The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine
Series: No
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: December 31st 2013
Source: Publisher [Edelweiss]

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

The Promise of Amazing was just as sweet and adorable as I expected it to be. It was full of really cute moments and was just what I wanted.

The story followed our two main characters: Wren and Grayson. Wren is a good girl and she's just an average student. Wren's usual behaviour isn't getting her very far this year in school and she wants to gain more confidence and actually participate in class, but she doesn't know how to change. Grayson was the star of his school. He was top of his class and the best player on the lacrosse team. But he was expelled for writing other people's papers. Grayson is trying to pull himself back together, but he doesn't know how. Wren and Grayson's paths cross when Wren saves Grayson from choking. They realise the both have a connection and this book follows their journey to becoming new people and falling in love.

Wren was a character that I really felt for. Her parents were controlling and always relied on her to be their perfect daughter that doesn't get into trouble. They basically want their children to follow a plan and if they don't, there's basically a massive meltdown. Wren is struggling to find out who she really is and when she realises that her average performance won't be enough to get her into Harvard, she decides it's time to change. Wren started to come out of her shell during the book and she started to figure out who she really was. She'd been so focused on fitting into the mold her parents made, but she wanted to experiment and discover herself. By the end of the book, I really loved Wren.

I had mixed feelings about Grayson. He was a sweet character, but the things he'd done in the past were hard to ignore. Grayson is trying to move on from his past, but his old friends aren't ready to let him go without a fight. Grayson realised what he did was wrong and he's trying to make himself a better person. His parents divorce and his mother re-marriage were both hard on him and he's still struggling with it. Grayson does start to change throughout the book, but he allows himself to be dragged back into 'the plan' with his old friends which jeopardizes his new image and his relationship with Wren. I just wish Grayson would have had the strength to say no and tell his friends where to shove it. I really wish he hadn't allowed himself to be dragged back into that mess.

The relationship between Wren and Grayson was sweet, but it was extremely rushed. Grayson basically looked her up and turned up outside Wren's school the day after she saved his life and told her his life story. It was odd, but there was a definitely connection between these two characters. I loved seeing the way they both changed after they became involved in each others lives.

Finding out about Grayson's past was shocking. I thought he was just involved in writing other people's school papers for them, but there was also the 'Amsterdam project' - or whatever it was. Finding out about what Grayson and his friends did was shocking. I certainly never expected Grayson to be involved in something like that and I hated that he allowed himself to be pulled into it again by Luke (who was a complete ass and I wanted to punch him). But it did add something extra to the story that led to a big showdown near the end.

The ending was really sweet and it left me feeling all happy inside. Wren and Grayson's story wasn't a straight-forward love story, but it was interesting and cute.

Overall, I really did enjoy this contemporary. I loved that it wasn't just about Wren and Grayson's relationship, but there were family issues and Grayson's past thrown in to keep it interesting. This is definitely a book I recommend to anyone who loves contemporary.