Book Review: Because I Love You by Tori Rigby

Book Title: Because I Love You
Author: Tori Rigby
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Blaze Publishing, LLC
Publication Date: May 17th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, YA
Age Range: 13+ years old
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Eight weeks after sixteen-year-old Andie Hamilton gives her virginity to her best friend, “the stick” says she’s pregnant.

Her friends treat her like she’s carrying the plague, her classmates torture and ridicule her, and the boy she thought loved her doesn’t even care. Afraid to experience the next seven months alone, she turns to her ex-boyfriend, Neil Donaghue, a dark-haired, blue-eyed player. With him, she finds comfort and the support she desperately needs to make the hardest decision of her life: whether or not to keep the baby.

Then a tragic accident leads Andie to discover Neil’s keeping a secret that could dramatically alter their lives, and she’s forced to make a choice. But after hearing her son’s heartbeat for the first time, she doesn’t know how she’ll ever be able to let go.

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I received a copy of this book from YA Bound Book Tours and Blaze Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

MY THOUGHTS

I haven’t read anything from the perspective of a pregnant woman, much less a pregnant 16-year old, so this is quite new to me. Plus, I normally read light and fluffy books when it comes to this genre because I’m too much of a crybaby for heavy topics I like it. But disregarding how foreign this seemed like, I still liked the concept and have been looking forward to this book since before it was published. So you can imagine my excitement when my request got approved.

First of all, let me tell you how fast I read this book. I read it in less than a day. While most of you wouldn’t be impressed by that, well, I definitely am. I forgot to add it to my currently-reading on Goodreads because I don’t want—I can’t put it down!

The only reason that prompted me to take off one star from this awesome book is there’s a lot of problems thrown into just this one book. The main character Andrea Hamilton, which I will call Andie from this point onward, was basically thrown into a pit full of problems.

Speaking of Andie, she is a very likable character—along with Neil, Jill and Andie’s mom. I must say that there was a bunch of whining from her in this book, which is totally understandable considering her situation. If I got pregnant at 16, I’d lose my mind! Anyway, I admire Andie’s strength for not giving up when she so easily could have.

Now, Neil Donaghue. I wish I had my own Neil. His reputation isn’t exactly the best but I fell in love with him so quickly. He is very charming, loving, but also very sarcastic. I love his sense of humor. Sigh… another boy in my list of fictional-characters crushes.

Jill is the perfect best friend. She is the type of friend anyone would want! Together with Neil and Andie’s mother, they supported Andie’s sometimes-wavering strength.

There is a slight Christian theme in the book but it didn’t go overboard/preachy.

I applaud the author for creating such a fantastic book. First, because the character development in this book is superb. And her writing was so stunning that I can feel the love, from Andie’s friends and family, radiating off the pages. There is a beautiful and touching theme in the book that I will let you find out for yourself.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, I highly suggest you read this book. Because I Love You is a marvelous and inspirational read. Although I wouldn’t recommend reading this in public because I bawled like a child looking for her mommy—well, not really but I was quite a mess. I am looking forward to reading Tori Rigby’s other works.

All book cover photos and summaries are taken from Goodreads.