Score book review
Love story, but someone has bipolar disorder. Love story, but you are someone I cannot forgive and also someone I cannot forget.
I'm reviewing a fantastic book, Score by Kennedy Ryan. It is the second book in the Hollywood Renaissance series. The genre is fiction, and the theme is contemporary romance and love.
We are following Verity, and she is lying on a piano because she is dating a composer, producer, and pianist. So Verity is dating Monk. I laughed when I read the name Verity because I read a book called Verity by Colleen Hoover. I was like, "Oh, fascinating." I wouldn't think this name is very popular, but here we are.
Verity is the scriptwriter for a movie called Desi Blue. We meet her in the book Real.
Throughout Real, Verity keeps rolling her eyes at Monk. They're avoiding each other. They're hiding out. They're doing all of these things, and we're like, "Okay, but what is the story? Who hurt who? What's going on?"
Well, we needed our own book so that we could find out what was going on between Verity and Monk.
Turns out they met in college, broke up, didn't see each other for ten years, and then realized they were still attracted to each other and had great chemistry. Another two years later, they're working on this movie together. They decide, yes, we can do this. We can be cool. Water under the bridge. And of course, the attraction is still there, and they start to date again.
Sounds simple enough, except that Monk has a lot of residual trauma from his parents' divorce and them splitting up. Monk has met and dated a lot of women, and none of them compared to Verity.
So was the cheating that big of a deal? Or can I make an exception because clearly you're an exceptional woman in my life?
But add to that the fact that Verity was unfaithful to Monk because she was dealing with a lot of things with her own mental health. Her own mental wellness would not have allowed her to make sense of what happened. She wasn't acting out of her conscious mind when she was cheating on Monk. Yes, alcohol was involved, but there was also a lot of dissociation. She was manic. She was not being herself.
And so the book is challenging because you are cheering for Verity.
You see her relationship with her aunts. You see how much she's loved. You see how she's protected. I kept waiting for her to share with Monk what was going on.
I think there were two chances where she could have told Monk. Of course, it wouldn't have played into the slow burn. We would've been like, "But wait, but what's going to happen?"
So I get that part.
However, there's a lot of shame and unforgiveness that she's experiencing.
It's not until she gets a good medication regimen, a therapist, a psychiatrist, and all these other things that she's able to get into a routine.
"I know I've got to do yoga. I know I've got to get sleep. I know I've got to do all these things."
That way, she can recognize when things go off her routine, meaning she might possibly be getting closer to being hypomanic and then manic.
The book is very, very good.
I love that Kennedy Ryan will write a love story, but she will make it realistic.
Love story, but someone has bipolar disorder. Love story, but you are someone I cannot forgive and also someone I cannot forget.
How does that push me and my boundaries?
"Love story, but you are someone I cannot forgive and also someone I cannot forget."
Very, very good.
I really like seeing Monk. I mean, he has Grammys. He's going for EGOT, and he's got everything but the O. Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony. So he's extremely accomplished. And out of all the people he's ever met in his life, nobody compares to Verity. And the two of you just happen to be single at the same time.
You're cheering for them. You're rooting for them the entire time.
Also, Kennedy Ryan, should you see this review, I would love a prequel about Dr. Garrison.
We probably see Dr. Garrison on five pages out of the entire book, but she is a pivotal part of the story.
The second time Verity and Monk meet at this art exhibit, Dr. Garrison is there. Months later, Dr. Garrison plays a really pivotal role when she sees Verity looking at this art sculpture, and she gets to help her. Later on, we find out she checked on her. She sent her books. She sent her things from school when Verity ended up leaving school.
And so I would love to find out why she is so empathetic. What in her life made her this caring? What was so important that she saw Verity and she just knew, "I had to help. I had to step in."
I'm picturing Dr. Garrison as Carla Hall, the acclaimed chef and author. You know, a Tracee Ellis Ross. Statuesque, colorful, bold patterns.
She was so compelling to me. There are very few times when you see someone and say, "I'm going to make myself uncomfortable to help them."
And Dr. Garrison did that.
You should pick this up if you are looking for a love story.
If you enjoy stories about people who are not perfect, and that does not mean they do not deserve love, you should pick this book up.
You should also pick it up if you're interested in a fast read.
There are parts in here where you're just like, "Give me the next part. I'm not going to sleep."
I have things flagged from incredible quotes that were in the book.
The book is also challenging you because love stories don't have to be perfect, and that doesn't make them any less valuable.
"Love stories don't have to be perfect, and that doesn't make them any less valuable."
And that is the part that I absolutely loved about it.
I'm not sure if I would reread it.
Real was my absolute favorite. I stopped reading Real and immediately wanted to pick it back up.
I missed Neva. I missed Canon. I didn't have that same feeling with Score, but that does not mean the book is not good. Not at all.
Kennedy Ryan wrote here at the end that there's another book coming.
So I don't think it's Dr. Garrison. Maybe the choreographer? Neva talks a lot about how tough Lucia is and how she's really getting them to get these dance steps down. Maybe the clothing designer? That could be very interesting.
We kind of see her tied into the first book. The sculpture that Verity was so intrigued with was actually designed by Chap Brody, who is the clothing designer's father. So that would be really good.
Maybe Jill. I'm pretty sure Jill is white. I don't know if Kennedy Ryan writes from a white female perspective, but Jill as the executive producer would be interesting.
So I'm curious to see what's coming up next in the third book in the series.
Have you read Score? Are you enjoying the Hollywood Renaissance series? Let me know!
And go create something.
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Until the next book review,
Kyla
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