5 Heartbreaking Stars

I honestly don’t even know where to start with this review. There aren’t enough words that could describe how much I loved this book. It gripped me right from the start and had me on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster of a ride. I pretty much read this in one sitting I couldn’t put it down.
Beth and Chase’s story is one full of pain, heartache, you literally will be fully invested emotionally with these characters. I can’t tell you how many times I got so angry at some of the characters in this book. And when Beth or Chase hurt, I hurt too. This made me become one with these characters and that is down to the flawless writing from Erin Watt. They get it right every single time I read one of their books and they nailed it with this one too! This has become one of my favourites of theirs and that’s saying something as I absolutely LOVE their Royal’s Series! Just buy it now that’s all I’ll say, you will fall in love with Beth and Chase just like I did.

I found this story sweet and I loved the message in the story and I loved how everything worked out. I really enjoyed the storyline. Erin Watt definitely has a way of pulling me into a story. I must say I am more of a fan of their Royals stories, however I still love these standalones as well and I have learned that they are great at multiple genres. I can't wait to read what they come up with next.

First off, I just want to say that I have never ever read an Erin Watt novel that didn't make me feel emotion strongly. This one was no different, I laud, teared up and felt so much anger for the all the stupid people in this book. I wanted to pluck Chase and Beth from these pages and just keep them safely tucked away from everyone else.

This book flies so fast that I was at 80% without even noticing and then it was over and I was left wanting more. This is a standalone as far as I know and the story does wrap up well but I still wish more had happened with her parents but hey, just like real life, nothing changes as fast as we want it to. That's something else I love about these two authors, their novels feel, like real teenagers.

There is a wee bit of drug talk in the very beginning but it's not being used by the main characters. That being said, this book is all about forgiveness and moving on after something horribly tragic has happened. The writing is great as always, the romance is cute and the character development with the two leads is great.

All in all, I fully recommend this book just be prepared for those feelings of anger and wanting to reach into the book and smack Scarlett and Jeff to happen. Because they will, a lot.

*I will say that I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book but I did also buy it.*

Review will go live on my blog: 7/3/2018

I generally steer clear from NA/YA stories. My road back to innocence is a one way street. I left my youth long ago and have a hard time identifying with juvenile teens or tweens
HAVING. SAID. THAT . This theme could be at any age, at any turn of life. Doesn't matter the characters were high schoolers, the dilemma doesn't diminish or increase in its dimensions. Couldn't at all, becuase it's as big as Iowa as it is. Human frailty is explained at the most basic level here. The central theme or the message that the authors wanna send across is that the actions of today impact all your tomorrows and so it's vital and imperative how we behave in certain situations. Could be a drunk, rebelling, teenager or an egomaniac with anger management issues. Try and visualise high schoolers like that. Bullies, daft ignoramuses, full of piss and vinegar, feeling invincible. 
On a rush , in a rush, speeding through life and on streets, until with screech of tires and metal on metal clanks, glass shatters and rubber burns and everything goes blank ! Lives are destroyed, families torn apart and an entire town has lava of rage flowing on its streets, it's schools, it's homes, it's suburbs. Everything is burning !!
I'm still shaking my head at the incredible story that has been unputdownable trip for me. And as they say man can fall from the highest mountain and find his legs, but when he falls in his own eyes, he struggles to meet his own eyes in the mirror. Guilt is a concrete block hanging around your neck when you're drowning in a sea of mistakes and blunders you committed. 
Everywhere I look, I see a closed door. A dark passage. Locked windows. If there’s a way out, I can’t visualize it.
these past three years, the walls just kept closing in on me more and more, the noose around my neck kept getting tighter and tighter, until finally I snapped. 
And then there's the survivor syndrome. The The Child Who Survived 
We all carry our own burdens and are trapped in prisons of our own makings
"you teach people how to treat you.” 
And how do we keep breathing, keep moving, one may ask ?
you focus on One Small Thing a day 
And Chase Charlie Donnelly is focusing on keeping his one foot in front of the other. Every step, very mile, every day is a step towards freedom from his Darling Cage.
He urges Elizabeth Jones to do the same. Focus on just wants in front of you and keep moving.
I focused on one good thing instead of all the fucked-up stuff.” One small thing.
Each day that passed was one day closer to my release. No cage is forever, Beth. I tried to find one small thing that I could be grateful for each day, 
I fell in love with Chase. His calm, his self flagellation, should've annoyed me, but it showed me his maturity. His selfless love for Beth is just swoonworthy. Despite his suffering, he refuses to cower down or put Beth in harm's way
“You waiting for me is the one small thing that will keep me going.” 
To say that this story is profound is an understatement . It's a rule book by which to live through a disaster, if it strikes your life unfortunately. It teaches that forgiveness and acceptance is bigger than all prejudices combined. It shows us the way out of grief and onto the path of healing.
Easier said than done, but who said life was easy anyway! 
I jumped in the book blind and emerged red, puffy eyed but smiling through the pain. And there is a lot of pain in it.the town of Darling is so messed up and broken due to the accident that it witnesses, you couldn't put it back together even if you wanted to. Running away to another country or sticking there and stewing in your angry juices don't work out in the long run. Getting away and starting fresh might. And THAT'S what this book shows how to.
Contrary to my biased expectations, I enjoyed reading it immensely. I was invested in Chase & Beth. this book was excellently told, beautifully penned. My first book by the duo, certainly not the last
**On a footnote, if the world was full of dogs, I'd be the happiest. Cause they're non judgemental!
5 " Charles Manson" Stars

