Book Review:Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

Publish Date: July 8th, 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3463-9
Pages: 256
Series: None
Source: From publisher for honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:

Opposites attract—and then complicate—in this romantic, relatable novel from the author of Two-way Street and Sometimes It Happens.
It starts with a scribbled note in class: I like your sparkle. Harper had casually threaded a piece of blue and silver tinsel through her ponytail in honor of school spirit day. And that carefree, corny gesture is what grabs Penn Mattingly’s eye. Penn—resident heartbreaker of the senior class. Reliably unreliable. Trouble with a capital “T.” And okay, smolderingly sexy.
Harper’s surprised by Penn’s attention—and so is Penn. The last thing he needs is a girlfriend. Or even a friend-with-benefits. The note is not supposed to lead to anything.
Oh, but it does. They hang out. They have fun. They talk. They make out. And after a while, it seems like they just click. But Penn and Harper have very different ideas about what relationships look like, in no small part because of their very different family backgrounds. Of course they could talk about these differences—if Penn knew how to talk about feelings.
Harper and Penn understand their attraction is illogical, yet something keeps pulling them together. It’s like a crazy roller coaster—exhilarating, terrifying, and amazing all at once. And neither knows how to stop the ride…

My Review:

Through to You, a book about Penn and Harper falling for each other though they are the complete opposite - but opposites attract right? Penn and Harper are the definition of opposite. Loud, playful jock versus shy, quiet, keep to yourself type. But a little "sparkle" is enough to flick into something else. 
The idea of the book, while not necessarily original had some hope to it. But I was disappointed. The characters were all over the place, and I found it frustrating. It was off to a good start (both the book and the relationship) but it quickly went down from there. Penn and Harper would be happy and having fun, then Penn would put up a wall and a fight would begin. They would go a while without talking, and then all of a sudden they were back on. Just like that, and it would happen again and again. Something was missing in between all of this fighting. I needed more, and I just didn't get it.
I couldn't relate to the characters and I didn't find them dimensional or even interesting. There was potential in the overall story - Harpers dancing, the injury Penn is dealing with - but it felt too focused on the push and pull of the actual relationship. 
I was hoping for a fun little summer romance read, and unfortunately Through to You wasn't it.