Tori's Review: Real by Katy Evans

Real by Katy Evans
Series: Real, Raw & Ripped #1
Genre: Romance, New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★★½
Pages: 266
Published by Smashwords on April 8, 2013
Date Finished: August 25, 2013
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A fallen boxer.A woman with a broken dream.A competition…
He even makes me forget my name. One night was all it took, and I forgot everything and anything except the sexy fighter in the ring who sets my mind ablaze and my body on fire with wanting…
Remington Tate is the strongest, most confusing man I’ve ever met in my life.
He’s the star of the dangerous underground fighting circuit, and I’m drawn to him as I’ve never been drawn to anything in my life. I forget who I am, what I want, with just one look from him. When he’s near, I need to remind myself that I am strong–but he is stronger. And now it’s my job to keep his body working like a perfect machine, his taut muscles primed and ready to break the bones of his next opponents . . .
But the one he’s most threatening to, now, is me.
I want him. I want him without fear. Without reservations.
If only I knew for sure what it is that he wants from me?

Parental Review: 

Language: Moderate to heavy (a few f-bombs dropped, but not every other page. Other profanities as well)

Sexual Content: Heavy (so much)

Violence: Moderate to heavy (Remy is an underground fighter. There's violence)

Other: Mental illnesses such as bipolar, manic, and depression. Drugs and alcohol. Protagonist's love interest is sedated during one of his manic episodes; sedation. Parent's abandoned protagonist's love interest at young age; abandonment. 

An almost Olympic runner, Brooke Dumas is forced to give up her dreams because of an injury to become a sports therapist. One night when her and her friend Melanie go to an underground boxing match to watch Melanie's latest crush (more like latest obsession to be more accurate), the beautiful (and extremely muscled, according to our lovely protagonist Brooke) Remington Tate takes one look at the utterly boring Brooke (again, according to Brooke. She wonders why a sex god Remy would ever go after someone like her) and instantly wants her because he knows she's different and won't judge him. As if you know that by one look in the crowd. Anyhow, he wants her so much so that he shows off to her on the first fight and then on the second he knocks out his opponent so fast so that he can chase Brooke who is running away because her clenching "sex muscles" are to much for her mid-twenty, sex-deprived body to handle. Oh and let's not forget about her breast tips (?). They were straining so hard against her shirt. 

If this book wasn't New Adult because of the R Rated scenes then it would be R Rated due to the amount of times Brooke has R Rated thoughts. 

Oh, really? Yes, really. Now that I've introduced this blatantly sexually oriented book to you, let me explain to you how many times the author talks about Brooke's breast tips (popularly known as nipples) or boobs, uses the word clench or any variation of that word, and talks about Remy's muscular body or just his muscles in general. I did a search on my phone through the iBooks app. I don't know how accurate the search is, but it seems pretty legitimate. 

Breast tips & boobs: 49 times

Clench: 71 times

Remy's muscles: 86 times

I am not amused, nor am I kidding. Every other page, it seems, something clenches. (Sorry if it gets a bit vulgar from here. I'm not shy with this subject.) Remy's muscles, Brooke's vagina (or sex, as she likes to call it), Remy's face, Remy's fist, Remy's mouth. Everything clenches. Oh and let's not forget about how many times Brooke's nipples press against her shirt. Like, how sexually frustrated is this girl? At lot, apparently. She also likes to talk about it, too. She literally just met the guy, and her boobs tips (seriously. Who calls them boob tips? They're nipples. Say it with me, Brooke. Nipples. Nipples) are already fighting against the material of her shirt and her vagina is already clenching due to lust. 

And since we're basically on the topic of Evans' writing, I'd like to add this part in. I can see he thinks he's the ultimate creation, and he seems to believe every woman here is his Eve, created from his ribcage for him to enjoy. I'm both aroused and infuriated, and this is the most confusing feeling I've ever felt in my life. This is what Brooke thinks in her inner monologue on, like, page 15 once she meets him. I'm pretty sure the fact that her thoughts were so contradictory that she would've figured out that this was a clear signal to stay the hell away from this dude. 

But that's not what Brooke does, does she? 