One Small Thing by Erin Watt is a young adult story that deals with the aftermath of a family loss. Beth feels restricted and confined by her parents. The loss of her sister Rachel has made her overbearing parents even worse and the loss has also deeply effected her as well. Sneaking out to a party one night she meets Chase, who is everything she needs and everything she hates.

As we learn more about Beth and Chase a simple rebellious relationship gets more complicated. Chase's history and how it involves Rachel's death gives One Small Thing a different track than expected. A story about loss, becomes one about life, choices, and new beginnings.

I recommend One Small Thing by Erin Watt as a thought provoking and developed story but do want to mention a trigger warning for those who may want to avoid books that have a theme of a lost loved one.

(I voluntarily reviewed an advance review copy of this book I received for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.)

I finished Erin Watt’s newest release two days ago, but I haven’t felt sorted enough to write up my review; my thoughts about the characters, the conflict, and the plot line are still conflicted…still at odds with each other, which makes it difficult to craft my feelings when it comes to Beth and Chase’s story. So bare with me as I attempt to unravel my entangled views and try and make sense as to why One Small Thing is so difficult for me to review.

Characters - Let me start by saying that even though I was extremely frustrated and appalled by many of the characters’ actions and behaviors, I also, on some level, understood why they said and did the things they did given the circumstances that they faced. BUT, I don’t think there’s a character in the story that I didn’t want to knock some sense into at least once and there were many who I wanted to continually smack in the face in order for them to see a little clearer and a little less self-absorbed.

The one character that I didn’t have too much of an issue with is Chase; he handled himself the only way he knew how to, dealing with the reality of his ‘new’ life, and I can honestly say that I don’t think I would have endured the mistreatment, the bullying, the name calling that he handled as diplomatically as he did even when I’m sure he was seething inside.

Beth is the character that had my emotions all over the place; there were times when she seemed like a melodramatic crybaby, completely consumed with her ‘woe is me’ thoughts, never looking at the big picture…never trying to understand how others would feel by her words or her actions. She also seemed so contrary throughout the story, and while it’s understandable for her to be upset with her parents’ overprotectiveness and their need to control her every move, her heightened emotions brought more pain and hurt feelings than anything that could benefit her relationship with them. It was extremely difficult to feel sympathy towards Beth when she didn’t do much to help her cause or attempt a new course when the one she chose wasn’t working.

I also struggled with Beth’s so-called best friends, especially Scarlett, and Rachel’s long-term boyfriend, Jeff. It was too easy for them to stand against Beth once she started doing things they didn’t like or agree with and Jeff’s place in Beth’s life as well as the way her parents idolized him just didn’t mesh with how he acted outwardly whenever he was alone with Beth and don’t even get me started on his actions at the end of the story; I already disliked him from the first scene he was written into and it turned to loathing pretty quickly after his initial introduction.

