The Hazards of Skinny Dipping

Title: The Hazards of Skinny Dipping
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy
Year published: 2013
Format: Smashwords E-book
Price: USD 2.99 (buy here)

Before starting her college year, Juliet Monroe was given tasks to do by her cousin, Amy.

Juliet's Must-Do Before College List

1. Get drunk (and no, a buzz from sugary drinks does not qualify as drunk).
2. Go to a bar. Any bar will do, but you need to at least know what they look like inside.
3. Wear something you know would give your father a heart attack if he saw it.
4. Kiss a random guy, and don't let it go further.
5. Go skinny dipping.

All 4 were done, leaving the skinny dipping a.k.a swimming naked, the hardest one for Juliet. But finally she decided to do it on the pool of her family's beach house. While she skinny dipping, her neighbor, Dylan, came home and saw her. Dylan had been Juliet's forever crush so that it surprised her a lot when Dylan decided to join her in the pool. The skinny dipping ended with sex. A surprisingly bad one. And Juliet decided to go home quietly.

Now, a freshman in Harrison University, Juliet joins Delta Nu, a sorority where her cousin, Amy, joined before. And Dylan is the president of Phi Omega. Juliet has been avoiding Dylan but it can't be forever. Dylan finds her and claims that Juliet is her girlfriend, which she can't refuse and makes her quite frustrated.

How will Juliet's college time be? Is being Dylan's girlfriend really that hazardous?

This is a kind of book that normally I would say BORING. All things about this book are actually very lame. The conflict, the main character, the supporting characters.. all. But I don't know, I actually kinda enjoyed my time reading this book. Maybe because I was in need of something fun and light to cheer me up and this book came in the right time, and also because this book reminds me so much of my favorite TV show, Greek. So yeah, perfect timing. But when it comes to write a review.. Suddenly I go blank.

And here I am, doing nothing but staring at my laptop and trying to remember what I liked about this book on this warm Sunday night..

But all I can remember is the problems with this book.

First, I don't understand Juliet, the main character. At first, she was introduced to me as a nerdy and introvert girl, a type of girl who doesn't know that she's actually pretty and hot. So clueless until her older cousin decided to prepare her before entering college by making a to-do list. But you know what, Juliet wasn't a virgin anymore and she sure knew how to flirt with guys. First Dylan, and then the whole boys on the campus. She really knew how to use her body to attract guys. What she didn't know is that apparently she was not as smart as she thought. Yep, Juliet always thought that she was smart but how come she couldn't refuse Dylan after what he had done to her? And Reed... Well, of course there will always be the second boy who falls in love with the main character no matter how unavailable she is at that time. Reed was so sweet. And yep, if I were Juliet, I wouldn't hesitate even for one second to dump Dylan and jump to Reed's strong arm. But what did Juliet do? She insisted to be with Dylan. Okay, in the end, Juliet left Dylan but the story didn't end easily. So here we go to the problem number two.

Second, the conflict. I don't know but the conflict seems so unimportant for me. First the most boring sex ever with Dylan, the guy of Juliet's dream. And then what? Complaining, hanging out with the guy of her dream's little brother who happened to have a crush on her too, complaining, working at pizza restaurant, complaining, oh falling in love with the boss at the pizza restaurant, find a reason to break up with Dylan.. and then? Boom! The unnecessary misunderstanding.. and the end.

Third, and lets make this the last one, where's the hazards of skinny dipping? Is that all what you call "A Hazard"? I thought I would find something more dangerous or what. This is not what you call a hazard unless finding out the truth about the boy of your dream can be classified as hazard.

So, this book seems awful enough right? Yeah, that's also what I think now, after I finished reading the book for a while. But honestly, those problems really didn't bother me when I read it. Yes I knew the story was lame, but it felt okay and I still could  enjoy it. Maybe because the way Alyssa Rose Ivy wrote the story that was so interesting and made me want to read more and more. Maybe because of the imperfectness of the main character that I found so realistic. Maybe because of Reed who was so kind and sexy and.. normal? Or simply because I was in need of something simple and fun to read at that time? I really can't say why. All I can say is that I quite enjoyed my time reading this book.

If you are in need of reading some light and enjoyable novel, which you still can like even though the main character sucks, maybe you should try reading this one.