Review: The Vow by Jessica Martinez

The Vow by Jessica Martinez
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication date: October 15th 2013
My rating: 3.5 stars 

No one has ever believed that Mo and Annie are just friends. How can a guy and a girl really be best friends? Then the summer before senior year, Mo’s father loses his job, and by extension his work visa. Instantly, life for Annie and Mo crumbles. Although Mo has lived in America for most of his life, he’ll be forced to move to Jordan. The prospect of leaving his home is devastating, and returning to a world where he no longer belongs terrifies him. Desperate to save him, Annie proposes they tell a colossal lie—that they are in love. Mo agrees because marrying Annie is the only way he can stay. Annie just wants to keep her best friend, but what happens when it becomes a choice between saving Mo and her own chance at real love?

The Vow was another book which I had highly been anticipating, the pretty cover and story of two friends who would do anything for one another I found highly appealing. However in parts it delivered everything I was asking for, but in other parts it left me feeling sort of conflicted.

Mo and Annie had been friends for years, no one ever understood their friendship; how could these two only just be friends? But Annie and Mo found friendship in one another when they had nobody else. Mo and Annie saved one another when they needed to be saved the most and since then their friendship has just become even stronger. Their friendship is easy going that they’re there when they need each other the most. But then news comes through that Mo has to go back to Jordan with his dad’s visa no longer valid, the whole family has to leave as soon as possible. Annie feels bereft; she knows she will end up losing so much with Mo not being around, so they decide to do the only thing which will keep Mo in the US. Get married.

I from the very beginning really wanted Mo to stay too, it was clear even though they weren’t going the right way about it, there would be so many consequences for both of them, but their friendship was one that kept them both going through life. Annie had her parents constantly watching her, things had ended badly for Annie’s sister and so her parents had been over protective ever since. Only Mo was able to understand this. And then with everything Mo had to go through with moving to the US and everyone immediately assuming he was a terrorist, Annie understood how tough it could be for him. So yes more than anything I wanted Mo to stay in the US.

As expected Mo and Annie’s marriage wasn’t smooth sailing, there were several obstacles along the way which prevented them from keeping their marriage under wraps, as they wanted to. And of course unsupportive parents on both sides who couldn’t understand why they would want to ruin their lives or even offer an inch of support. So Mo and Annie truly found themselves on their own. But I appreciated watching Annie and Mo trying to make the most of what they had. I enjoyed getting both characters sides of the story, despite having so many differences. I liked how Martinez intertwined their stories together at the start of each of their pov. Instead of getting that jolty vibe of having to get used to a different perspective, the subtle linking of chapters really made the flow of the story a smooth one.

With both Annie and Mo having so many problems of their own to deal with, it was easy to get inside their head and connect with them both. With dual pov stories, I usually end up finding myself with a favourite pov and not really caring about the other one, but it was not the case here. I didn’t find myself wanting to skip ahead, but enjoyed taking my time and appreciating both stories.

My only real complaint (if you can even call it that) is that things didn’t really go the way I expected it to. (Highlight text to view spoiler).With Annie and Mo having to actually live together and put on a front for everyone else as husband and wife, I actually thought that their friendship would develop into something further; I think I was kind of hoping it would go this way, even though I adored Reed (Annie’s boyfriend). So I guess I kind of was disappointed that this didn’t happen. Also the ending where did that come from? It happened so quickly, but I suppose it was the realistic ending for both characters.

The Vow was a story which really took me by surprise, Martinez ability to write heartfelt stories is clearly evident. Although I didn’t really enjoy The Vow as much as Martinez debut novel Virtuosity, The Vow was still a great read which I’m glad I gave a try.