Even though I was a bit disappointed in One Small Thing, I’m still a huge Erin Watt fan, and I will continue to be one. They’re a fantastic writing duo whose storytelling teaches readers valuable life lessons in realistic settings, so while I didn’t love Beth and Chase’s story, the message behind the title is extremely relatable, and if our society would stop looking at all of the negatives around them and focus on one small thing about their lives that help them to get through the day then this world might just be a little lighter in the midst of all of the chaos, and it’s this teachable idea that I will take with me and implement into my life because it’s a fantastic reminder about how we should live our lives and never take our lives for granted.

3.5 Poison Apples (The Fairest of All Book Reviews)

This story was complex. You had Beth, who was formerly known as Lizzie and Chase, who was formerly known as Charlie because of an accident that killed Lizzie's sister Rachel. The whole book centers around the fact that Beth finds herself liking Chase but how can she when he killed her sister. This wasn't a happy book and it wasn't like the Royals series or even When it's Real. Then was in a class all its own. At times, I found it to be severely depressing but then that's also how life is and the theme of the book is to find one thing, just one thing every day that's good. So much time is spent looking at the negative that we don't look at the positive, so on that note the book did it justice. Even though this book had some deep themes it is well worth the read. This was probably a three and a half star read for me.

I was intrigued by One Small Thing after reading the synopsis. It sounded so different than all the previous Erin Watt novels, and I was curious to see what they would do with this premise. It ended up being a well crafted look at grief, the people who are left behind after a tragedy, and the process of healing. It also was a lot more than that as well.

Erin Watt's previous novels have been fun, soapy, addictive reads that went at a high octane pace. This book is a complete game changer for them. This one is more quiet, but also deals with issues in a much more direct way than the previous novels did. It's a step in a different direction that I think may open them up to new fans because of how different than their previous works.

Beth and her parents are in a state of stasis after the death of Rachel. They are each dealing with their grief in different ways and not dealing with it in others. The tension in their household is stifling and so are the rules that Beth's parents enforce out of a desperate need to keep her safe. It was crushing to experience this broken family continue to spiral when it was clear they needed each other. Their actions are coming from a place of both love and hurt and that makes from some explosives circumstances. The book easily allows you to place yourself in this situation and the heartbreak each of the family members are carrying with them.

The forbidden romance element was the part I was most concerned about before I picked up this novel. Chase played a role in Rachel's death. This should mean that Beth wants nothing to do with him but when they meet, without knowing their previous connection, sparks fly. This part of the plot was, in my opinion, handled really well. Chase's actions are never excused but the point is made that he shouldn't pay for those actions forever. He punishes himself more than anyone else could, and I think that part of his character allows for a lot of sympathy from the reader. It also helps that the situation is so very different than what I anticipated going into the story.

There was an unexpected part of the plot that dealt with abusive relationships that I felt was also handled rather well. It is used not only to contrast Chase's character but show that people are not always as we perceive them to be. There is also an undercurrent of girls supporting each other and being there for each other that I found really resonated. I didn't expect it to examine any of this and was surprised at how well it folded into the main plot of the story. It felt effortless and not tacked on at any point.

One Small Thing is a book that tackles a lot of hard topics but manages to do them quite well. There is a lot of substance to this one as well as a lot of heart. The title reference is a hopeful one, and that is ultimately the note that this story is left off on. I think many readers will enjoy this emotion filled offering from Erin Watt and enjoy their time with Beth and Chase.

Something the author duo that is Erin Watt is doing very well is write addictive, angsty stories that keep you invested even if you want to scream in frustration. In One Small Thing it wasn't any different. I wanted to slap the whole cast of secondary characters - all of them without exception did awful things and behaved like lunatics.

I saw a lot of readers complain about Beth's childish behavior and yet she was actually the only one behaving like a seventeen year old. She rebelled against her parents who took protection to epic albeit insane proportion. Honestly, the things they made her put up with would have many girls on the verge of adulthood acting out. Did she make stupid decisions? Hell yes, but given the golden cage she lived in I was surprised she never totally screwed up. I also thought there was a lot of growth throughout the story - she admitted to making mistakes and tried to fix them. Also, she listened and while she not always acted the way I wanted her to it was understandable as well.

Chase was a beautiful character. Guilt-ridden but good to the chore. He was good and wise beyond his young age. That's what his single big mistake left him with. His remorse was so hard to watch, him being bullied at school for his big f*ck up was so incredibly maddening. I wanted to hug him close.

