Laura’s Review of The Weight of Words (Words, #1) by Georgina Guthrie

If you have read and enjoyed Gabriel’s Inferno (Gabriel’s Inferno, #1) by Sylvain Reynard, Restoring Jordan by Elizabeth Finn, and Preservation (Preservation, #1) by Rachael Wade then you will LOVE this book!

Basic Summary

            Aubrey Price is in the final months of her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto.  Bright, witty, and fiercely independent, Aubrey works part-time for the college dean and as her sights set on graduating with distinction.  When she meets Dean Grant’s son, Daniel, the TA in her senior Shakespearean studies course, a shared love of the Bard’s works and an instant mutual attraction draw Aubrey and Daniel together.

            Unfortunately, a strict anti-fraternizing policy—made more perilous by a lack mark on Daniel’s record—keeping them apart.  Against this academic backdrop, Aubrey and Daniel navigate their way through a steamy courtship, their forbidden romance aided, abetted, and sometimes thwarted by a colorful cast of friends, family, and classmates.

Buy Links

Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Amazon UK / Amazon CA

First Impressions

                So far this book very much reminds of Gabriel’s Inferno; middle class college student in Canada has a part-time job to help pay the bills falls for her good looking TA.  Now we all know that Gabriel was an actual Professor, but you get the gist.  I like the character of Aubrey somewhat; she is definitely a likeable character and some who the reader can easily relate to.  I like the strange tension between her and Daniel, and I adore his mood swings.  I love characters that are very up and down because you never quite know what’s going to happen next and it keeps you on your toes. 

What I Loved

                I really enjoyed this story as a whole.  I love Aubrey’s inner dialogue with herself it’s a nice insert of comic relief at times that had me laughing out loud a couple times.  I like her relationship with her best friend Julie and of course I totally love Julie. 

            I love the secrecy of Aubrey and Daniel’s relationship; it’s so much fun reading about them sneaking around and ducking into dark corners.  Whenever they would be in public but hidden somewhere my heart was hammering away so worried that someone might catch them at any minute. 

            Of course I love Daniel, and I was dying to know what dark little secrets he as holding back.  Daniel definitely makes me want to go back to college this minute and enroll in a huge class in the off chance there will be a hot TA there to help!  I absolutely LOVE his family and I love the relationship he has with each of them.  His brothers definitely lend to the comedic parts of this story and anytime Jeremy or Brad was around I had a huge smile plastered on my face. 

Not So Much

      

      This book was definitely lacking in big climaxes.  For the first half of the book the story to me was very slow and I felt like some things could have been left out, while at the same time I wish there were more dramatic things added.  I kind of wish some of the characters were maybe a little more jaded or darker, adding more mysterious layers to the story.  While the sexual tension was evident between Aubrey and Daniel, absolutely nothing happened between them!  I could care less about intimate hugging and snuggling!! Hello these are college students, give me more than one make out scene; maybe some above the pants below the shirt action to keep me going! 

            Also I wish there were more details in this book.  I felt like there was tons of details of what Daniel looked like and what he was wearing, but barely anything about Aubrey herself.  Plus there was hardly any details about their surroundings at all, I have no idea what Aubrey’s apartment looks like or even her bedroom.  Same goes for Daniel’s condo when the story switches to his point of view.  I loved there was some detail of the Grant’s house when Aubrey goes for dinner, but I wanted more.  What color are the walls, what are the decorations like?  When she’s looking into the music room, what kind of guitars are sitting there, where is the room situated in the house?  For me to get into a story I need details of what is surrounding the characters during key scenes. 

This Book Was…

            Pretty good!  I do enjoy stories of forbidden romances, and a TA and student romance definitely falls into this category.  I really like Daniel and Aubrey, and it’s the first time in a long time where I’ve read a book that has much such likable supporting characters as well.  I really like Penny and Brad and I seriously can’t wait till their wedding.  I enjoyed the character development and there was a pretty good foundation set making it easier to understand where each character is coming from.  There as a lot of Canadian colloquialisms which made it a little confusing at times for me, but that’s my problem not the authors.  It was weird that people going to the same class but from different colleges because that doesn’t happen with our college system here but I got the hang of it after a little while.  I do wish there was more drama in this story, and definitely more sex!  I am compelled to read the next one though and since I have the ARC for it I can’t wait!  I want more Daniel and Aubrey!!