Review: A warm story, with a lovely message
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 13, 2013
When Sophie first notices Sam she immediately feels a special connection with him. After a few further chance encounters they tentatively begin a beautiful relationship. Quick to judge others, Sophie sees life's problems in terms of black and white, while Sam is much calmer, more accepting of people. Will Sophie learn from Sam and will she be able to work out what her mysterious fleeting visions mean?Sophie is a good person, and a dedicated teacher. I enjoyed getting to know her and also seeing her character develop. At the start of the story she is so protective of her sister, Evelyn, that too often she comes over as being overbearing, and critical of Evelyn and her husband, Christian. Sam gently helps Sophie realize there are other ways she can support her sister. It's easy to see why Sophie falls for Sam. He's kind, loving, and has a facility with words that would melt even the hardest heart. As much as I love Sophie and Sam's romantic story, Evelyn and Christian's complex relationship is equally compelling.The visions that Sophie has are intriguing and lift the book beyond being a straightforward love story. These visions link various strands together in a wonderfully imaginative way.There are playful touches of humor in this story. My favorite funny scene occurs at the laughter yoga class (delighted to find out that these classes exist for real). This hilarious scene is followed by a really sad one, and the author's ability to take me smoothly from one mood to another is exactly what I look for in a book. While the writing is good, I was a little surprised by the slightly abrupt use of different points of view in some of the later chapters, but the feeling was only momentary because it was really fascinating to hear things from other characters' points of view, especially Christian's in Chapter 24.This is such a warm story, with a lovely message. I felt so comfortable spending time with the characters, and was sorry to say goodbye to them when the story ended.I'd like to thank the author for sending me a review copy of this book.