because a secret comes out near the beginning that one of them knows that other doesn't know but probably needs to know, and then we know that Courtney still wants Jordan but it takes longer to find out if he still wants her and then we're left wondering if/how they were going to get back together. And then there's the side stories of Courtney's friend Jocelyn and her "boyfriend" B.J. and Courtney and this guy named Lloyd who is/was her best friend, but we really don't get to know him that well and he's really annoying so I have no idea how that friendship got started and I never really found out and I wish I had because it made zero sense to me. Sorry for my run on sentences So, long story short, I kept going for the suspense and the sexual tension.

Let's talk about the characters. I really related to Courtney, because she was bad at small talk and was a little awkward and never wanted people to know she was interested in them. However, the little dear did go to legitimate parties and stuff and I've never done that. That's why we read though, right? To live vicariously through book characters we identify with? That's why I read anyway. She was emotional but wanted Jordan to think that she didn't care about him and his internet girlfriend (she's really funny about the internet girlfriend). She loves her parents, but I found her dad reeeaaally weird and we never really got to know her mom.... I don't know, I just really liked Courtney. Her chapters made me laugh.

Jordan was an.... interesting character. At times he's a total guy, but then he gets upset and has some "retail therapy" and spends a ton of money at Abercrombie. Like, in the chapters about their relationship I really liked him. But when the chapters were just about him, I don't think he and I would have gotten along very well. I just found him a little too feminine at times for me to be interested in him. He was good for Courtney, and that made him bearable. He wasn't a bad guy. He just wasn't my type?

Overall, the book was okay. It's weird that I had such a hard time putting it down, but didn't love it. I am at the beach with like 13 kids (most of whom are under the age of 10), so maybe I was being an escapist. Anyways, I recommend this book for like a road trip (which is how PulseIt roped me into reading this one) or any long stretch of time that you don't have anything better to do with (or read). In all, I give it 3.5 mustaches, which I'll round down to 3 for the sake of the graphic.

Side note about Simon Teen's Pulse It site: OK so I recently got an iPhone (woo hoo) and reading those "read now" books on it is AWESOME. Seriously, I very rarely read them before because I only had my computer to read them on (it renders terribly on my Nook Color... just like everything else... I may do a post on e-readers eventually). Booklovers with smartphones (though I have no idea how PulseIt looks on phones other than the iPhone) I highly recommend getting an account. They often have some pretty good books to read for free and the actual reading of the book on said phone is pretty nice. If anyone from Simon Teen is reading this- y'all need an app. That's all I'm saying, because then Pulse It would be perfect.