Book Review: The Summer Remains (The Summer Remains #1) by Seth King

The Summer Remains by Seth King
Rating: /5

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AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY (CD-Audio)

My kindle copy told me that typical time it took to read this book is 6 hours and 42 minutes for 335 pages. In fact, it took me 10 HOURS in a span of 5 DAYS to read this book that feels like having 123284034092478132 PAGES in my eyes. And I was thoroughly ‘tortured’ the entire time.

‘Life was going to destroy me anyway, be it in three months or sixty years―why not let love help finish the job, too?’

(Chapter II)

The Summer Remains tells a story of Summer Martin Johnsons, a 24-year old girl-woman who’s fighting a battle against rare illness of Esophagus Intresia, which literally means she had no complete structure of throat and had to feed herself with liquid-y food through a plastered tube on her abdomen. It had been a long, bumpy, and windy road all her life but she was not a weak girl and she refused to be defined by her illness. Living with a brother and single parent wasn’t an easy deed either. Due to her rare circumstance, her mom constantly obsessed on her brother’s non-existent illness while juggling her role between a single parent who should stay 24/7 taking care of her kids and as a going-older woman who’s been missing out so much of life to find her own happiness. Summer realized that it’s more and less was all because of her so she tried her best to be strong, to babysit her brother while overlooking her mom’s sneaky escapade to some dates she didn’t even want to know about, to live her life just the way it treated her: cynical but boringly safe. When the doctor told Summer there would be a surgery that would be a turning point for her life, whether in a good or bad way, she jumped into the chance with no hesitation. And then when people asked whether she has any just-in-case wish before the surgery was performed in three months, she uttered her deepest desire to fall in love in her possibly last summer.

‘Because, I, Summer Johnson, Purveyor of Pragmatism, Lover of Logic, Ultimate Believer in the Rational, and Person Who Was Maybe Going to Die Soon, wanted to drown in someone.’ 

(Chapter I)

Cooper Nichols hadn’t had it easy with his life. Eleven years old boy was left alone by her father with a mom who’s diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Cooper was haunted by the bad memory that he dreaded he would eventually became just like his father and left her mom getting worse alone. But Cooper never did, or at least he tried his best not to. Growing up, Cooper had been battling with the monsters of his self-doubt, insecurity, and fear of having severe breakdown any moment. He felt like he’d been standing on the edge of a cliff all his life, waiting for some storm to knock him down for good. Until Summer. The girl with a broken throat and scarred face was a living-proof that unfairness of life had nothing in human’s passion to keep going. Summer’s existence made him realize that someone out there was trapped in a far worse condition than him but still, they lifted their chins up and exchanged judgments to anyone who came across their path. Summer had a very round opinion about life and when Cooper first ‘found’ her he knew that this summer would be the moment his whole life changing.

‘After all, there were only a few moments in a human’s life that came along and changed everything, […]. Mine was at six in the evening, the twenty-fifth of March, humid breeze, golden sunset. The moment I’d met Summer.’ 

(Chapter XXII)

The story is truly heartbreaking yet powerfully moving. I’ve read a lot of books with terminal illness as its main topic but somehow this one felt so much different for me. Unlike those other books that ‘demand’ the readers to focus mainly on the illness, Seth King slipped the Intresia just as another layer of Summer’s character instead of as the center point to which the whole story revolved.

The Summer Remains is simply a story of a girl and a boy both with messed up and seemingly hopeless life sharing one summer together, comparing perspectives, discovering life, battling the limits, exchanging friendship, and finding self-worth under condescending judgment and uncertainty of the future.

Summer’s character is quite unique for me. I admit that I had a feeling at first that I might dislike her for her cynical trait because it always bothered me when the main character who diagnosed with a rare/terminal illness tends to shaped into possessing high level of cynicism towards his/her surrounding that sometimes overdone, like getting mad for small things to their parents and such. Summer is one of those characters, yet I couldn’t bring myself to dislike or even hate her. It’s because Summer’s cynicism was directed to things that I could relate like, for example, how people nowadays loved to ‘abuse’ social media into some popularity contest of whose life’s happiest. And when she got frustrated to her mom, it’s understandable because as much as she loved her mother and wanted her to have a life outside their scarred little family, Summer still felt a huge need of a mother figure by her side. A mother who’d willingly embrace her role as a parent of a little boy and a disabled girl-woman… I loved Summer for her strong personality but somehow I loved her even more when she showed her weakness, like how her insecurity came creeping in sometimes. Her character seemed much realistic that way. And her honesty, well, I think Summer might be the most honest heroine I ever read. How she admitted that she didn’t have time to think about other people because of her own situation, how she admitted that sometimes what hurt more was not the pain caused by her ‘defect’ but the fact that the ‘defect’ didn’t give a strong impression to people like cancer or any other terminal-illnesses did, how she once admitted that she longed for attention so much she’s willing to let her ‘defect’ to help her gain sympathy. The scenes where Summer threw some little confessions like I mentioned above were just heartbreakingly honest.

‘If human were colors, Cooper was the most dazzling gold in the world and I was a million different shades of the same boring grey.’ 

