Review: Refreshingly enjoyable!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 11, 2014
There was something very refreshing about this book.  I honestly can’t place my finger on what “that” was.  The writing was descriptive and beautifully wove the story and characters together.  The alternating POV, while it took a moment to get used to, lead to a more complete emotional picture of each scene and the characters, and since this was an emotional story, it really worked to see both sides.  It may also have been the characters.  For me, Tristan was one of the more interesting male characters I’ve come across lately.  He was intelligent (surprise!), came across that way by actually speaking in complete sentences (even if his conversation was quote-laden), went to great lengths to show his commitment, and it didn’t hurt he seemed sexy as hell.  He had the good life growing up, experienced heartbreaking loss, took the difficult path at the fork in the road and was living/hiding with the consequences.  Josie was equally intriguing, tragically beautiful, numbing her way though life until she saw Tristan for the “first” time, when finally life seemed to be colored by more than just her past, cans of paint, pencils, sex and drugs.  My heart broke for the life that made her who she was, but I was drawn to the person she was and who she discovered herself to be.This was not your typical amnesiac story – it was much more captivating.  This was the reconnection of two souls destined to be, struggling to escape the memory of and the danger of their pasts.  It did take a little bit to keep certain characters straight, but once that happened, I was hooked watching the story unfold.  And what a crazy, interconnected web Season Vining did weave!  There was honesty, passion, humor, suspense, self discovery, danger, along with dark revelations and unexpected twists.  This book ramped up the drama and excitement until the very end, when the past confronted the present and all of the pieces of the story finally came together.  Sigh.  It was a ride.  At the center, though, it was always Josie and Tristan, and I loved them.