Nope! She's stays with him! She even gets hired by him! Even when his mood swings are worse than ever and his behavior is absolutely uncalled for. I'm really sick of girls thinking that alpha male behavior in a human boy is sexy. I think it's sexy when it's an actual alpha male in a werewolf novel. But when it's in a new adult book with human people, I have a problem. It's disgusting, it's demeaning, and I don't understand. Ladies, a guy kissing you right after meeting you is not acceptable behavior. A guy ordering you around and getting jealous when you just talk to his freaking manager is not okay. 

I'm not going to lie, I can see the appeal. He's confident, he's a dick, but he's fake. All you ladies know that he's fake. But what happens when one day a guy treats you like that and you think it's okay because of all this new adult fiction you're feeding yourself? It's okay to read this genre, but it is not okay to accept it and think it's right. (Please don't think I'm generalizing and saying that every female who reads this genre thinks that. I'm just stating my opinion. This is for those girls our there that do think that Remy's behavior is okay. Which it's not.)

Nothing about Remy's behavior in this story is okay! Nearly everything about Brooke's behavior isn't okay either (some things were normal. Like at the end. [Spoiler! Highlight to view.] Like when she left. She was right to do that. Even though it was sad. It was a good thing. It was good for her. But then at the end. When she went back. It was sweet. But why, Brooke, why? Stick to your guns! You are woman, hear you roar!). Her mind is warped, let me tell you that. At one point in the story she calls her vagina a sheath. Okay, but what? And then she calls herself a "wet little kitten". She's starting to sound more and more like Anastasia Steele (Fifty Shades of Fucked Up Grey) by the minute. And then Remy's alpha male behavior shows even more when he says to Brooke, "You're my mate, and I've claimed you." 

Alright, Remy. Last time I checked you didn't grow fur all over your body and howl at the moon. 

Remy sure didn't agree with me on that when I was reading Real. Every chance he got he pounced (get the pun? Brooke? Mate? Werewolf? Pounce? No? Okay) on the idea of Brooke being his mate. As if we were still Neanderthals that hadn't learned to differentiate between lovers and mates. Now I'm not saying anyone that calls their significant other their mate crazy; I'm just saying that Remy is acting like a fucking alpha male who needs to claim his woman and get possessive over his "mate", and this is definitely not okay. 

We are women. Not animals, Remy. Please understand the difference. 

There is one other thing that I absolutely hated about this book, and I found them sort of insulting and unnecessary. [Spoiler! Highlight to view.] When Evans decided to pull a fast one on us readers and try to make us sympathize with Remy, and she said that he was bipolar, manic, and depressed. I was not okay with this. I happen to have a friend who's boyfriend is bipolar (and previously manic, I believe), and I also happen to have a friend who is depressed. I'm actually pretty upset with Evans trying to pass off Remy's passive-aggressive personality as a disorder. And then she goes to say that he doesn't want to take medication because he feels that he needs to own his disorder. Sorry not sorry, but you can own your disorder and take medication at the same time. All the medication does is calm your nerves and make you less agitated and prone to the disorder. It's not going to change you, it's going to change how you react. I just feel like this was Evans' pathetic attempt at trying to make her readers love Remy. I already liked him just fine. Sure, I didn't like his attitude, but I didn't hate him. If anything, Evans made me dislike Remy all on my her own just by adding this in. It was unnecessary.

Since I've got all that hate out of my system, I'll tell you why I still have this book rated with two and a half stars. 

Wow, you actually sort of like this book? Shocking.

Yes, I sort of liked this book. Despite the fact that you probably think I hated this book, I didn't. I actually enjoyed myself while reading it, putting aside all the disproving factors incorporated in it. I feel like if this book was more focused on humor instead of sex, I would've like this novel a lot more. But other than that, I did end up liking Remy at the end. [Spoiler! Highlight to view.] He did throw the competition for her sister, and I loved that. I just hate that he stabbed a dude in the cheek with a pencil before he threw the competition. Although I didn't appreciate his mood swings, I did find myself rooting for Team Rooke. I do happen to have a soft spot for romances even if they're fucked up romances. Those are the kind that I love to watch work out in the end. Doesn't mean I agree, but you know. 

I honestly don't know why I feed myself this genre even though I always end up trashing it in my reviews. I just like the romance, I guess. And the guys are usually pretty hot. Although their lines are cliche and predictable as well as the plot, they're enjoyable for the time being.