Review: The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen
Released: 4th October 2012
Series: The Secret #1
Published by: Hachette
Genre: NA Contemporary
Source: Publisher blogger night
Pages: 317
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
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Ella and Micha have been best friends since they were kids. But one tragic night shatters their friendship and their lives forever. Ella used to be a rule-breaker with fiery attitude who wore her heart on her sleeve. But she left everything behind when she went to college and transformed into someone that follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems.

But now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home. Ella fears everything she worked so hard to bury might resurface, especially with Micha living right next door. If Micha tries to tempt the old her back, she knows that it will be hard to resist.

Micha is sexy, smart, confident, and can get under Ella’s skin like no one else can. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. And he’s determined to bring his best friend, and the girl he loves back, no matter what it takes.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book from a goody bag from the Hachette YA blogger night I went to, and so I went into it with an open mind and was looking forward to seeing where the story would go. I'm not a prolific NA reader, but a few of the ones in the genre that I have read seem to follow the formula of broken-girl meets/knew really attractive guy and then there's a whole lot of sexual tension and angst until they finally get together. In this case, although The Secret of Ella and Micha incorporated some elements of this, it did still provide an entertaining read and the solid characterisation and development is what saved it for me.

“It isn't as important to feel great about all the things that we do. But how we feel toward the end when we look back at everything we've done.”

Ella used to rock the darker look with heaps of eyeliner and black clothes, but since going to college she underwent a transformation to become a lighter version of herself, even if her old ways creep back in at times. With a broken home without her mother, an alcoholic father and her brother who she hardly even knows anymore, coming back wasn't easy. Along with her new and preppy friend Lila who seemingly has a perfect life, when she returns Micah is there waiting and makes his feelings clear. As the chemistry between the two reaches new heights, Ella and Micha must work through their own issues before they can truly be together.

“When it all comes down to it, it’s just me and her against the world. Always has been.”

I liked the two perspectives from Ella and Micha throughout which flowed well, and generally the witty/flirtatious banter was balanced with the deeper personal problems at hand. Although the story itself was for the most part quite predictable, it was still interesting to see how Ella slowly started to put the past behind her, and Micha finally come to terms with the problems with his dad. It's a small issue, but the one thing that irritated me was the repeated use of the same phrases a lot of the time when they were making out etc. (ie. how many times did he shove his tongue down her throat?). Sometimes it was the little things like that which called for some eye-rolling, but at least there was a build-up to the romantic aspect itself.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Although it isn't my favourite NA novel, The Secret of Ella and Micha was still a satisfying read which NA fans would probably enjoy. I'll still be on the lookout to try some more of Jessica Sorensen's novels in this series to see how they compare.