5 Stars (for
great character development; emotionally charged; extremely well written; and I
loved it)
Goodreads
Summary:
When Ash
loses her boyfriend, she is consumed by grief, loneliness and an overwhelming
sense of guilt for her role in not only his death, but the deaths of everyone
she has ever loved. Refusing to let anyone in for fear of losing them too, she
becomes withdrawn, spending her days reliving the nightmares from her past.
Until she
meets Luke.
Initially
scared by his intensity and interest in her, Ash tries to push him away. But as
Luke slowly starts to chip away at the walls she’s built, Ash finds herself
doing the one thing she swore she’d never do again — falling in love.
When the
familiar feelings Ash had hoped were long buried with her past begin to
resurface, she is forced to ask herself if falling in love again is really
worth the risk.
My Thoughts:
Tissues…Lots and Lots and Lots of
Tissues Needed!!!!!!!
For me to
say this is a heavy read is a total understatement. I was not at all prepared for the emotional
ache this book put me through. The level
of despair I felt moved me to my core.
I knew just
by the title and cover that I was in for a deep, deep ride.
Ash’s grief,
despair and guilt were fabulously written.
I thought several times that this storyline could go south really
quickly and become redundant…BUT I was sooo happy to say it DID NOT! The author found every possible conceivable way
to describe and express grief/guilt/despair.
I kept thinking..OH God…What’s next?? But it would always be different…never
the same…never repetitive. I enjoyed
that I was kept on my toes.
“So in fact,
my life is far from normal, it’s actually complete shit.”
That’s saying
it lightly. Connection with Ash’s ‘not
so normal life’ was very easy. I many
not have felt her level of guilt, but I understood it on some level. I may not have had her level of loss, but I
have felt it. That connection with her
kept pulling me in. I wanted her to
overcome her emotional turmoil and every time she fell…I’d fall right with
her. I feel that Ash has some of the
best character development I’ve read. I
know her, feel for her and want her to be happy.
I love,
love, loved how the author wrote the ‘memories’ of all the different losses Ash
experienced. It was a great way to do
flashbacks. Not only did we learn deeper
into her past; each one was a mini-story that was wonderfully detailed and
jammed pact.
I really
feel that Luke was sent by Ash’s angels above to help her work her shit
out. He was so unbelievably patient and
held her as if she would break at any moment.
He was so admirable and an overall great guy. I love how Luke could see through Ash’s mask
and dig into her, but yet be so careful and patience with her. It was so very endearing.
The entire
book is written in Ash’s perspective. We
get to swim in her sea of turmoil. I
would have loved to hear Luke’s POV!!!!
That is the only downfall I have with this book. I wanted inside his brain soooooo badly! I wanted his feelings about everything going
on.
Parts of
this book were utterly gut-wrenching. I
went through a huge amount of tissues. I
even did the whole sobbing on my kindle thing..but don’t let that detour you
from reading. A little crying is good
for the soul!
I did love
how each chapter outlined the music that went along with that chapter It helped
me make a deeper connection with the book.
Music tends to do that.
Please do
not go into this book thinking is a happy go lucky—because it is not. It is dark, sad and grief ridden—but that
said it is an awesomely written book with a great story line. I would highly recommend reading it.
Personal
note: The author gave me this book to
read and review. I can say without a
doubt that I would have kept this book on my TBR list because I have a personal
issue with death, if not for her asking me to read it. I was able to work through some ‘stuff’ while
reading this book and for that I am utterly grateful I was asked.
