Review: This book... WOW!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2014
This book… wow! I loved Surrendering, but I cannot tell you how much I adored Surviving. This book picks up where Surrendering left off, so if you haven’t read the first book, I suggest you do that and please don’t read on. This review will contain the biggest spoiler from the first book, but it is unavoidable.When we left Declan, he was alone, lost and without the one thing in the world that he always needed to breath. He was without Raven. But it was his fault and he knew it. He made a decision for his band that changed everything and left her no other option than to let him go. She couldn’t do it. It was too much for her hert to take.But what Raven didn’t tell Declan, that new job, across the ocean. She needed to take the job, she needed to fix herself. If she could get over Declan Collins, everything she knows will change. He was her first love, her first kiss. He owned her heart. He broke her heart. She has to figure out a way to move on with her life and when she returns, she will find out if they have a relationship worth saving. But before they can heal as a couple, she has to heal on her own… but of course, she is not alone. Finn is there.Finn, the amazing best friend in Raven’s life. It is great that he has traveled with her and he has a job along side of her. Until the pieces all fall together and we find out that Finn doesn’t want to sit on the sidelines as Raven’s friend. He is in love with her. But can Finn convince her that he is the one for her or will she still end up with Declan when the summer comes to an end?Declan Collins stole my heart and broke it in Surrendering. He needs to fix things in this book, oh but there are so many obstacles in the way of him doing it, including Finn. But Declan has lost the love of his life and is having a hard time functioning and getting through the day to day without her there. His anger and hurt towards his band, his anger and hurt at himself, it all is just too much. The only way to make his life better and to make him whole again is Raven. But she is not here and he knows it is his fault. Losing himself at the bottom of another bottle, will Declan beable to survive this? What happens if Raven doesn’t come back to him? How will he survive then?I fell head over heals in love with Declan in Surrendering, but he just completely broke my heart in this one. I don’t like seeing anyone suffer, but when it is the big bad rock star, it just makes it that much harder to witness.Ahren Sanders has the best characters in this book. I mean what an amazing group of friends. You just want to hang out with them and live in the worlds for a little while, ok maybe without all the crazy, but they are just a dynamic and amazing group. It’s not just the main characters either. I think Charlie is still awesome, I love Robbie and I want him to find his happily ever after… so many amazing characters bind this story together and it works.The story was moving and gripping and you really didn’t know from one minute to the next what was going to happen. You hoped and prayed it would turn out one way and in a turn of a page, the possibilities were suddenly very apparent and you weren’t sure which way it was going to play out. Ahren Sanders does an amazing job on her follow up novel to Surrendering and I cannot wait to read more of her work! The journey through this book proves what an amazing and talent writer she is. If you have read Surrendering, Surviving is a must read.*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review