Review: Fantastic!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 6, 2013
Can I just say that I had absolutely NO idea that Katie Klein published this book? I saw it posted on her Twitter feed yesterday, December 5th, and realized I had missed 3 precious days since the release. I snatched it up immediately and finished it in six straight hours, unable to put it down. I ADORED Cross My Heart, and Parker certainly has the first-place spot on my book-boyfriend shelf. But as much as I enjoyed CMH, it felt like there were holes in the plot that could have made the overall story more exciting HAD they been present... well, they're present here. I feel like the story was meant to be told in Parker's point of view, almost like CMH is the companion novel rather than this one. I had only one issue with the story: Callie. I hated her. I think there was a little possessiveness on my part because I had never considered Parker being with anyone besides Jaden... I felt betrayed! Haha! But I feel like, without Callie, there wouldn't have been enough plot. It wouldn't have been as intricate and involved, but I wish his relationship with her was wrapped up better- Slight Spoiler- because they just called off the engagement like it never meant anything to them- Spoiler Over. But really, I felt SO territorial over Parker, it's kind of funny actually. It was so different and strange to see that Parker's life really WAS so different than what we originally thought in Cross My Heart. This novel not only completed the story, but it brought more to the plate than anything else. I feel like, at the end of CMH, we as readers had NO sense of who Parker was because everything we thought we knew got tossed out the window. Collateral Damage not only helped me get a sense of closure on the stories and characters, but it made me feel a little bit better about how CMH ended. I'm a sucker for HEA's and, although Cross my Heart did have the ending I was looking for, I wanted more. It felt rushed, and Collateral Damage as a whole brought a real sense of completion to the story that I didn't have before. Katie Klein is one of my favorite authors by far, and after re-reading Cross My Heart and then going straight into Collateral Damage, it's so obvious how much Klein has improved as a writer. Her style is lovely, her technique flawless, and the plot of this novel was more complex and interwoven than anything else. I feel like the symbolism, archetypes, metaphors and parallels between the characters and those in Ethan Frome was a bit too exaggerated for my taste, but I understand that it needs to be explained for those who have not read Ethan Frome. Overall, if you read Cross My Heart, Collateral Damage is a MUST. And Katie Klein is so sweet and good to her fans that she wrote this just for us... thanks, Ms. Klein. You're the bomb.