3.5 StarsA little bit Cruel Intentions, and a little bit Pretty in Pink, Robin Constantine’s debut novel The Promise of Amazing introduces us to Wren Caswell and Grayson Barrett, two kids searching out the answer to one question: who am I?As the summary says, Wren Caswell is average. She’s never thought of herself as anything special. She’s the youngest of three, and the middle of her class. But one chance meeting—involving cocktail weenies, of all things—changes all of that forever after she saves the life of Grayson Barrett.Grayson was one of the kings at his school until he got caught selling term-papers. Now he’s living a public school life, in the middle of the crowd and no longer a lacrosse star. His friends have all distanced themselves since he was caught cheating, and he’s struggling with who he used to be and the man he wants to become. After Wren saves his life, he feels drawn to her. She’s equally as magnetized. And who wouldn’t be?Any time I checked off the reasons to avoid him, I’d picture him in front of school, leaning against his faded car. Hands in pockets, swoon-worthy grin, deep brown eyes full of the promise of amazing.He even goes so far as to get a job at Wren’s family’s banquet hall, just so he can be close to her. But there are things in Grayson’s past that aren’t quite ready to let him move on yet. Mainly, his old friend Luke. Sociopathic and uber jealous, Luke’s determined to make Grayson’s new life hell to entice him back into the way things used to be. And that includes making sure all of his secrets come out to his new friend, Wren. Caught between wanting to protect Wren and to do what’s right, and wanting to get his friends off his back, things don’t exactly go as planned.This was a great example of the ways in which kids can be…vicious. Mean and vindictive and just bad. But it was also a great showing of the fact that sometimes love can conquer anything, and not all friends are bad. I really liked Wren. She was quiet to everyone else, but I immediately liked being inside her head. She was smart, funny and good to have around in cocktail weenie situations, lol. And Grayson…brb, let me swoon for a minute…okay, now that that’s out of the way, I’ll say this: he wasn’t perfect, but still…he wanted to be. He felt remorse for the bad things he’d done, which made me want to love him all that much more. And when they were together…sigh. Plus. Eyebrow. Ring. Drummer. Yeah.This book won’t be for everyone. There are edges pushed, some of what some may consider cheating (yes, I’m looking at you, PV) and some not so ethical choices made by this group of young kids. But one that those who love to read about falling in love will enjoy.