On the surface, Chase is hard— all muscles, tough sinew and bone. But underneath, he has a tender heart. It aches for us. What he wants and what I want are at odds with what we should be wanting.

As mentioned all the secondary characters were jerks to a certain degree and they left me shouting at my Kindle. Which I did pretty much all the time because I didn't get much reprieve. If it weren't Beth's parents making her life impossibly hard it was her best friend or her sister's boyfriend.

I actually loved how Erin Watt showed us how cruel teenagers can be and how they rally to descend like a pack of wolves on an innocent victim because, dammit, nobody deserves being treated like this. To remind the reader to speak up when they witness bullying was well placed. One thing that I missed a bit was a real romance. While I understood Chase and Beth's connection I didn't get to see much of them as a couple - maybe this was intentional though as to not distract from the story which focused a lot on the heroine and was also only written in her point of view.

One Small Thing might not compare to the quality of The Royals but it's still entertaining to read. Elle Kennedy and Jen Frederick definitely make a very talented duo who I'll come back to to read more of. There are a lot of lessons to be learned in this book and I'll wrap this review up with one of my favorite quotes:

I focus on what I can control, and what I have to live for. Because there’s always something to live for. Something to be thankful for. Something to look forward to. That’s the biggest lesson I learned from Chase.

The young adults for me are a breath of fresh air, they are that thing that sometimes takes to rebuild the oxygen.
If we think of Erin Watt, the first book that comes to mind is inevitably "Paper Princess" and I can assure you that "Rebel Love" could not be more different.
First of all, the young adult of this book is not only for the age of the characters but also for the contents.

Beth is the classic protagonist who, personally, I hate. She is the typical character who rebels against her parents only because she feels suffocated. Are they unjust? You go to bed with the first one that happens.
In short, spoiled beyond belief, when she does everything to lose the trust of her parents she is astonished even if they punish her. Of course, it's a pretty realistic picture of how things work today.
Of course, her parents are not really very welcome eh, we talk about phone records of messages that seem like they were some kind of CIA agents...
Chase, however, I loved him. I can not tell you who he is, what he does, why he does it and blah blah. Know that he makes you love him like a puppy. His character is particular, he does not need to have an evolution because the only fact that he is in the book is his growth.
You will understand by reading.
Even the secondary characters and the villains are very well characterized, indeed far too I would say because you will hate them without difficulty.

The plot, in general, convinced me; for a young adult is perfect, although I admit that for the whole book it seemed to me that I was preparing myself for something huge, until I then turned the page and found myself in front of the epilogue.
Good, but the best.
Among other things, from the very first pages - I have witnesses - I had a sense of deja-vu that half was enough. I swear to you that I knew what would happen, how it would have been written, what the characters would have said. It was as if I had already read it, but not in the sense that it seemed to be copied from another, but just as if I had already laid eyes on those pages.

The style, however, as it was already for Paper Princess, is wonderful. I drank the book in one night without feeling the slightest weight.
Surely I'll read more from this duo.

One Small Thing is full of angst, drama and I loved it.

While Chase and Beth are two characters that probably don’t have any business be together I shipped these two hard.

Beth’s environment right now is less then ideal and I’ll be honest I was ready to scream for her at times throughout this book. Now at the same time there were moments that she actually frustrated me with her actions but she is in high school after all and so while I might not have agreed with some of the things she did I definitely understood them.

Chase I absolutely loved his character and there were multiple occasion where I was so angry on his behalf. People can be cruel and my heart went out to him. Out of all the characters in this book he was my fav.

This book has drama drama drama and I lived for it. It’s got some villains that I definitely wanted to punch out and it remind me that high school can be a very tough place.

The one thing preventing me from giving this a five star is the ending and in that for me it seemed rushed. The entire story had this slow buildup towards what I was hoping would be an HEA and then it all happened sort of quickly, like climax and then boom resolution and I felt that it might have needed a bit more time to sort itself out so to speak. Vague I know but don’t want to give it spoilers.

Overall though I loved this book and definitely would recommend to those looking for a good YA read.

Wow, heart-wrenching and gut twisting.
I'm going to be honest here this has left me emotionally exhausted.

