Review: Read the Rainbow Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 21, 2014
5 Stars, Reviewed by Shayla, Superior ReadAbsolutely LOVED this book! It had the perfect amount of romance and a superb plot. I loved the character development and the fantastic chemistry between the main characters. Very few books feel like they've been written so effortlessly like this books felt, even though I'm sure, judging by the intricate plot, that the author put a lot of effort into building it. Still, everything falls together so nicely that it seems flawless. It flowed. It simply flowed.Personally, when it comes to most stories, I am a bit against creating huge backstories to characters. It somehow feels fake. I'm tired of reading about abused guys, guys who lost someone or something, guys who killed someone, guys who suffered physical damage etc. It feels like the author struggled to find an excuse to the character so that people can like him. Ow, no, he lost his love in a tragic accident, you gotta love this guy! Can't you see how broken he is? Somehow that feels fake and desperate to me. You either like the guy for who he is or you don't. But most authors seem to think a character is not interesting enough until they give him a tragic past. Either that, or they fear readers won't like him enough without it.You probably wondered why the long parenthesis. Well, that's because Stories Beneath our Skin has a character (Liam) with quite a tragic past. His parents are in jail, he's been raised by an uncle who isn't biologically related to him hospitalized because of kidney failure which ends up being fatal. Moreover, the main character also had a dub-con relationship that left him scarred for life, both physically and psychologically. It sounds like the exact kind of backstory I was talking about in the previous paragraph – tragic to the point of sounding fake. However, what surprised me was that it worked; it actually worked wonderfully. I didn't feel like I was being forced to like the guy. I liked him, period. Despite his dramatic past, his story is a happy one. The author didn't linger a lot on the negative feelings to inspire pity and empathy towards the character. On the contrary, Liam proves himself as a pretty positive person.The optimistic vibe of the book is also enforced by an array of superbly crafted characters, who inspire life and joy into the story: Deb, Goose and Frankie, and even Gene, Liam's dying uncle. Their positive presence all throughout the book will surely make every reader ponder upon the notion of family, which is the main theme of this book (at least in my opinion). I think the author did an awesome job at capturing the beauty and warmth that a loving family is all about. My utmost respect and admiration!Hope everyone will read this book and enjoy it as much as I did.