Review: Move over Sarah Dessen, there's a new contemporary author that could take your place as a favourite!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 10, 2013
Move over Sarah Dessen, there's a new contemporary author that could take your place as a favourite! AND..she's Canadian! Definitely a plus in my books. Waiting for the Storm took me by surprise, in the way it demanded emotion, and didn't let you go until the very end. I had forgotten how much I missed reading Contemporary, this book reopened that door's genre for me.Okay, let's get the fangirling out of the way first and foremost: Waiting for the Storm takes place..in ONTARIO!! I can't even begin to tell you how enormously happy that made my heart. I just kept sighing with happiness every time the word "Toronto" showed up on the page. I love that, right from the start, I had a reason to connect myself with this book. Mind you, I enjoy reading books that take place in countries/towns that are foreign to me, but just knowing that the character's you're slowing falling in love with are living and breathing in your hometown, well, that's just a feeling I can't describe with words. So, YAAY Marie Landry! Thank you for making this Torontonian happy!Now, on the actual plot. Charlotte has recently lost her mother, the book opens to a funeral scene, and you're immediately placed in a somber mood. The tone was on point, and I was surprised with how quickly I sided with the main character. Thank GOD, I have not been in her position, but I understood, and felt her pain, all the same. Her support system has failed her, and she's left with constant memories of the last moments with her mother. The setting moves to Angel Island, where Charlotte, her insufferable sister Ella, and their father, decide to stay for the summer. Very soon after, Ezra (aheeem, I wonder if this name was influenced by another..very well know Ezra? *wink*), her very good-looking neighbour, takes a step into her life, and eventually, a huge step into her heart. Opening up to this stranger is everything Charlotte thought she didn't need, but the more time they spend together, the more she realizes that there are other people who mirror her pain, and if given the chance, can begin to heal each other from the inside out.I felt immensely close to Charlotte's character, and not just because of her circumstances, but also because Marie threw in some SERIOUSLY relatable qualities. Charlotte was an avid reader, and..wait for it..a lover of scouring..book blogs online!! It was such a neat, and appreciated, hobby. I know that Marie began her writing career as a blogger herself, so that was even more added warmth for my heart *happy sigh*. The other characters in Waiting for the Storm were distinctly well-written. Ella, Charlotte's sister, was easy to hate, but there was always that underlying understanding, and by the end of the book, I was pretty much in tears. Charlotte's father was slightly eccentric, and you couldn't help wanting to jump into the book and hug him-you felt the loss of his wife in every single one of his movements, and every word of his dialogue.I loved the small town setting, I'm a sucker for those, and am always excited when the main character finds out the little quirks, and excitements, that occur within. In Waiting for the Storm, the library was that found treasure. Small town libraries have the biggest hearts, and I was glad to see that the one on Angel Island was no different. Waiting for the Storm was, by no means, a fast-paced read, it was one that you needed to take your time with. There were no insane revelations, or hardcore twists at the end of each chapter, but every scene was one to be taken in and worked through. The emotion it exuded took up every space my head, and even though the book started with a tragic moment, the rest of it will have you feeling tranquil, open, and relaxed enough to feel everything it's characters were feeling.This was my first book by Miss Landry, and I can't wait to see, and feel, the rest of her work!