Review: Rhye & Syn
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 11, 2013
This is not your typical feel good, sugar sweet love story. No, this is life - raw and chaotic.Rhye Clark hit the big time in the music industry with is band, but what goes up, must come down. With all the success came access to parties, drugs, and nameless women, willing, just for a taste. When the guilt surrounding Rhye's past has no escape in sight, it's those vices that allow him to become numb to his pain, his demons, and his life. He isn't perfect and never claimed to be.When Rhye's addiction affects his music, the record label decides to pair him up for a duet with the wholesome country singer, Syn Landry, in hopes of getting him back on the charts. She's young, cute, and has that southern twang that can make any good ol' boy come'a runnin! However, Syn is also hardworking, determined, and a bit stubborn.When the two meet there is no "opposites attract insta-love", thank Gawd! Truthfully, both seem more annoyed with the other & their lifestyles than anything else. When Rhye starts getting his "stuff" together, AKA clean and sober thanks in part to the label appointed babysitting & life coach, he finds his way back to the music. It's then that Syn sees the broken boy behind the drugs and anger that lingers, and it's with that broken boy that Syn begins to give her love. Will her love ever be enough to mend the wounds of Rhye's past or is his heart empty...wasted..."Death is my reality and it beckons me. She sings sweetly in my ear and plays the perfect strain of music in my head."Rhye's backstory was interesting and unlike those I've read before. I felt like some parts of it had a better fit while others were just kind of "eh".  I had trouble understanding how his high school events could cause that amount of self-loathing. Throughout the story you cannot help but root for him as he battles his addictions and grows as a person. It's in some of those moments of sobriety that we see those redeeming qualities that make your heart go pitter-pat.Sadly, I wasn't a big fan of Syn's character. Perhaps it's because she's technically a teenager still, but I just felt she was all over the place. I was getting whiplash from her being a mature adult, to an angsty teen; from strong and proud, to desperate and weepy. There were some other minor characters throughout the book that were like that also - one moment trying to convince her to let Rhye go, the very next telling her that she needs to fight for him.  I really felt Rhye was the only consistent character who grew and developed. Syn didn't really grow emotionally - she just cried...a lot!Overall, the book was pretty good. I know this book is technically a standalone, but I cannot help but wonder if I had read the previous books if I would have had a better insight into Rhye.Stars 3.5Cover 4.0Plot/Characters 3.5Writing/Pacing 3.5Swoon 3.5Steam 2.5