Everything Is Complicated In Nic Starr's "It's Not Easy"

Title: It’s Not Easy

Author: Nic Starr

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Pages/Word Count: 130 Pages

Rating: 2 Stars

Blurb: Ben Cooper gave up on following his dreams to keep the peace in his family. Best friend Spencer Henderson has always been Ben’s rock. For Spence, who is in love with Ben, supporting Ben always came first, but as Ben starts to date their friend Suzie, Spence has to think of himself for the first time. The ramifications of one fateful night means leaving their small town may be Spence’s only option to protect his broken heart.

With trouble escalating at home and Spence out of reach, Ben finds it harder to cope. Without Spence’s help, Ben’s life may finally spiral out of control.

Review: I don’t even know where to start on what went wrong with this book for me. If It’s Not Easy had one overused cliché in the genre, it had ten. There was the unrequited longing for the straight best friend, the pushy girl who tries to force a relationship, the self-loathing, coming-to-terms-with-my-desires guy, the running away when times get tough device, and what would this book have been without the BIG misunderstanding?

It really does kill me to have to give a low rating to a debut book by a new author, but I honestly cannot find many things in It’s Not Easy to get excited over. I believe there was a great opportunity with the basic plot of this story, but the writing was choppy and disjointed. There were times I found myself not knowing which character’s head I was in, and was very confused by their behavior.

There was way too much telling and not enough showing in this story, also. I would have loved to have seen some examples of Ben and Spencer’s relationship growing over time, and I would have liked to get to know them better. Even after reading the book I don’t feel that I have a complete grasp of who they were as individuals, let alone as a couple.

I feel this author has great potential and I hope Nic Starr continues to write and hone her skills, then to see more work from Ms. Starr in the future.