Rule by Jay Crownover Review

Rule by Jay Crownover
(Marked Men, #1)
Release Date: October 22, 2013
Publisher: William Morrow; 339 pages

Opposites in every way . . . except the one that matters

Shaw Landon loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule is everything a straight--A pre-med student like Shaw shouldn’t want--and the only person she’s never tried to please. She isn’t afraid of his scary piercings and tattoos or his wild attitude. Though she knows that Rule is wrong for her, her heart just won’t listen.

To a rebel like Rule Archer, Shaw Landon is a stuck-up, perfect princess-and his dead twin brother’s girl. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. He doesn’t have time for a good girl like Shaw-even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is.

But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule have to figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love . . . or each other.

I'd like to start off by saying I am not the biggest fan of tattoos. Not usually. But these boys, these characters and their world have made me reconsider. Like, really reconsider. I loved them all the moment they were introduced and then we saw more and more of them and it made me fall harder. Especially Nash.

This story sucked me in right from the beginning. I wanted to know more about Shaw, her family history (which sounded awful), her connection with Rule's twin brother Remy and the secret she's kept even after he was killed at such a young age, three years ago. Then on the opposite side of that I wanted to know what made Rule tick. What made him act the way he acted and if it were even possible for someone like him to be capable of love.

I love Shaw and how it seemed like she had two sides to her. The side her family wanted to be and the side that was more rebellious and more free to be who she wanted to be. This side surprised me the first time because it wasn't the impression I got from her but I really, really like this side of her. Every person should be able to be who they want to be not who people expect them to be. She's a feisty woman and I absolutely loved that about her. She really surprised the hell out of me on her birthday but I was silently (or maybe no so silently) cheering her on.

If you didn't fall in love with Rule then you may want to go back and re-read this book because that's just impossible. There's no way you couldn't fall for him. While you're at it, go fall for all of his friends because I definitely did. I am twitching to start reading Jet. I'm looking forward to Nash the most but I know I have Jet and Rome to tackle first.

I cried. I'm not going to lie. I definitely cried while reading this book. When I get attached to characters and see them go through hardships, especially emotional hardships, I lose it. I definitely lost it a few times in this book. While I hate crying while reading, it makes me love the book more because it means that these characters, this world and this story really touched me. The author did what they should've done and made me feel like I was a part of this world. I can't wait to fall even harder and shed some more tears. I am not afraid.

Thank you to William Morrow for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review (I picked up this book at ALAMW).