Review: A refreshing and intelligent take on love and relationships
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 28, 2013
Opposite Extremes is a sweet story by an exciting new writer, but it isn't your typical mushy romance. The plot unravels quickly, but naturally, and the voice reads as truly organic storytelling. There are no predictable formulas or contrived plot lines; instead, Opposite Extremes takes us on two realistic journeys, with two starkly different women, and in two equally different settings, to examine the humanity of love. What makes a heart tick?In his first novella, Jeremy Morgan shows us that maybe the answer to that question isn't as simple as we might have thought.As a young man, the narrator, Lan, meets Jess, who is very impulsive, sometimes selfish, and often wild. She's a troubled but exciting young American girl living in Amarillo, a boring place that contrasts as much with Jess's personality as black does from white. Later, Lan meets Sam, who comes from a conservative Chinese family. On a trip to China, we learn how sweet and reserved Sam is, but that she's also highly intelligent and quite talented. Both women, and both settings, bring out sides to Lan's personality that he himself might not have known he even had. So in which relationship does Lan find comfort? In which relationship does he find passion?The answer to that question, it seems, is both.Written in a casual voice and easy-to-read rhythm, you feel like you're sitting with Lan Henderson himself as he tells you the story of how he found love, and then found love again.