Review: Sybil Bartel has delivered a masterful story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 23, 2014
Sometimes a book knocks you on your rear and No Apologies by Sybil Bartel is one of those books.  I don't know how I keep ending up reading the New Adult genre but there is something about this genre that intrigues me so when a synopsis interests me, I jump on it and I'm so glad I jumped on this one.  This book wrecked me but it also made me hopeful because it showed that no matter what cards life deals you, even at an early age, you have the strength to let your experiences break you or make you stronger and holy hell did Graham Allen and Carly Sullivan decide to become strong in their own way and for very different reasons.  This is such a complicated story and it is mostly not pretty; it deals with some very hard subjects; it has a hero who routinely screws up and self destructs and a heroine that despite everything maintains an optimistic attitude.  I loved them both for different reasons and I enjoyed every minute of watching them try to figure a way to be together in any capacity.Graham Allen might be 24 years old but in life experiences he's much older.  Playing in a band at night, restoring classic cars by day, and part owner of a bar have left him with more money than he knows what to do with.  Women are always around, easy and gone, just the way he likes them; he has no intentions of ever getting attached to anyone.  And then she smiles at him from behind the bar and his life gets really complicated very fast.Carly Sullivan has secrets that she never intends to share with anyone but when rocker Graham Allen starts hanging around the bar where she works, he makes her want to forget everything.  She knows he's trouble but there is just something about him that makes her want to know him better and while Graham seems to enjoy being around her he has back off vibes like no one's business.I can't even begin to explain the issues both of these come with, there are too many and so complex.  However I was amazed at how easily they seemed to fall into a weird routine that led to an even stranger friendship.  I won't lie Graham was an ass on more than one occasion and Carly took the brunt of his douchebaggery.  But through it all she just seems to maintain her uncomplicated outlook on life and she forgives him time and time again even though he never apologizes, something the throws him completely off balance.I'd be remiss not to mention Graham's best friend and band mate, Myles, who is there to keep him sane, be a sounding board, and to thump him upside the head now and again.  I was intrigued by Carly's Dad who is a cop and how easily he accepted Graham into his daughter's life; I really think he saw way more into Graham's psyche than anyone else did and knew deep down there was a really good person lurking.These two have a lot of ups and downs and more than one monkey wrench thrown in their path, but somehow they manage to figure it all out in their own way.  Again, it wasn't pretty and at times I wondered if one or the other would completely self destruct but it all came back to the way they were only able to relate to one another.  They accepted each other warts and all and no one in their lives had ever understood exactly what they needed sometimes even before they knew it themselves.A complicated story of two people trying to make it in this world despite each thinking they didn't deserve the happiness they bring to each other, but both learning sometimes you just have to let go and accept that fate plays dirty and gives you no choice but to go with it.  Fresh out of the gate Sybil Bartel has delivered a masterful story that I won't soon forget and I can't wait to see what comes next from her.Review copy provided for an honest review.