Review: Entertaining, but Carries Unmet Potential
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 15, 2014
I would like to thank Curiosity Quills Press for giving me a copy of this e-book to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.<blockquote>Leila Sepehri, an ambitious and brilliant student determined to cure cancer, is murdered during her final semester at college, yet discovers she’s been reborn as a spirit, resigned to haunt a school that can no longer see or hear her. The following semester, incoming freshman Alejandro Velásquez arrives on campus, eager to reinvent himself after eighteen years of awkwardness, as well as a devastating family tragedy, shake his sense of worth and faith to their cores.The two lonely souls meet under the auspice of moonlit rain, and soon find themselves passionately, irrevocably attracted to each other. Leila discovers her spiritual body reawakening with sensations that make her feel alive once again, and Alejandro discovers a kindred spirit who understands his pain like no one else. The fast friends become intense lovers, and become determined to find a way to hold onto their own private miracle forever.Yet troublesome questions linger. How can Alejandro possibly explain to skeptical friends and family that his soul-mate is a ghost? Why does Leila get the nagging suspicion that their relationship might hold the key to understanding her existence as a spirit? Intoxicated with each other, Leila and Alejandro evade these questions, only to have them explode once an act of evil causes both of them to clearly see the true meaning of their destiny together. Will their love give them the courage to accept a destiny that surpasses time and perhaps even God, or is their love destined to die loud and young?</blockquote>I found this book to be somewhat challenging at times. The romance between Alejandro and Leila is sweet, albeit unusual. However the questions about the nature of death and religious beliefs got to be a bit overwhelming, taking me out of the story at times. The very fact that only Alejandro can see Leila is somewhat suspect, particularly once we learn more about his history. And for someone who has always gone with the flow, never making waves or risking ridicule, it's rather interesting that he is so instantly willing to flaunt his relationship with a spirit that only he can see. Yet as soon as Leila enters the picture he's willing to risk all? Seems sudden to me, but looking back on my first love it becomes easier to see to crazy behavior as being par for the course.Leila wants to do what she considers to be the right thing and walk away from Alejandro, allowing him to lead a normal life. The life she would have had were it not for being murdered. Yet she finds herself unable to walk away from the one person that can see and hear her, who is willing to spend time with her, the one person who fits her soul like a puzzle piece she never knew was missing; so she stays. She tries to justify their relationship as being the will of Allah, but deep down feels that she's reaching for an explanation that will satisfy her desire to stay with the man that completes her. But things are in a state of flux for Leila, and that could spell disaster for her relationship with Alejandro.I admit I had some difficulty ascertaining what was real and what was metaphorical. Nor was I able to wrap my head around the ending, which left me confused and full of theories that I was unable to narrow down to a manageable list. Maybe others will see what Mr. Haley intended the ending to mean, or maybe he specifically left it with any number of possible answers so that each reader could take what they needed from the story. I guess I'll never know, and frankly that annoys me just a bit. Ah well, I'll just have to get over it and move on. Who knows, maybe the answer will come to me after my subconscious has had enough time to sort through all the data. . .