I went into One Small Thing completely blind. I have such faith in these authors that I don't need the build up. Just give me the book, please. Well folks, what I got was in no way what I expected. Emotionally raw, coming of age adolescents with a massive dose of in your face, gut-wrenching reality.

I was so conflicted about which way to feel. Be one with the character of Beth as she tries to live her new reality or feel the emotional empathy of a parent. The juxtaposition of my emotions just bleed out all over this book.

This one isn't a light and fluffy Gossip Girl kinda read. It will stick and it will hurt a bit. But that ending... gives me everything.

I am a huge fan of Erin Watt and I LIVE FOR the Royals series. When it came to their first YA book, though, it didn't wow me like I wanted it to. So when it came to reading this book, I went in blind and with no expectations. And I was blown away.

Ever since her sister died, Beth has felt trapped. Her parents are becoming more and more protective and Beth feels like she'll never be able to leave, even when she finally graduates high school at the end of the school year. When she first meets Chase, she's excited and finds herself having a crush. Until she finds out that Chase was involved in her sister's death. Chase is trying to get through life day by day after serving his punishment for what he did. When he meets Beth, he's shocked to find someone willing to give him a second chance. But while Beth is willing to see his good, no one else would ever understand a relationship between them.

Oh my goodness, from the moment we met him, I was obsessed with Chase. I felt so bad for him for carrying the weight of his past on his shoulders. Chase was such a strong character and never let anyone push him down, no matter how hard they tried. Beth tried so hard to show Chase that their pasts and society's opinions didn't matter if they felt so right together and I loved how adamant she was. Chase and Beth were able to bond over their grief and loss and form a connection that no one else could ever understand.

While I was reading this book, I just couldn't put it down. Normally I hate characters like Beth who act out when their parents set down rules, but I completely understood Beth and really empathized with her. I understood where her parents were coming from, but I felt just as frustrated with them as Beth was and I wanted her to rebel and go out and live her own life. Especially if it meant growing closer to Chase!

Overall, One Small Thing completely surprised me and I devoured the story. I have a HUGE crush on Chase and really loved Beth's character. Beth grew so much and had so many ups and downs, which is just the reality of life for a teenager, especially a teenager who has gone through as much as Beth has. For a raw storyline and an adorable romance, you have to pick up One Small Thing!

One Small Thing is the story about teenager, Beth, who is suffering the after-effects of her sister’s death in more ways than one. Beth may not have fully dealt with the fact that her sister is dead, but her parents have basically enshrined anything that belonged to Rachel, and they’re cautious to the point of smothering when it comes to their surviving daughter. And it’s causing Beth to rebel in ways she never has before. So after reading the first three books in the Royals series from this team of authors, it’s clear that they favor exaggerated teen circumstances to reality, and sometimes that works. Here it just felt even more extra than extra. (Minor spoilers ahead – these occur near the beginning of the story, so I wouldn’t necessarily consider them spoilers; some people might.) Pretty much kidnapping her college applications and removing the door to her bedroom as punishment were so over the top for me, not to mention terrible parenting. Beth’s parents were so steeped in grief they couldn’t even recognize it in their daughter. The mother was the most infuriating to me. She would occasionally give Beth commiserating looks, but never once stood up to her husband. She was so spineless and such a terrible role model for her daughter. Ironically, it’s Chase, the young man who had a hand in her sister’s death, who causes her to really examine the way she is acting, and while I did enjoy the part of the story that made her reflect on her actions, I felt like her parents came around to her way of thinking way too quickly. There was zero no authenticity there. Not to mention that her terms were something her parents never would have agreed to.

Beth’s friends were so fair-weathered, and her classmates were terrible people. There was not a redeeming one in the bunch. It was like Beth and Chase were the only decent people in school, and that’s something I find so stereotypical in YA. EVERYONE is a villain except for your main characters. It’s them against the world, yada yada yada. Nothing new to see there.

I will say that the highlight of this story for me was Chase, even though I don’t understand the attraction between him and Beth. He was a solid kid, he’d learned from his mistakes, and he was just trying to piece his life back together. The way he kept punishing himself, even while I understood it (and it was probably the only part of the story that felt credible to me,) really broke my heart. I also really liked the thread of forgiveness here as Beth was able to see who Chase was and that he was devastated by what he’d done. It was so freely given, and I liked that she wanted him to move on.

