Review: Stunning
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 6, 2014
Wow! This book slayed me! It's been a long time since a book has made me burst into tears SEVERAL times and I will be honest I didn't expect it to be an NA novel but I just loved FULL MEASURES so much and the gamut of emotions it made me experience! From the get-go as Ember looks at her mom in confusion as she rocks on the stairs begging her daughter not to open the door, I knew this would be heartbreaking andRebecca Yarros wrote a fabulous novel that despite ticking all the typical NA boxes you'd expect came across as fresh, sweet and gripping from start to finish.It's Ember's birthday and while she's missing her dad who's on tour in Afghanistan she's looking forward to spending a fun day with her family after her daily run. When she answers the door and finds two soldiers standing there, her world is rocked. Her father, a doctor was killed in the hospital he worked in. As her mother falls into deep depression and her sister lashes out, Ember is left to pick up the pieces and keep the family together. When her high school crush and her brother's hockey coach, Josh Walker, reappears in her life, Ember finds herself relying on his kindness as she struggles to cope. As the weeks pass the undeniable chemistry between Ember and Josh ignites to searing hot passion and Ember struggles between forging a life of her own and dealing with the grief and emotion of losing her father. As they grow closer a potentially heartbreaking secret threatens the small scrap of happiness Ember has grasped onto. Can Ember and Josh make it through hell unscathed or will their spark burn out?This book is undeniably a romance but it's so much more than that.This is a story about family, about loss, about grief and about survival. The pain the Howards experience is palpable and Yarros manages to make the reader feel every brutal moment as she throws the emotional equivalent of "everything but the kitchen sink" at you. The sacrifice that military families make is beyond admirable and the strength needed to pick yourself up after any loss is enormous but the extra protocols these families have to endure makes their courage and endurance even more notable. There's a moment at Ember's dad's funeral where his unit leader calls out his name and there is nothing but the deafening sound of silence which just broke me. I'm tearing up thinking of all the moments in this book that captivated me and took my breath away. Yarros skilfully delivers an intense, emotionally charged book that will stick with me for a long time.The romance between Josh and Ember was equally compelling and I loved their chemistry and how in tune they were with each other. At times Josh did play the typical NA man-whore which irked me as it didn't fit in with his previous interactions with Ember and seemed heartless given how vulnerable Ember was at the time but he quickly won me over (not easy to do!) and I loved how the romance progressed. While I guessed what Josh's secret was towards the end I still loved how it unfolded and again sobbed at Ember's strength and ability to trust in his love for her.Amazing, superbly written, angst filled and utterly absorbing, FULL MEASURES is a tale about the strength of the human character, the resilience of love and more importantly the need to trust and believe in hope even in the darkness. LOVED IT!