Review: My review from MustReadBooksOrDie
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 21, 2013
I reviewed this at MustReadBooksOrDie with my friend Shelley!Shel: Hmmm. What to say, what to say? It feels like everything I have to say about this novel will be taken in the wrong light...as a negative...but really what I hope you see is that I truly enjoyed reading this novel and am overly eager to get my hands on books 2 AND 3. So I'm taking a deep breath and going to try to not eff this review up too much...here goes nothing....Court: Eeep, this should be good! :)Shel: This book is sad, y'all. Plain and simple...it's sad. Nova and Quinton are" two lost souls souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year..running over the same old ground...have we found the same old fears...wish you were here"...SHIT! Did I just quote Pink Floyd? YES...YES I DID. It's very apropos, I think. You'll get it..I promise, just read the novel. Anywho...these two are wandering around on this earth, in the same town for the summer, as mirror images without even really knowing it...but we do. They end up meeting and hanging out and avoiding each other and thinking of each other, more than they want to admit or like. And boy, oh, boy are they messes? Yep. They are. They are in constant suffering mode...and the desire to comfort them and heal them was strong.Court: It was. And I should say here...how proud are you of me that I know that song? When you told me you were quoting Pink Floyd and getting all sorts of deep on me I wasn't done yet and couldn't look to see what you were doing! (Because she doesn't always like me to know her thoughts while I'm reading. Case in point, another book we're reading today. Hmpf) But yes, it was a pretty refreshing take on this story because we know from the get go the secrets that each MC keeps. We know their motivations that they won't admit to one another, and why they react to certain scenarios the way they do...but the problem is we don't know what they're going to decide to do going forward. That killed me!Shel: Without giving plot details away, I'll just say that it was incredibly frustrating to read about two characters flailing and sinking into the deep despair and feel such a strong desire to help them and not be able to (am I the only one that lives with the characters in her head? Court: Nope! I do too. Which earns me weird looks when I describe our friends to other people who just don't get it. Shel: Because I do..and it's hard to let them go sometimes). There were some ugly, underbelly-type scenarios that Nova and Quinton were exposed to, willingly, and you just KNOW that it was so far out of their normal, pre-tragedy realms that you cringe. You hate how they punish themselves because you know that the way they are adapting and coping to their 'new normal' is exactly how many choose to cope in the real world...and it's ugly, lost, and, for Quinton, harsh. I'm sure you're seeing that this was a emotionally challenging and draining read...especially because you have to work for those bright spots (like the characters had to work for them!).Court: Nova, like the car. I like that. She seems to be the one who has lost and hurt the most. But like most of Jessica Sorensen's stories and definitely the ones I've read, there is way more too it than that. The reasons she is hurting and lost...*tear* were so...shit I'm crying right now. Okay. I hope you get it. I hope you get how much Landon means to this story. And how much he is the essence to this story. His...*tears* okay. I can't write about him anymore. Shelley...Shel: In case I've given you the wrong idea, let me reiterate that I really liked this novel. It's not typical. The ending is what I've come to expect in Jessica's novels (even though I'm far from an expert--I'm a new fan!) in that we'll have to read more to see what happens to Nova and Quinton next. But you know what? I didn't feel cheated or angry; the ending felt totally real and justified.Court: No. I feel that the next one is going to be pulling a character so far out of the deep dark hole they've put themselves in that it is going to be a wrecking ball on our hearts then too. But these are my favorite stories..they yes, make me cry...but they also touch on that part of your soul that everyone feels. Everyone feels lost sometimes and sad, and hurt by people or things...but the journeys to find yourself. Those are the best. This one is in my opinion, no way at all a romance. But it was a summer of Nova really Finding Nova and definitely after she was broken. Fitting title. Amazing book. Perfect dialogue, writing, and pace. I couldn't get enough. I read this so fast!Shelley: 5 StarsCourtney: 5 Stars