Review: Beautiful, touching and remarkable.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 18, 2012
I always love a happy ending.I didn't know what to expect from this book but happy ending was certainly not one of them. From the summary to the excerpt, it looks like a really emotional and sad story and I prepared myself for a heavy reading and heartbreaking one.When I started the book, I had a strong feeling that I'm going to be one heck of a heart broken for the next couple of hours or days.But the ending...Marie Landry made it beautiful. She made it worthwhile.The story started when Emma decided to spend her summer with her Aunt Daisy and start her journey of self-discovery. Leaving her dad and her difficult and selfish mother, she went to Riverview and was overwhelmed by the beautiful scenery and friendly neighborhood. Living with her Aunt Daisy who is vibrant, always full of life, and a total opposite of her mom, Emma began to feel how much time she wasted trying to be a better person to please her mom but lost herself in the process.Then she met Nicholas.Kind, caring, thoughtful, and selfless Nicholas. The color of his eyes is the beautiful kind of blue and he always seems to radiate goodness and happiness and beauty. Who wouldn't fall in love with a guy like Nicholas Shaw? From the moment Emma met him, she was attracted to him immediately and though their relationship happened so fast, it feels like they've been together for a lifetime. Even Emma couldn't believe that a guy "to-good-to-be-true" like Nicholas exist in real life. I can't help but smile whenever I imagine him and his blue eyes. He was so charming and beautiful and everybody loves him. He was the kind of man you would want to marry and spend your lifetime with. Maybe that's the reason it was even more painful to see him dying. To see how little by little their blue sky days was taken away from them.The journey I went through by reading this book was a mixture of happiness, hope, love, sadness and heartbreaking moments. The author wrote the book so well and her words were beautiful, the writing was detailed, the setting was wonderful and vivid that you would want to live in that place and experience the beauty in it. The characters are so real, there's so much goodness in them, they're not perfect but their presence will make you feel all the love and care you need to feel life... to live. Many times I wished that I have Aunt Daisy with me. You can't even ask for more with friends like Vince and Maggie. It was a refreshing breath of air to be surrounded by amazing characters whom I want to pull out from the book and surrounded myself by their kindness and love. I can relate with Emma. I actually saw a bit of my old self in her from what she'd gone through--the uncertainty of the future, the obstacles of dealing with family crisis and finding love. Emma seems even more real to me than any characters in this book.I couldn't believe I cried too early over this book. I know it was expected that Nicholas would be diagnosed by cancer, but at that moment, I felt like I died with Emma. I experienced everything that Emma and Nicholas went through and as if I was with them in every step of the way. I was surrounded by emotions--from Emma and Nicholas, from their family and friends. It felt so real.I know it won't be enough for me to say that this book is really good. I really enjoyed it from the beginning up to the last page. Especially the last page. The sadness, the heartbreak, the sorrow of the possibility of losing someone you love--it will make you appreciate life, it will make you love more, and it will give you the strength to hold on. And miracles... I always believe in miracles. And from now on, whenever I look at the sky, no matter what the season is,  I will remember the blue sky days.Read my full review at [...]Visit my blog at[...]