Ok – so the way this book ‘ended’ really gave me whiplash, because…where even was the ending? I was so shocked when it was all over, because there was very little closure. However, having said all this, I have to admit that this book had me in it’s thrall while I was reading it; I was totally addicted! And for all that drove me nuts about One Small Thing, I still wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to someone who’s a fan of YA books.

So here we dive into the life of Beth aka Lizzie, suffocated by her parents after the death of her sister and then who rebels and meets Chase. But he has his own demons........

Chase was my fave in this book and omg I so felt for Beth, how she lived without going crazy is beyond me! They both have demons to face and maybe together is the best way.....

Beth's parents. They drove me potty to the point I wanted to scream at them, they made me so annoyed that I didn't know if I could carry on reading!

The writing and flow was great and, as in all of this authors books, the character development was on point.

And that ending? Maybe a bit rushed? Maybe I like it? I'm still not sure......

A good read if you can handle the crazy parents and teenage angst!

WOW! My first book by Erin Watt didn't disappoint at all. I'm not normally a fan of YA but there was just something about One Small Thing that kept me glued to my kindle.

I think it was mostly because I knew it was all going to blow up for Beth at some point but I had no idea when or what the culprit would be that finally sent her over the edge. Tensions were high with the two new kids to school. One guilty of an accident, and one guilty of being a jerk.

My heart just went out to Chase because no matter what he did he couldn't get away from the one mistake that would haunt him for the rest of the days. And the more time he wanted to spend with Beth, the more complicated things became. Stolen glances, secret head nods and clandestine midnight meetings couldn't stop the inevitable from happening.

Was it a touch predictable? Yes. Did that make me root for Beth and Chase any less- nope. One Small Thing was teenage hormones and angst on steroids. It also packs a powerful punch of not just fighting for your dreams but also fighting for what's right.

3.5 stars

This is a sweet and heartfelt YA novel with some serious themes and a beautifully slow-burning forbidden romance that absolutely captured my heart.

Beth is a 17 year old girl entering her senior year of high school. It should be the time of her life as she embraces her independence and begins to plan for life after high school. But instead she is smothered and over-protected by her parents. After the tragic death of her older sister, they have become helicopter parents to the extreme, and she is choking under the pressure of it. Desperate to act out, she makes the conscious decision to rebel and begins sneaking out, partying and experiencing her freedom any way that she can, and that’s when she meets Chase. 19 years old and a fellow senior, Chase has just been released from a stint in juvie, and he is just the gorgeous bad-boy distraction that Beth is looking for.

Beth and Chase are both unaware that their pasts are tied together, and when the truth is revealed it’s to the horror of everyone around them who believe that they should have nothing to do with each other. Even Chase feels that they should keep their distance. But it’s tenacious Beth who can see beyond public perception and Chase’s demons, determinedly pursuing the boy that everybody else loves to hate.

“No one counts, Chase. No one but you and me. If you tell me you don’t care about me, I’ll cry but I’ll get over it. That’s your choice. But if you’re pushing me away because guilt is your current girlfriend and you don’t want to leave her, then that’s bullshit.”


I really liked Beth. She’s stuck at the mercy of her controlling parents, and she acts out and makes bad decisions, but she’s only 17, and I could understand her feelings, her confusion, and her motivations. What I love about her though, is the way she persistently challenged Chase. She valiantly ignores everybody in her life who does their best to keep her away from him, but she also takes on his demons, encouraging him to move on with his life and fighting to have a place in it.

“Are you ever going to let me forgive you?”


Chase is such a beautiful character. He has been deeply affected by all that he’s been through, and his guilt and regret is a constant weight around his neck. But I loved how down-to-earth he was, how he accepted Beth’s insistence on being in his life as she broke down his walls, and showing his softer and vulnerable side with her.

“That’s how I kept my sanity – I focused on one good thing instead of all the fucked-up stuff.” One small thing.


The love story that develops is really sweet. Chase shuts down, Beth pushes back, and through it all they slowly and tentatively form a friendship that deepens into so much more.

“What’s your small thing for today?”
“You.”


