Review: Metaltown by Kristen Simmons

I had been so excited to read this book for ages. As I adore Kristen. And I thought this one seemed so amazing. Then I was lucky enough to win an ARC of it, and now I have finally gotten to read it. But oh. I have so many thoughts about it. And most of them are not good. At all. Sobs. I'm just angry. I'm so, so angry.

I'm giving this book two stars. I had hoped to rate it higher. But it was impossible. I had so many issues. Sigh. But I also feel like this book could have been amazing. The writing is gorgeous. The plot was exciting. And Ty was perfection. But Colin and Lena ruined this book. Ugh. And I'm simply very bitter about it.

I'm going to have a lot to say about this book. And I'm not going to be very positive about it. I'm also going to be sharing a whole bunch of spoilers, so this is my warning to you about that. I cannot write this review of mine without mentioning all the parts that bothered me. Because those parts are still bothering me. I need to get them out of my mind. I need to forget about this book. And I need to do it now. Sigh. Though I will be getting the hardcover. And I will be keeping my precious ARC of this book. Because it is gorgeous. And I do love this author. But yeah. This book was not a favorite of mine. And I would not re-read it. Not ever. So glad it is a standalone. Which I just about never thinks about any books. Sigh. But yeah. This one was just bad. Ugh.

Honestly, though, I could have loved this book a whole bunch. Because the writing is gorgeous. And I liked the plot a whole bunch. This world was amazingly done. I loved reading about metaltown and how people were doing there and all those poor people and the war and ahh. I thought those parts of the book were amazing. And I loved Ty so goddamn much. But I felt like she wasn't treated right. This should have been her book. But it wasn't. Three point of views. One chapter each. Yet Ty got the smallest parts of it.

Final warning. I'm going to write a very spoilery review. I will share details about the ending. I will share details about the romance. So yeah. If you do not wish to know, don't read more. Shrugs. But at the same time, I wish I had known before reading this book. Sigh. Because I went into it expecting to love it a whole bunch. And so I was disappointed. But even so. I couldn't have loved this. I just couldn't. And so I have so many things I wish to share about it. Ack. If I can find the words. I shall try my best. It won't be positive.

This book is told from three different point of views. There is Colin and Ty and Lena. I thought I liked Colin at first. He and Ty have been friends for four years now, they are always together. He is seventeen, she is fifteen. He seemed okay. But hahaha. Then Colin sees Lena. And he falls in love with this rich girl right away. He starts pushing Ty away. He keeps choosing Lena instead of her. He is being such an asshole towards Ty. He forgot about her all the damn time. Friends don't do that. They do not. Ugh. He was bad.

And sigh. Lena. I wish I could say I loved her. But I did not. I found her chapters to be the most boring. She was such an boring girl. Spoiled rich kid. And not even a nice girl. The way she was thinking about Ty, when she had only seen her a few times, it was not okay. Hmph. I mean, sure, Lena has a mean father and an abusive brother. Whatever. I sort of felt sorry for her at times, but not much. Because I did not care for this girl. She came between Colin and Ty; ruined their friendship. Hmph. Did not like one bit.

And then there is Ty. Ah. She was my most favorite part of this book. I loved her so much. I thought she was the main character. But the moment Lena enters, Ty gets pushed in a corner. We don't get to read much about her at all. And I am so pissed off. Because Ty was the most amazing girl. Kind and sweet and loving. She had just started having a crush on Colin. And I shipped them so hard. But he never saw that. He kept calling her his best man. Wtf. That bothered me so much. Ty was the sweetest girl. Grrr.

We get to know a bunch about Ty. And I loved that. But. One night she gets attacked. Almost raped. We learn that she has been raped before. Sort of. It is never mentioned again or mentioned for real, and that was annoying. She sees Colin the same day; she's all beaten up. He is angry. Thinking about going after the guys. But then Lena walks in the door. And then he forgets all about Ty and that she was attacked. Goddamn it. This boy was the worst boy I have read about in a long time. I'm so upset about it. Asshole.

And then Ty gets hurt for real. A work accident kind of thing. Acid marks all over her face. One of her eyes are blind. She feels so ugly. And never once does Colin tell her it's okay. Never once does he tell her she looks good. Not. Once. I am so angry. He was a shitty friend. Always. Ty deserved better. She was the best friend. And hurting. All the time. He didn't care for her one bit. I'm so angry about it. Which is why I did not like this book. Sigh. Ty wasn't written fairly. She should have been the star of the book. Sigh.

I guess that Colin also had issues. With his mom being sick and whatnot. But I didn't care all that much, after he started treating Ty that way. He was just an asshole. There is just so much I want to say about this book. Sigh. I haven't mentioned the plot yet. Colin and Ty live in Metaltown. A poor city where they have to work at a weapons factory to live. Yet they work all day, no breaks, almost no money, and ahh. They had such awful lives. All the people did. And I loved reading about it. And the other characters.

I sort of knew that this book would be based a bit on Les Miserables. But I did not know that the story of the three main characters would be exactly the same. Damn. It was annoying. I mean, I loved Les Mis, the movie. But I would never want to read about a love triangle like that. Never. In a way, this wasn't a normal love triangle, but at the same time it still was. And I hated it. I hated it oh so much. I just feel so disappointed. I had such high hopes for this book. I thought the romance would be amazing. Sigh.

But no. The romance was not good at all. Colin and Lena were both awful people. Ty was the best. And Ty got no romance at all. Colin and Lena did not fit together at all. I don't get why they fell in love with each other right away. Ugh. I just. I loved Ty so much. And she was treated so badly all the time. At the end of the book, there is a big fight. Ty goes looking for Lena, because of Colin. And Ty ends up getting killed. And being in pain all alone for a long time before dying. I'm so goddamn angry about it all. Uuugh.

Ty deserved so much better. And I just. I cannot deal with it. This book sucked. Okay, fine, I did love parts of it. I loved Ty. But I'm so angry. That ending was shitty. Oh, and there is a family secret that is about Ty, and her parents. Hahaha. I guess that would have been very exciting. If she had not died. Grrrr. So angry. Ty deserved more. I just. I now wish to forget about reading this. Which makes me so sad. I really did wish to love this one. But I couldn't. Not after how Ty was treated. Not after she died too. Ugh. So sad.

Okay. I have now written way too much about this book. Yet I still feel like I could write so much more. Ahh. But I will not. I just. I did not love this book. I loved parts of it, yes, but not nearly enough. I do want others to read it, though. I need to know if I am the only one who feels this way. Sigh. Metaltown is all kinds of gorgeous. I just wish the inside were just as awesome. Also, do let me know if you read my whole review, with all the spoilers. I just couldn't stop writing about this. Sigh. I wish it had been different.

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