Mini Review: Shh! by Stacey Nash

Title: Shh!
Series: Oxley College #1
Author: Stacey Nash
Format: ebook
Pub. Date: February 23rd 2015
Source: YA Bound Book Tours


Book Description via Goodreads:

Nineteen-year-old Olivia Dean has the perfect reputation, the perfect boyfriend, and an increasingly perfect CV. She has it all, until Christian breaks up with her in public, calling her out as a self-gratifying sexoholic: the kind that plays solo. But Olivia doesn’t do any such thing — the only thing she does at night is sleep … right?

Now all the boys on campus seem to want her attention for the absolutely wrong reason — including resident hottie, Logan Hays. He's pulling out his best moves to gain her attention, so resisting his sexy charm is hard work. With rapidly slipping grades, a disturbingly lurid reputation and demanding parents, Olivia must discover the truth behind her rumoured sleeping problem. If she doesn't, the perfect life she's worked so hard for may slip away, including the one person who has Olivia breaking all her rules — Logan.

What do you do when you’re asleep?

***

Shh! is a story about acceptance, learning to trust and in turn love while facing life's unexpected difficulties.

NB: This book is of a mild heat level, and contains no explicit sex scenes.

Review:

★★★

I will say, I have never read a book that discusses the topics found inside Shh!. That's why I was drawn into reading this book, because I had never heard of such a condition as the one Olivia experiences throughout the course of the book. However, this one wasn't really for me.

The reason why this book and I didn't really gel together is because of the main character, Olivia. I expected more from her. She goes through a lot of rough stuff in this book. There's a lot of really nasty rumors and bullying and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. She does stand up for herself... Eventually. For a very large part of the book, she just seems to sit and wallow and feel sorry for herself, which is not a character that I can relate to. It went on too long, and it frustrated me. A large part of this frustration came from the fact that Olivia is quick to talk about how she wants to be a lawyer. That's why she's so concerned with her image and reputation, because she wants to be a lawyer. I was surprised that she was so passionate about something where you have to stand up for what you may or may not believe in (depending on the client) and yet she was still so quick to lay down. (Granted, her parents were the ones pushing her towards this career...)

That said, I loved the side characters. I found that her friends, Savvy and Megan, were really the stars of this novel. In a world where everyone is talking smack about Olivia, they are there to help her combat it and stop her from breaking down completely. I also really, really liked the love interest, Logan. He's pretty swoon worthy. There was a great supporting cast of characters, and I liked that they were fairly diverse from one another in regards to personality.

I also appreciate that while this book deals with a medical condition that is sexual in nature (I'm purposely being vague to avoid potential spoilers), there are no explicit or graphic scenes.

All in all, I was left a bit disappointed with this book because I couldn't connect, try as I may, to the main character. However, I'm not sorry I read this book, and I think a lot of people out there will like it. There's an interesting medical condition, clean New Adult romance, and an Aussie university setting that might work really well for you, but just fell short for me.

I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.