But they are up against some massive hurdles in their quest to be together. As I’ve experienced in other Erin Watt books, the drama is intense and really dramatic, making me hate every other person in this book, and leaving Beth and Chase alone in a bubble of misunderstood young love. It is literally them against everybody, and while I love an ‘against-the-odds’ romance, in this case it all felt a bit too much as actions and reactions are taken to such an extreme that they become almost unrealistic.

And then, just as we hit the big climax, all of a sudden it’s over. Things wrap up really quickly at the end, and it felt really rushed after the slow and steady build-up of everything else that happened in the book. There was so much time crafting these characters, all that they are going through, and their slow building friendship and relationship. And then… bam – they’re in love… bam – big bad guy moment… bam – everything changes… bam – it’s over. It felt like they finished it in a rush, and sadly, it was a bit unsatisfying after watching their struggle over so many pages.

But I did enjoy it. I liked Beth, I loved Chase, I thought their struggle was well developed with lots of emotion and I loved their love story. It just got a bit melodramatic and didn’t finish off the way I was hoping. But still a good read.

3.5 stars.

Statement: I love Erin Watt’s The Royals series and When it’s Real.
I love Jen Frederick’s work as well as Elle Kennedy’s series.

When I spotted the ARC of One Small Thing I sent a request and crossed my fingers. Real tight. It was painful and unpractical.

When I got it I squealed! So hard the neigbors believed some cats were fighting. Nope. That was me!

I dove right in but sadly this book was not for me.

I think one part of my disappointment is due to the ARC format with small inconsistencies and lack of transition once or twice left in this format. I am used to beta read and I have an eagle eye to spot these while most people would miss them. But that’s what beta readers than later editors are for and I am certain all will be formatted for the release.

So let’s just forget this remark and speak about what prevented me to give a 4 or 5 stars.

My main problem was that I was MAD at Beth’s parents AL THE TIME! And I was mad at her best friend Rebecca AND at the whole school. Heck make it the whole town!

I could not really believe a whole town and school would behave like that! No one in that school ever considered giving Chase a chance after he paid his due for three years in juvie. He was not a serial killer! Ok he killed someone but he never intended to it was an accident and it is a huge difference.
And he paid his due!

Now based on Erin Watt’s interview (the one made with Andelica from Collector of Book Boyfriends and that will be published on our respective blogs) I know they struggled the most with Beth parents. So they willed them to be irreasonable, overprotective, smoldering and vengeful because that was their way to grieve!
In this it is a huge success!
But it had me a boiling cauldron of anger, outrage and disbelief all the time!

Beth also had a huge way to grow.





She had an erratic behavior going from temper tantrum, reckless behavior to maturing thanks to Chase. Her not standing up and claiming Chase bothered me too. He had to be her dirty secret. But the second after I felt bad because she was grieving and who’s to say how to grieve? There is no handguide!
And would have I dared stand up for Chase in her shoes? From personal experience in high school I can say yes. I stood up for bullied and rejected people against the powerful bullies of the school. But most people wouldn’t. That’s a fact. And so her behavior was not exceptional and I had to be more understanding.
Yet I was ANGRY once again.

And I wanted to kick some behind!

Even Chase did not escape my wrath.
He was a noble soul and admirable.
BUT

He still wanted to be punished for what he’s done hence forbade himself to be with Beth. And was so understanding that he accepted that others wanted to bully and shun him.
Now if others would attack Beth then he would draw the line as he was far from a coward! Only remorseful and trapped in his guilt.

What has been masterfully stated in this book is that grief can alter people on a deep level. It can morph a jokester dad into a jailer. Never smiling. Suffocating you for your own good. A loving mom can lash on you. She can help her husband to keep you a prisoner. Both idolatring their dead daughter. Seeing her like a Saint.

It’s also established that villain can wear bright and charming colors manipulating everyone.

Some wisdom came forth: behave like you want peope to see and treat you. If you behave like a brat you’ll be treated like one.

To make it short: anger was festering through my soul throughout my read. I was in the same emotional state these people were. Just not mad at Chase but at them!

That’s why I ended giving this book a 2,5 stars derived from my utter frustrated frame of mind.

Will I keep reading Erin Watt’s books?
Without a doubt as I know first hand that they write fantastic stories and have proven their talent many times.
It is perfectly normal not to love every single book as reading is a personal experience.

