Hardcore (#1, #2 & #3)

The next series I started was Hardcore, also from Staci Hart. I have to tell you it was a long time ago, I've had such mixed feelings about a book. Volume one I liked, volume two not so much, but volume three I loved so much.

People don’t change. They’re only revealed.

Cory James has never known a life where she wasn’t running. Running from the cops, her home, her past. Running from love. The only time she’s free is when she throws on her hood and takes to the roofs to run. Stealing is nothing, lying inevitable, byproducts of survival. A way for Cory to provide for herself and for her younger sister, Jill, give her the life Cory couldn’t have. For five years, Cory built a house of cards, where the first card has fallen when she met Van and it was only just a matter of time before her whole house of cards is in danger of falling apart. She can tell herself over and again that she doesn’t care, but even she knows it’s a lie. 

Today marked the first step toward betraying him.

She knows he’ll follow, however high she can climb, but she can only run for so long before she has to choose. And that kind of choice is never easy. To save Jill she has to betray the only man who ever held her heart with a knowledge, that the only thing Van can't forgive is lying. So she chooses to break Vans heart, and do what she is supposed to to save Jill. (Oh, how much I hate Jade!) 

He was gone and I had no one to blame but myself.

At the end she does what is right, and tells Van the truth. Well, at least part of it, since Van does not want to do anything with her after the betrayal. After many obstacles Jill is safe, Cory is suffering and Jade is punished. At the end Cory writes a beautiful heart warming letter to Van, who reads it and forgives Cory for everything. And not just that he apologises for being such an idiot for not hearing her out, when she want to explain why she did what she did.

It’s like we’re made from the same metal, we just have different finishes. We shine different. 

Cory is hardcore. She is tough. In the first book I didn't love her, but I was okay with her. But in the second book I totally hated her. Maybe it was because of the lying and the stealing, or just because of the lying to a loved one... I can't say exactly why... She was whining all the time about how nobody can love her 'cause she is no good for them and so on, but in the end she did nothing to change it. She just continued whining. She said that she wants Van, wants to be with him... She still lied to him. In the end she finally did something right, but it wasn't because she wanted to do it. She did it because her friends convinced her to do it. When she did the right thing and Van was angry at her, she did nothing... again... just continued whining, until her friends convinced her to leave Jade and start a new life without trouble. The moment where I started to like her it was, when she left the letter at Vans gallery and I read it. That was because she wanted to do it. Nobody had to convince her, tell her tings... At the end of volume 3 I really liked her.

Van is a hottie, who has a heart of gold. He believes in love at first sight... And his world is black and white, just as Cory said. There are no shades of gray. There are no extenuating circumstances. I liked him from the beginning, and couldn't really understand why he put up with Corys bullshit (Love is blind they say...). When Cory made the right choice (not talking about leaving him instead of telling the truth, but the moment of telling the truth), his world of black and white was in full swing. He learned just part of the truth, and decided Cory is not worth trying to make it right. After Corys letter it took him days or even a week (I don't really remember) to get his s**it together, and chase down Cory. At that time of hesitation, I started to dislike him, becaouse if he really, REALLY loved Cory than he would have been faster. Right? But thank God, (or Erin) he came to his senses and they found their way together.

What I miss at the end was a quick summary of the after the happy end part. I wanted to read about how Corys university life began. 

To sum it up, I liked, hated and loved this series. Not going to be my all the time favorite, but I read it to the end so...

Cory:

Van:

On Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/142668-hardcore

6★/10★