Milka Really Likes To Read

For some reason I've always found the teacher-student relationship very appealing in literature and fiction in general. One of the main reasons I watched Pretty Little Liars in the first place was the relationship between Aria and Ezra, and books like Teach Me by R.A. Nelson used to belong to my favorites. So when I made the conclusion from the synopsis of Loving Mr. Daniels that is somehow dealt with a student-teacher relationship, I knew that I would have to give it a go, especially since I've been in such a new adult mood recently.

Ashlyn's twin sister is dead and she is forced to move to live with his father who has been out of her life for years. She is angry at her sister for leaving her, angry at her mother for letting her go and angry at her father for not being around. But she also misses her sister, does not see how she can go on and tries to understand her mother the best she can. On the train on her way to her new home, she sees a guy who looks just as lost as she does. He invites her to see his band perform, and when she goes, an instant connection is formed between these two. They both have lost someone recently. They both feel like they don't know what they're supposed to do next. And they're both extremely passionate about Shakespeare. Ashlyn wants to be a writer and loves Shakespeare's language and words. Daniel is a musician and uses the plays of the great playwright as inspiration for his songs. Everything seems well and perfect, almost too good to be true, until the moment the two meet at the halls of a high school in which Ashlyn is a student and Daniel is a teacher.

The first 40% of this book where like a drug. I knew that it wasn't good for me because the emotionality of the story was draining me, but I just couldn't stop. I felt for both Ashlyn and Daniel and more than anything I wanted them to get through this situation together. I couldn't put my Kindle down and I was reading the book with tears streaming down my face. Then something happened and I almost lost my interest in the story for a while. There were about 20% in the middle of the story that just didn't entice me at all, and though the book does pick up again towards the end, the relationship I formed with it during the first 40% was broken. Don't get me wrong - all in all I really enjoyed this novel. I DID! But there's just something that made me not like it as much in the end as I thought I would during those first 40%. 

The novel is narrated via both Ashlyn and Daniel, thus giving us a chance to really get to know the problems of both as well as the feelings they have for each other. I especially enjoyed Daniel's chapters because I feel like his narrative voice was very gentle and honest, raw and touching. There are some parts in this novel that are a bit cliche, but I feel like in general those fit right in. The ending is a bit cheesy, but hey, I did enjoy it, so I'm not complaining.