Review: First Ugly Cry of 2014
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 17, 2014
***SPOILERS FURTHER DOWN IN THIS REVIEW***This has to be one of the hardest reviews I have ever tried to write. I finished reading Euphoria 13 days ago and I cannot stop thinking about it. I am at war with myself over how I feel about the story and how the series ended. On that note, I am going to play devil’s advocate with myself briefly and hope that I can provide a review that is both well thought out and well written.Team Ash vs. Team MasonI make no bones about being Team Ash. Scarlett was his Psyche, his Butterfly, and I adored the way he loved her. They shared so much in common and it made their relationship easy, once they finally quit stumbling around the reasons why there were not together.Mason Templeton was simply no good for Scarlett going into Euphoria, with his budding career and fast lifestyle. However, Mason loved Scarlett deeply and sometimes love is enough. After the way Ambrosia ended, I was scared going into Euphoria that Mason was going to steal Scarlett away from Ash. I hoped like hell against that occurring, but I had my doubts.Withholding Information vs. LyingWhen is withholding information like lying? When you let the other person in a relationship believe you are somewhere when in fact you are somewhere else. This is wrong on so many levels and I was angry with Scarlett for not being upfront with Ash when it came to visiting Mason. The secret trips to see Mason irritated me because she had absolutely no consideration for Ash or how he might feel about them. I know Scarlett lived a sheltered childhood and she was still learning about making decisions for herself, but she did to Ash exactly what had been done to her for years…gave him no say so in the matter.Mason needed a friend and I cannot fathom what it must have been like for him to have his world turned upside down. He needed drastic change, and his time in the facility was the best thing that could have happened to him. He had a counselor to help him work through his issues and he did not have access to a lifestyle to steer him off course in his recovery. And while Mason and Scarlett had an opportunity to work on being friends, it was no secret he still loved Scarlett and was not quite ready to let go of the notion that she might still chose him.♦POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT♦While I knew something big was coming based on Ash’s POV in chapter 21, I did not see the ending in chapter 22 coming. I absolutely threw my kindle (like a foot because I was sitting on the floor) and was initially angry. The anger quickly morphed into tears and that turned into my first ugly cry of 2014. I was devastated and heartbroken by that turn of events. I wanted to be mad as Mason because he invited Scarlett to his show in Vegas. I also wanted to be mad at Scarlett for going to see Mason’s show. I found myself going through the what-ifs and what-for’s before I had to remind myself this is Scarlett’s story, a fictional character in a book.Once I recovered enough to keep reading, I did so, somewhat begrudgingly. My heart was broken and I wanted it to be a dream…I hoped I was going to read that Scarlett woke up and realized it was just a nightmare. Needless to say…that never happened. And that brings me to why it has taken me 13 days to complete this review. I needed time to grieve over my broken heart and accept that even though this story did not go the way I hoped it would go, Scarlett still got her HEA….eventually.♦FINAL THOUGHTS♦From the treacherous ending of Ash’s POV in Ch 21 up to the Epilogue felt rushed to me. I wanted to wallow in my grief a bit longer and that just did not happen. Instead, we rushed through Scarlett’s grief and recovery/healing period. And then there is Chapter 25, where I cried all over again. I cried for the loss and for the bitter sweet redemption of a certain musician who somehow managed to find his way into my heart, after all.There were some beautiful moments and some WTF moments for me, personally. Not much angst with this book and this made me happy because Scarlett made her choice in Ambrosia. There were some tense moments and most definitely some very sad moments. Overall, I was pleased to see Mason find the help he needed. While I would have loved to have more of Scarlett post The Right Step, I realize that may have resulted in another book, and I am grateful to Erin Noelle for not doing that to me. The Epilogue provided me with some much needed closure for this series, but I will forever be left with the heartache and the what-ifs.I was provided a copy in exchange for an honest review.Overall Rating: 3.5 – 4 STARSThis review first appeared here--> [...]