Not Erin Watt’s best work, but still an addictive read!

In their second YA novel, Erin Watt narrates the story of Beth, a seventeen year old girl who lost her sister to a car accident three years ago. Beth wants to party, have fun and make stupid decisions during her last school year, but her parents are constantly trying to smother her with their unreasonable rules and extreme reactions. In a desperate act of rebellion, Beth ends up in a party full of strangers and meets the most gorgeous guy she’s ever seen. There’s just one small problem, one she didn’t realize back then; he’s the reckless driver who took her sister from her. Her family, her friends, the entire town, wants to burn him at the stake. Beth? She can’t kill the butterflies in her stomach, nor deny the strong connection they share. Torn between the loyalty to her dead sister and her traitorous heart, between what everyone expects from her and what she truly wants, Beth will have to face her grief, deal with her loss and find her path in life, a path made of her own desires and dreams.

Erin Watt has proven thus far that they can write intense and highly addictive novels, and One Small Thing is not an exception. It’s a novel heavily focused on family issues, romantic relationships, the aftermath of a terrible loss, friendship, hatred and forgiveness. Forgiveness towards the one who hurt you, and atonement for your own fatal mistakes.

It was also a novel laced with angst; there was a rush of multiple emotions wreaking havoc to my very core. And amongst the suffocation, the bitterness, the anger, and the despair, the most dominant was the anger. So much anger. While the authors managed to capture a side of humanity that is unfortunately real – the bloodlust that makes good people do bad things and call them justice - sometimes I felt like they overdid it. There was simply too much drama. There was not a single decent character in the entire book, with the exception of Chase, the love interest. I suppose what the authors wanted to show was that one action, no matter how devastating it is, cannot dictate a person’s life, that there is one point where punishment is enough, that not everything is painted in black and white and I get it, I admire it even. But that absence of even one person who was sympathetic to Chase or supportive to Beth, who was not judgmental and thirsty for retribution felt way too manipulative, a means to bring them together and justify why Beth ended up falling for the guy responsible for her sister’s death.

And that brings us to Beth’s character. She was extremely juvenile about everything: the way she handled her grief, her reckless decisions, even the way she stalked Chase was nerve-wracking. As the story progressed I wished she would cut everyone off her life, I cannot fathom how she forgave her friends for the things they said and did (or didn’t do). She was throwing tantrums instead of growing a backbone, she was a hypocrite when it came to the way she treated Chase, and even though towards the end she did the right thing, it was not enough to make me forget all those times I wanted to yell at her (to be honest, though, I wanted to yell at everyone).

All those points I raised above do not mean that One Small Thing was a bad book. On the contrary, I finished it in two days, I wanted to spend more time with this story, witness more sweet moments between Beth and Chase, revel in their healing process, first and foremost as individuals and then as a couple. Chase was the one small thing that lightened my reading experience, my heart ached for him, I felt his remorse every time he spoke or allowed bullies to mistreat him because he thought he deserved it.

Even though I prefer the lighthearted and adorable When It's Real, I swallowed Erin Watt’s second YA novel as well; One Small Thing is a bittersweet, intense and meaningful story that deserves 3.5 big stars for all the small things.

*ARC generously provided by the authors via Nina Bocci in exchange for an honest review*

If you ever decide to read only one Erin Watt book, One Small Thing should be this book.

Beth Jones is a senior at highschool and her life isn´t a easy one. Her parents shelter her and suffocate her at the same time. Their restrictions and mistrust hurts Beth deeply.
And then there´s Chase Donelly, the new boy at school, the bad boy she should stay far away from. But they´re like magnets and she can´t stay away from him.
Chase made mistakes in the past, mistakes that changed his and others lives for forever, and Beth is one of them.
There are only a couple of authors I can rely on to write stories that speak to me every single time. Erin Watt is one of them. I still remember reading The Royals Series and how I was blown away. I was sucked in and instantly a fan of the author’s writing. That was the beginning, I haven’t regretted it once.
I love every single story of Erin Watt and they´re one of my few one click authors. Their characters "speak " to me and I can live with them in their world.
One Small Thing is a heart wrenching, tear jerking, page turning story that gutted me and left me in a major book hangover.
I highly recommend One Small Thing and wish I could give more than 5 stars.