REVIEW for Delicate by C.K. Kelly Martin

TITLE:                  Delicate

AUTHOR:            C.K. Kelly Martin

GENRE:               YA

RATING:              5 STARS



I adored this book for so many reasons.

The story of Ivy and Lucan - both struggling in their own worlds until they collide.

As I was reading this book, the one thing that kept going through my head was "everything is predestined".  Indeed, while both Lucan and Ivy were living some very difficult moments - each in their own worlds, fate would intervene drawing them to each other in a slow, sometimes sweet, sometimes harsher manner - clearly demonstrating that when you think you are at your darkest hour, the next "good thing",  in your life,  is already moving toward you (albeit sometimes wayyyy too slowly).

Ivy is smart and in love, but her world is about to fall apart when the perfect guy becomes the cruel ex-guy.  
Lucan is smart but not particularly ready for the world.  Although he is far from living a sheltered life, he also hasn't been exposed to a lot in his short life, leaving him very ill equipped to deal with the emotional ups and downs of his friends and of his parents. 

The action starts quickly in this novel with Jeremy basically dumping Ivy (yep, the perfect guy can't get a clue about maybe NOT dumping his girlfriend right before a final).  Ivy can't believe it and basically spends the next few days in a daze, until Jeremy comes over and they have sex, after which he dumps her again.

While this sounds harsh, the author actually makes it hard to  hate Jeremy, he is clearly conflicted about all the feelings HE has and I thought this was interesting and clever and frustrating for me.  I wanted to HATE him, after all, who has not been unceremoniously dumped before? but,  in the Jeremy character, we see that, in many instances, few things are ever all black or all white.

If this wasn't bad enough,  we soon discover that Ivy needs to deal with more than just a breakup, which I had not seen coming.  Here again, the author chooses to write all of her characters with good and bad qualities - just like real life, making it, once again, hard for me to dearly HATE anybody in this story.  That was so frustrating LOL.

As for Lucan, while his love life is non existent, he somehow ends up having to deal with his best friend's breakup and specifically, the reason for the breakup.  In the process he discovers things about his friend that he struggles to understand, all the while worrying about parents who basically hate each other.

When Ivy and Lucan finally meet, the friendship has ups and downs, but you do feel that both characters want to find some middle ground, all the while licking their own wounds and worrying about what they should do next.

As a side note, any other reviewers have mentioned the abuse aspect of this story.  Yes, its definitely there, but its not in the spotlight.  I like that its something that is lived, discussed, confronted and dealt with but its not done in a "in your face" kind of way.  Its more subtly written and quite effective.

However, for me, the magic of this story is that all of the characters are both likeable and not so much at different points of the story.  I like that nothing is shoved in your face, while at the same time it is all brought to the forefront.  Nothing is black and white and everybody suffers because of poor choices.  

The writing is down to earth and challenges us to ask ourselves how we would react in certain situations.  It is beautifully laid out in a straightforward story that refuses to take the "holier than thou road" - instead, the author chooses to write the story and let her readers discover all the nuances.

I LOVED THIS BOOK - I NEED A SEQUEL.