Contents:
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Science shows there are multiple benefits to journaling, especially when it comes to mindfulness. Pick Me Up is a non-linear journal that allows you to jot down thoughts with the purpose of literally picking it up later to reflect on them. We don't get anything from Pepper's finally few months as a senior at Brockton.
We are told things that happened, but it wasn't the same. She and Jace are still together and they are going strong.
The book begins with UC sports preseason. Some of the character's from the last book that we were introduced to return: Clayton, Lexi, and Frankie. Pep Talks Pepper Jones Book 4.
I am glad that we got some personal drama between these two. They always seem like the perfect couple. They have had so many external forces trying to separate them, but instead in this book they self-implode. We know Jace has baggage with his mom abandoning him; and, his dad having an affair which leads to Wes and Jace being brothers.
It seems like he has conquered all that because he has Pepper in his life, but when he begins to fall apart, he pushes the one good thing in his life away. I want to know more about this darkness he talks about. I wonder if he has more baggage then Pepper or anyone else really knows. Ali Dean added more layers and depth to Pepper and Jace.
We are now dealing with severer issues between these two and others around them. Eating disorders, abandonment, anger, and depression. Let me tell you, I was right there with Pepper feeling Annie was going to be a problem. Annie once again leaves Jace with no word. A few weeks later she even calls Jace and ask for money to get her out of jail in California. So Jace falls apart. He begins pushing everyone away. He distances himself from Pepper especially. He pushed her so far that he ends up breaking-up with her. During this time, Pepper goes to see Gran Bunny and finds her fallen in the bathroom.
She broke her hip. Pepper falls apart and she stops eating. Her teammates get on her because she is losing too much weight to fast. With all the stress, she keeps trying to reach out to Jace, but he is purposely trying to make Pepper hate him. There are a few chapters that we are told Jace's point-of-view. He still loves pepper, but doesn't feel as if he deserves her. It ends a few months into second semester, with Jace trying to apologize to Pepper. She doesn't accept it, she chews him out and leaves. She promising herself she will move on.
She is learning how to be her own person. Away from Jace and Bunny.
Someone she can be proud to look back at in the mirror. What Pepper says at the end shows the growth she has made. Don't fret friends, Ali Dean is going to release the 5th and final book coming this fall. This was originally going to be two, but she has changed her mind and has decided that everything can fit into one book. It is not my favorite book out of the series, because I am sad they are not together, but it was needed. I still give it a 5 star rating. Hope there will be another one Loved reading more about Pepper as she goes to college. I hope that is not the end though, don't want the series to end on that note.
Dec 05, Kate McMurry rated it it was amazing Shelves: The books in this series are not stand-alone, and it is recommended that they be read in order. Note that this review will be a spoiler for books 1, 2 and 3 if you have not read them yet. Pepper is living in a dormitory dedicated to scholarship athletes, and Jace has moved off-campus into a house with fellow football players.
At the start of the book, their romantic relationship is going strong, and they are madly in love. Then the unthinkable happens. Jace's alcoholic mother, who abandoned him to his father's care when he was a toddler, and with whom during the last two years he has strongly reconnected as she has been in recovery, suddenly leaves town without warning, gets back into drugs and gets arrested. Jace spirals down into an abandonment depression triggered by her defection.
Due to a lack of adequate coping skills and unwisely failing to seek therapy , he withdraws from Pepper. In a dysfunctional attempt to avoid feeling gut-wrenching emotional pain, he opts instead to feel nothing at all.
He believes he cannot be with Pepper, because around her he cannot remain an emotionless robot, and early in the book he breaks up with her. Pepper is, not surprisingly, totally devastated. Jace is the love of her life, her soulmate, and she thought she was that to him. To deal with the pain, she puts all her energy into running and her school work, and she turns for emotional support to the wonderful women who are both on her university track team and living with her as roommates and fellow residents in the athletes' dorm.
The two concurrent plots in this book are a tragic romance and a girl-power sports plot. Pepper has many wonderful female friendships, which she deeply explores and relies on in this book, and which I greatly enjoyed reading about. For those of us who are romance junkies who demand a "happily ever after" ending, I will put in a necessary spoiler: Be aware that this is a six-book odyssey. There is more to come that is hopeful and positive in the next two books, so don't give up on Jace and Pepper. Pepper remains a very sympathetic heroine, both as an athlete and in her relationships with her friends and teammates.
Because she is a dedicated and skilled athlete, the sports plot is filled with fascinating details of her struggles and victories as a sports competitor. Her grandmother, Bunny Jones, is in this book as well, and continues to be a terrific subcharacter. The author wisely alternates points of view between Jace and Pepper in this book for the first time in this series. By allowing us to look into Jace's mind about a tenth of the total book as he struggles with angry depression, it helps prevent us, the readers, from irretrievably despising Jace for dumping Pepper.
We are allowed to see that he is hurting Pepper out of his immense abandonment issues, not to be malicious, and it helps us to endure the fact that the entire romantic conflict in this book is due to his emotional breakdown. It also allows us to know that another necessary spoiler for fans of classic romance plotting there is, in fact, no actual cheating on his side. This book is best suited for adults and older teens because of a realistic portrayal of underage drinking and drunkenness and underage sex though none of it is graphic.
There are some relatively minor occurrences of off-color language. I rate this book as follows: We look right together. We feel right together. She makes me happy, brings me a peace I can't find anywhere else. And we finally got a sneak peak inside the mind of Jace Wilder himself. Although at times I wanted to punch him because he was being ridiculous, that was quickly gotten over because I still loved reading his thoughts.
