Audiobook Review: ‘Thoughtless’ by S.C. Stephens

Note: This book contains sexual content.

New Adult is a new genre that has emerged in popularity this year. In the wake of Fifty Shades of Grey, many books with stories centered on twenty-something women and their romantic entanglements having been popping up all over my Goodreads feed. As a young, twenty-something myself, I endeavored to see what all the fuss was about.

I can’t say I was pleased.

I read a couple and thought they were rather badly written with underdeveloped characters and packed with tons of clichés. Maybe I had picked up two bad examples? I decided to give New Adult the benefit of the doubt, when I requested to review the audiobook of Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens. After a quick look at Thoughtless on Goodreads, it looked to be a mega-popular, so it seemed like a good pick at the time. And when the audiobook arrived and I noticed its length (20 hours!), I thought “If it’s so popular, it has to at least be entertaining.”

Except it wasn’t. At all.

Thoughtless is quite the perfect title for this story that follows the most irritating main character I’ve read all year. 21-year-old Kiera is moving across the country to Seattle with her boyfriend, Denny. Denny is a couple years older, and since he’s a recent graduate, he just landed a dream job in Seattle. Not wanting to break up because they love each other, she decides to go with him to Washington, where they move into Kellan’s place. An old friend of Denny’s, Kellan is a local rock star and has the looks and attitude that go right with the persona. Kiera and Kellan strike up a friendship, innocent at first, but when Denny leaves Seattle for two months on business, Kiera and Kellan grow closer, leaving Kiera confused on who to be with and what to do.

It’s a familiar kind of story, and honestly that wasn’t really my problem with it. It was how under-developed the characters are, especially Kiera. Kiera begins as this very innocent, doe-eyed girl. It’s pretty embarrassing how naïve and ridiculous she’s written. There’s one part in the story when she throws a fit because Denny isn’t around to take her on a tour of her new college’s campus, and therefore, she won’t know where anything is. Now… for a young woman, who is 21 YEARS OLD, she cannot go and discover a place on her own? Every year, college freshman leave home and go to a new school – sometimes not knowing anyone there – and sure, they’re nervous, but they get through it. At the end of the day, it’s not a big deal. Anyway, in the story, Kellan comes to her rescue and takes her on a tour of the campus himself. Then, it became clear to me that author is mostly concerned about getting the characters to a certain part of the story than taking time to properly and consistently characterize them. In order for Kiera and Kellan to spend time together, Kiera has to throw an immature tantrum, so Kellan can save the day? That actually makes me feel bad for Kiera because the author clearly doesn’t give a crap about her, by making her act like a pre-teen. (No offense to any pre-teens out there.)

As for the male characters? Oh, no. They are perfect. They do have tempers and are possessive, but that’s totally sexy, not creepy or discerning at all. Through Kiera, we are constantly reminded how attractive and sexy they are, and how unworthy she is.

Come on.

In addition to that, Kiera is made to be judgmental. The other female characters are judged by how slutty they are. Kiera loves her sister, but you can tell she looks down on her sister’s promiscuous ways. It’s always in a condescending tone when Kiera thinks or mentions her sister. For books that are mainly read for the sexual content they deliver, I find a little hypocritical how much judgment goes on about a female’s sexual activity. Yes, Kiera calls Kellan a “whore,” but her tone seemed rather dismissive at the fact.

Thoughtless is a prime example of how cliché and, often times, misogynistic the New Adult genre can be. The melodramatic nature story can be compelling to audiences, and I understand that. But the underlying messages are completely disconcerting. Many readers are finishing this book hating Kiera. Who they should really dislike is the author, for creating such a female character in a story that has no real base in reality whatsoever. I, and several twenty-something acquaintances, can attest to that.

Unbelievably, Thoughtless is the first of a trilogy. As for the audiobook, Rebekkah Ross did a fine job narrating and made me a tiny bit more sympathetic to the story. Regardless, the 20 hour length is a major put-off.

There’s nothing wrong with contemporary romance. There are cases where it’s very well done with strong characters that range from unlikable to lovable. It’s possible to deliver drama and romance in a real world setting without it feeling cliché, disrespectful to gender, or overwrought with sentimentality. These New Adult authors (who mostly were self-published, then picked up by publishing house when their stories became popular) have so far failed to do this, S.C. Stephens being the biggest culprit I’ve encountered so far.

Rating: 0/10 stars

Thoughtless is now available where audiobooks are sold.

Book Info:

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (November 13, 2012)
• Length:  Approx 20 hours
• Series:  Thoughtless #1
• Source: Digital Audio – Unabridged
• Genre: New Adult, Romance, Drama
• Completed: December 2012