Review: My review from The Bookish Babe
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 6, 2013
I reviewed this at The Bookish BabeI had to take a little bit of time to calm down after I finished Beyond Control because I was deliriously excited by how much I loved it! So now, hopefully I can say things other than it was epic and OMG! I mean those things and said them over, and over, and over but seriously I thought this book was really, really amazing.From the first chapter, I was telling my friend Shelley "OMG, the writing in this book is seriously fantastic.. You need to buy this book." and told Andrea "You have to read this!!!" I'm certain I was making both a little crazy with text & tweet, but I was sucked in and was not going to stop reading it until I finished it! And that is exactly what I did!!!!So, what is this about you say? Okay Gabby is a 22 year old girl who really seems to about pleasing everyone else after she graduates college and got a job at her father's company selling organic cheese....yeah..! That sounds really fun, right?! The first chapter is a flashback to when she is 12 and she loses her mother, so you know right off the bat that she's experienced some loss. If it only stopped there, I would say she is a pretty tough chick to go through things...but of course it doesn't! The blurb tells you that her brother Aaron "abandoned" her around the same time, and I quote abandoned because she has no idea what happened. She hasn't seen or heard from him for 10 years, so when he is sprung on her at a charity event her world is turned upside down. Before this little twist, she meets a gorgeous man named Jason. Her nerves work her over, and she comes off pretty snarky so it was pretty cool to see that he called her out on her BS, and luckier for her he thought her attitude was cute.Jason is 27 and has also had some hard life experiences in his early 20's as well. But he wasn't one of those guys who wallowed in misery. Sure, he was miserable, but he also found a way to follow his dreams and make something of himself. Jason also builds custom motorcycles, so can anyone say "Can I have one of those please? Of course, I meant the motorcycle....!" I was seriously stoked to enjoy a character like him.Now, no spoilers from me...so let me see...this story is about two people becoming in friends, wondering if they will be able to get to know each other through awkward experiences, will they fall in love, will her family be okay with her following her dreams, will she be grown up enough to listen to what her brother has to say and forgive him? Will Jason be able to get over the things in his past and fall for Gabby? Oooh, there are just so many parts and people in this story that became genuine and real characters in my mind. Beyond Control is not overly angsty, but they do have a few pretty significant issues to work through. Forgiveness is a hard theme for any character to overcome and quite a few different people needed it hardcore. So, it was epic!THE END. Holy shizz, the end. I am not a huge fan of cliffhangers and there is one here. BUT before you freak, the next book is a companion, so somehow or another Karice made it to where the freaking cliffhanger is about the couple in the next book...and that sort of blew my mind. *Kaboom* I for one will be stalking, I mean watching her twitter excitedly for when the next book is to be released...because I cannot wait to find out what is in store for Aaron!