Review: Heartwarming Story of Love and Hope
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 24, 2014
I gave the book 5 stars because it made me laugh, cry and feel good. The story had a great flow to it and wasn't jerky. I appreciated the way that Denise pulled me into the story and made me feel like I was right there with Marilee and Jax.I ran across a link to this book on one of the many groups I participate in and decided to give it a try, mostly from a small blurb that I read - "Tattoos label us, mark us for life, tell stories of our past and sometimes of our future, they show the world who we are or maybe who they believe we are, yet we all have a unique story that goes deeper than the ink on our skin, the clothes that we wear or the place that we live. Beneath the glamor is our fragile humanness, the need to belong, be understood, and in our darkest moments we are united in our desire to find comfort and love."I have to say that the cover is what drew me in at first and I liked the small blurb that I read about it. I had no idea when I one-clicked on it (from a mobile phone you don't get as much detail) what it dealt with.I started the book and from the dedication page, I figured that cancer would play a role in the book somehow. This was unlike any other book that I have read before. I am a very voracious reader and love everything from Romance, Regency, Historical, all the way to 50 Shades and beyond. I have to say that once I started this book, I could hardly put it down. Denise Mathew makes you feel like you are right there with Marilee and Jax and even those from the Strip. I could actually picture the tunnels from her descriptions."With Marilee’s money and Jax’s knowledge of the Strip, the teenagers embark on an unforgettable journey. Where Marilee learns that happiness is a choice, small acts of kindness can change lives forever, that a little good goes a long way, and that love can grow even in the darkest places of you life. But especially that rainbows can follow storms."I was greatly intrigued by the Peace Project and how these two young people were able to do something that adults twice their age couldn't seem to do. Then, I was heart broken when we learned what was really going on with Jax's arms and the tracks that Marilee was so worried about. I wanted to shout and smack Jax upside his head after the Prom, but I also cried like a baby and kept hoping that things would work out. We all know that live is not promised, but that we should treasure it every day. I would recommend this to anyone that has ever had a hard knock in life, lost someone to cancer, known someone that beat cancer or just wants a feel good read.At the end of the book, Denise Mathew states that " Tattoos a Novel isn't a story about dying, it's a story about living. The Peace Project is just a work of fiction but it doesn't have to be. Little things we do make more differences in our world than we know. sow seeds of peace and if you're lucky someone will copy you, and a chain of peace might take hold. At the very least you will feel good for a few moments, at the most you'll have touched a life forever. Miracles do exist and Angels are all around us."