I won a copy of this book in a giveaway about 6 months ago and figured it's about time I read it. It's self published - a fact that I applaud the author for. It also came signed and personalized which is always exciting. Thank you Tracy!I stayed up all night to finish this. It usually takes an exceptional book to make me do that. The story started off really nicely. With descriptions of each character and their traits. There's 6 characters (3 males, 3 females). They've been friends since second grade. In high school they become couples. The story is told from Elleny's point of view. She is the main female protagonist.The hints for the plot twist come early on. There's a mention of a weekend when everything changed. That got me thinking...what could happen to completely change Elleny and TJ's (our main characters) lives in a matter of days. I expected something terrible. Must have seemed so in her eyes. Not in mine. I hated her for what she did to TJ. She pushed him away without any explanation whatsoever. We travel back and forth in time with each chapter.This is a style of writing that I've recently discovered that I don't like at all. From 1992 when they were high school seniors to 17 years later. I hated this. Elleny's constant flashbacks. What was and what is.The present time part was the part where bad things went down. There are some quite disturbing scenes. And they were described really graphically. I admit I skimmed through those parts. I just couldn't handle reading the scenes of abuse. I know the book comes with a warning on the synopsis. I want to emphasize it in my review too. Do not read this if you're not ready for such graphic scenes! There was a lot of drama going on and yet it all wrapped up really fast. It ended happily - Thank God! The abusive relationship is over. Love is stronger. There is a second book out. Personal Possessions is in TJ's POV. I will not be picking that up. I'm fine with just Elleny's perspective. I feel like if Personal Experiences had a couple more chapters there would've been absolutely no need for a second book. Goodreads says there's gonna be 4 books. No idea what the other 2 are going to be about. In my mind, this story is over. My final verdict is - this book is quite disturbing! I think it was really the wrong time for me to read it. First of, I've been reading mostly YA recently. I guess I wasn't ready to jump into New Adult. Second, my midterms just ended on Friday so I wanted to read something quick and relaxing after them. This was anything except that. I was aware of the warning coming with the book but didn't expect it to be that bad. I ducked stars out for 2 things. First, the language. It was quite repetitive. Elleny becomes 10 shades redder or 9 shades of embarrassment show on her face etc. And there's 2 pages written in CAPS LOCK. Could barely read those. They did the job of making the screaming seem more real though. The second is my bookish PET PEEVE. Was this books even edited? Cause it was either unedited or the editor did a pretty lousy job. I get distracted by grammar and spelling mistakes, ok? Rating - 1.5 stars. Wish I could have given it more. But, like I said above, I read it at the wrong time. The extra half star is for the message of this book!Who would I recommend it to - hmmm? If you are sensitive to rape situations, physical, emotional, and verbal abuse, this book will not be for you.Wow. Wow. Wow. Personally this book was extremely hard for me to read. Thank God my husband was home when I read this book... Personal Experiences brought back a lot of personal experiences that I had myself. Oh Elle. I kept putting myself in her place because I have been there... Not to her extreme, but there. I am so emotional writing this. Elle and TJ (Trevor) were school sweethearts until Elle got pregnant. And instead of telling TJ the truth, she decides to not tell TJ so he can go to college and live his dream, while she marries his best friend instead. And he turns out to be an abusive asshole, that's actually putting it nicely.17 years pass and TJ comes back into town and threatens everything Elle has worked on keeping a secret...I can understand why Elle did what she did, but it wasn't her choice to completely make. However, it made me physically ill that Bear treated her the way he did, along with the children. TJ has a hell of a temper but once he sees the whole picture, he calms down. Oh Lord that man. I am giving this story 5 stars. I love Rach and Lils... Two AMAZING friends. I love them. This story is cutting and leaves you raw. You want to find out more, so you keep reading. I liked reading the the horrible stuff, then reading about the love that Elle and TJ shared. The ending... Thank you for making it as beautiful as it was.
Do You like book Personal Experiences (2013)?
Too much violence for me. It made me uncomfortable and start to skim through those parts.
—lillkobe
5 stars for storyline/plot....but had lots of grammar errors/typos
—lrar
This was a rollercoaster named The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
—loltroll