It was like the vault door was finally opened and we "We fit together. It was like the vault door was finally opened and we got to see all of his deep thoughts. You know Jace loves Pepper at this point, but you also know that he has a tendency to just dive right into the deep end without thinking of the consequences of his actions. I kept going back to this quote because by the end of the book, my world of Peper and Jace was rocked. I honestly felt so emotionally attached to these two at this point in the books.
I feel so attached to these characters because I feel like I have completely immersed myself in their world and I don't want it to end- I celebrated with them, I took the big leaps and steps with them in their sporting fields- experienced all of their firsts if you are catching what I am saying here! I loved the maturity that came with this book, but my heart was left broken. Out of all the books this definitely made me feel the most, and I was torn between devouring the final book or holding off so that it would't end. Did that need to happen? Never before have I read a break up scene s that harsh.
Aug 09, T. I feel like the story I fell in love with is back. The third book didn't grip me the way the first two did, but this fourth installment as riveting as I've come to expect from Pepper Jones and Ali Dean. Our little Pepper is all grown up and a freshman at CU, where Jace is the star quarterback in his sophomore year. Pepper learns that running among the elite in high school, with back-to-back national championships, didn't prepare her for the grueling world of college cross country.
As Pepper navi I feel like the story I fell in love with is back. As Pepper navigates college with Jace by her side, while not easy, life is manageable. When an unexpected event turns Jace's world upside down, Pepper struggles with how to support him without losing herself. This time around we get to hear from Jace, and he sounds exactly as I expected him to.
The conflict and tension are at an all-time high, reminding me what it is about these stories I love so much. I read it in less than a day, something I haven't done with a book in a long time. Plot There's a lot going on plotwise. Pepper is learning the ins and outs of college life, running competitive cross country on a whole new level, one that doesn't have her head and shoulders above everyone else, her relationship with Jace is tested in a way it never has before, and she must learn how to really be her own person for the first time.
Characters This is probably the most character development we've seen so far. Both main characters go through tremendous changes, and in the end, they will discover things about themselves and each other that challenges everything they know. I love Pepper's arc the most. It's heartbreaking and inspiring. She grows so much and I just love seeing the independent streak she develops.
I adore Pepper Jones, she's one of my favorite young adult now new adult contemporary characters, and seeing her blossom is really rewarding. World Building Pepper's world is very different as she moves out of Gran's apartment and into a dorm on campus. Ali Dean does an excellent job of showing how this dramatic change influences Pepper's world. The lighthearted ease of high school is gone and Pepper is thrust into a world of parties and independence where not everyone makes the best choices.
This is college life at it's core!
Ending The ending is gut-wrenching and yet beautifully done. I know some people won't be happy with it, but to me it was necessary. I won't give anything away, but the more time that's passed, the more I realize how perfect the ending is and how excited I am to read the next book in the series. Although rumor has it, I'll need to wait until early to get my hands on it. Pepper's roommates and teammates make for some fun and interesting new characters. Getting inside his messy beautiful head was like extra thick frosting on my favorite birthday cake.
I love how we get to see how the world of college running compares to high school. I thought this was one of the more fascinating aspects of the book. Watching her mature is rewarding. Yes she still makes mistakes, but she's owning them like the fierce young woman she's becoming. He doesn't have quite the presence he did in earlier books, but I love that he comes home from his Ivy League school for a visit and in the end, Wes is always just Wes. Disclaimer I was provided a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this book, because it shows the ups and downs of love and the transition from high school to college and how that can change everything. Pepper is a college freshman! Going to school with her boyfriend should be a bliss. When something related to family arises, Jace has shut down again, leaving Pepper alone. What will happen to their love? Will it break because of this? Okay so i semi enjoyed this series especially the first two book but then the third one was just a hot mess, it was too much crazy going in still i read it and enjoyed it. I like reading about pepper's journey.
So pepper has started college and it's basically the same as when she was in high school, she is literally boring like me lol , she does meet new friends yet she's feeling very homesick i wanted her to suck it up and stop complaining Everything was going great with her life and with jace Okay so i semi enjoyed this series especially the first two book but then the third one was just a hot mess, it was too much crazy going in still i read it and enjoyed it.
So pepper has started college and it's basically the same as when she was in high school, she is literally boring like me lol , she does meet new friends yet she's feeling very homesick i wanted her to suck it up and stop complaining Everything was going great with her life and with jace until the author of course has to pull the us back into reality and let us know jace mom is up and leaving again which hurts him deeply and causes him to pull away.
No Excuse And when Pepper finally lets him be and get's the message to give him time, he has the verve at the end to come back and be surprised that pepper is not happy and he actually says " i guess i hoped you'd have more faith in me" and pepper had the perfect response " what? I'm actually kicking myself for never having reviewed this one. I absolutely love this series, though I can't remember anymore how I stumbled upon it. I do remember how much I pestered this poor author for more.
Shoot, if she were to tell me today she was writing more I would scream with glee. Point is, I love the story of Pepper and Jace, although this book was a little hard to get through because of all the shit these two are put through. Pepper starts her freshman year This book. Pepper starts her freshman year at college, already making friends with her teammates and having fun. Things with Jace are going great, although he lives off campus it is within walking distance.
It's going to be a great year, right? Like I've stated in other reviews it wouldn't be a good story line with out drama and oh boy there is a lot of that to be had.