Review: Wow... just WOW! Amazing story.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 21, 2013
I've read all of Andrew Grey's books, they go from light and fluffy (which is a GOOD thing!) to deep and plot driven. I have enjoyed all of them, and loved some of them. I've not disliked any of them, but some are good and some are great.Crossing Divides is great. Absolutely great.The plot felt authentic, although I am not up on Syrian politics to know how accurate it is, it worked very well for me. It seemed well thought out and well researched. Carter and Nemat were great characters, definitely more depth with Carter since we followed his story. I would liked to have seen more of Nemat's history, maybe a bit from his perspective. Didn't ruin it for me at all, I just had more sympathy/empathy for Carter because we get to know him better.The action scenes in Syria were well written, you get the sense of desperation and violence, but not in a direct and bloody way. Enough to get the point across, but not beat us over the head. The cultural aspect, family interaction and dynamics, Nemat's need to hide his true self all worked as well, seeming accurate to me.Then there is the love story of Carter and Nemat. It developed gently and appropriately, considering the circumstances under which they meet. Carter sees Nemat when he hooks up with Nemat and his brother Jalal's band of freedom fighters undercover in Syria. There are sneaking looks between them, but nothing can happen. Until they are alone, and a bit of passion sneaks out. Nemat is shy and scared, but has feelings for Carter.It begins. They travel to Nemat and Jalal's home, have a few stolen moments, and away Carter goes, back to the US, assuming he won't see Nemat again. But he does. I won't say more and ruin the story for anyone, but together they are, at the end of a scary journey.At times it was a little too easy, maybe not enough struggle, but that's ok. It's a love story, it worked very well.One of my favorite books by Andrew, I'd put Seven Days as my favorite with this one second for deep story. There are others I've loved as well, for different reasons, but Seven Days and Crossing Divides have what I think are the best plots he has written.Read this book, it is just wonderful!