A Graduation Gift cemented its story through its first few chapters, which is a given though its execution in particular was something done in an appreciable manner.
Somewhere in Rome, the initial setting was a cruise ship going through the ocean. In a deluxe room on the ship, there was a glass door that had a blurry silhouette because of the hot steam. This silhouette belonged to none other than Cassandra. A man waited patiently on the opposite side of that door, on a bed, making smoke rings with his cigar to display his bolstering masculinity.
He was quite attracted to the curves presented by the silhouette until inevitably, the glass door busted open with Cassandra in a silk bathrobe, drying her hair with a towel.
His hormones amplified themselves at the sight of her. The man asked Cassandra whether she was back from the alcohol to which she applied an affirmative. The man hugged Cassandra, seductively telling her that she smelled great. Having sobered up a bit, Cassandra realized she had no memory prior to this situation despite it being the second half of the night.
She pleaded to be let go, which only turned the man on furthermore. On the night of her graduation, Cassandra could never have known that she was going to lose her innocence in a one-night stand with the man in front of her. The man informed her that his name was Rufus Luo, to which Cassandra was slightly annoyed at the thought that he wanted to take things further. Rufus asked whether they would have a goodbye kiss or not, which actually went through. Cassandra left, banging the door and leaving Rufus a lot to be desired.
Read Once Upon a One-Night Stand now!
- Part 1: All About The Graduation Gift
- Part 2: Main Theme of The Graduation Gift
- Part 3: The Delight within the Writing of The Graduation Gift
- Part 4: Wrapping Up
Part 1: All About The Graduation Gift
The beginning of the story essentially defines almost every event that comes after it. The strange interactions between Rufus and Cassandra had an adverse impact on their interactions once they eventually meet under the same roof through the same party. Cassandra has to deal with the daunting reality that was imposed on her from the beginning of the story, with the one-night stand she had.
There was a good amount of setup through the introduction, and there was not much left to be desired in terms of character introductions. Some stories bring down the quality of their well-thought-out story by confusing the reader with a mediocre introduction that does no justice to their characters and ends up ruining their potential.
Though, I’m happy to say that this novel does not deal with that issue and also doesn’t have you waiting over 20 chapters to get into the good, spicy parts of the story. That is, mostly because the story as a whole is relatively dramatic.
Part 2: Main Theme of The Graduation Gift
The Graduation Gift undertakes romance as its main genre and fleshes it out primarily through the use of a love-triangle concept. Though, it’s more of a triangle of acceptance than anything. The relationships between Cassandra, Rufus, and Lionel (Cassandra’s husband) are at a preliminary level from the start of the novel and develop with experiences that the characters go through.
This take has the reader feeling conflicted, in a good way, at all times as to what should be going on in the series in comparison to what actually goes on.
Drama gives this novel most of its intensity and, well, the reason for the reader to keep reading this beautiful mess. The story doesn’t particularly feel like it is one that’s especially strong in terms of being a masterful piece of writing though it manages to keep the reader entertained through its interesting characters, dramatic situations, and especially the writing.
Dealing with the trials of being relatively wealthy and running a company also becomes a part of daily life of Cassandra which, at times, can be lacking yet entertaining at other times. It’s one of those things in a series that is inconsistent in how good or bad it is though it certainly gives the novel a sense of direction.
Once Upon a One-Night Stand is a similar novel that you can equally enjoy if you like this.
Part 3: The Delight within the Writing of The Graduation Gift
What the author knew would define their novel was the writing, the wordings associated with scenes used to express them. Knowing this, the author expressed their novel to the fullest extent with some of the best uses of words you can imagine.
The first chapter envelopes you in this feeling of tension in an environment that wasn’t built around that situation. The cruise ship had a certain defined ambiance throughout the writing, though the interactions between Cassandra and Rufus defied the ambiance which creates tension for the reader.
Though, there are apparent issues when we look outside the ambiance and environment. The dialogues between the characters felt a little stale, boring, and emotionless at times when the two characters speaking weren’t two of the main characters. It almost feels like the dialogues are entirely dependent on Cassandra being around someone relevant to be anything entertaining.
Part 4: Wrapping Up
The Graduation Gift is a nice, entertaining novel that builds its entertainment off of one messy abomination of a situation that the characters are put into.
While the initial chapters feel very uncomfortable to read considering the situations that the characters are put into and the things they have to accept, eventually the reader starts to get more comfortable around the ideas imposed and so do the characters.
There’s double-sided growth in both the reader and the characters, as they grow to accept more and more of the bizarre realities that they have been faced with. Character development shines in a way for this novel despite their personalities being stagnant in a sense.
However, the story suffers from bland dialogues and general repetition as you get deeper into the novel. The story itself lacks anything to keep it consistently interesting, and there’s only so much you can do with one odd situation resulting in hundreds of chapters being produced.
Inevitably though, it can be remarked on as enjoyable despite all of its drawbacks, all the things it does wrong. This can be attributed solely to the character and personality of the novel itself. It speaks to you, forms a relationship with you, and makes it clear to you that its ended purpose was to entertain you and it attempts to fulfill that purpose to the best of its ability.