(Chapter VI)

Meanwhile Cooper was a little difficult to connect with at first because of his insta-attraction toward Summer when we didn’t have enough background story of him. Summer’s wariness about Cooper’s too-good-to-be-true self came to my mind too. But along the way, Cooper started to show how interesting his way of thinking is. His clever opinions and analogies were my best favorite and that’s I guess that made me fall for him hard. Reading Cooper’s character brought some new perspective about life within me. His thorough opinions about several nowadays issues in our society were just over the top. Here is the part that I loved the most:

‘They called death the great equalizer, and it was―because in the rearview mirror, everyone was a hero.’ 

(Chapter XXVI)

(Dude, don’t you agree with that argument??)

One of Cooper’ issues was so relatable: trapped in the moment of uncertainty in your life when you’re not sure about what you’d do. But Cooper’s circumstance was much worse since he was also exposed to the pressures from his family’s situation.

Summer and Cooper’s romance was not the kind that makes you all gooey inside. Seth King didn’t give you that because he focused more to the congruity of both characters’ minds than putting down a lot of heart-melting scenes between them. But it did make their relationship seems even stronger because its fundamental wasn’t solely based on physical attraction but attractiveness of beautiful minds. The romance wasn’t presented in this book to give you a dreamlike story of a gorgeous flawed boy falls in love with a sick scarred girl, but it had a deeper meaning than that. Summer and Cooper’s love taught us that to fall in love isn’t to find someone perfect for your incomplete soul because even two flawed people could create the most perfect love in the world if given the chance.

“… . Everyone has issues. The key is finding someone whose issues mesh well with your issues.” 

(Chapter X)

And the way Cooper patiently never stopped reminding Summer of her self-worth was really sweet. Cooper loved her for who she is and he determined to make Summer sees that, to understand that just because people walk away from you doesn’t mean you’re less than them.

“But anyway, now you can see what I see. You were wrong, Summer: you do glow.” 

(Chapter X)

Despite all my favorite things about this book, there were things that bother me. First, I suspected that because the author is male, the romantic scene between them felt kind a little ‘off’. So did the expressed feeling of the characters, especially when the story was told from female character’s perspective during the first part of the book. But when it reached the second part where the perspective was shifted into Cooper’s, the tensions, feelings, every single emotion was suddenly all perfectly captured within the scenes. The second slash last one, the usage of certain insignificant words repetitively in the book really bothered me as a reader. I didn’t have any other minus points regarding this book though I admitted that both points I mentioned above were a little crucial since they’re part of story-delivery elements.

The ending was absolutely my favorite. Some people might disagree with me but I personally thought that it’s just how this story should end. An ending is where the writer resolves every twist and every unfulfilled wish of the characters. Seth King didn’t need to execute the former because when he performed the later beautifully, it became more than enough the readers to solve the rest on their own. I super loved his choice of final words which perfectly relayed the essential message of some issues on the book. God, this book is just imperfectly perfect, a raw beauty that holds a bunch of wisdom about living a hard life as a fragile human being.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. No category or such. Just everyone.
Because every living person needs some wisdom to boost their mood up and The Summer Remains basically exists for that.

‘So I guess I want you to know that there was a boy named Cooper, and that he loved a girl who wasn’t beautiful until she felt like she was.’ 

(Chapter XXVII)

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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Book Review: One King's Way (On Dublin Street #6.5) by Samantha Young

One King's Way by Samantha Young
Rating: /5

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AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Read also: Moonlight on Nightingale Way (On Dublin Street #6)!

‘Could a realist and a romantic ever work together?’

What a surprise that Samantha Young decided to put one more last touch to On Dublin Street series since I thought Moonlight on Nightingale Way would be the last book of the series―not that I’m complaining, mind you. One King’s Way is presented as a novella which is actually a little worrying for me since I don’t really have a good history with romance novella (the one with an independent plot and not just a continuation of previous full-length book). I found their plot usually too simple and the endings weren’t executed quite well. Colleen Hoover’s novella ‘Finding Cinderella’ so far was the only novella that perfectly suits my taste of a short read. I’m glad that Samantha finally added another piece to this barely-called-a-list of mine with this one.

One King’s Way brought us back to the memorable period of On Dublin Street. It’s right after Joss and Braden just finally gave in to their egos and made way for love to fill the space between them and when Jo’s still struggling with her issue. The story featured Craig Lanaghan, in case you forgot; he’s one of the bartenders at Club 39 along with Jo and Joss.

Craig was known as one of the biggest flirt walking. He would flirt to anyone from club visitors to his fellow bartenders. Sometimes he did it out of habit that he himself couldn’t quite differentiate when he really meant it. After all, Craig wasn’t into any serious relationship at the moment that he saw it was fine to do anything he wanted to do. Also it helped him to gain more money to his tips jar, so why not keeping it up? Simply put, Craig was happy enough with his life the way it was: bartending, flirting, and checking up on his family when he’s not bartending and flirting.

When a gorgeous girl clad in stunning 1940s style walked in to the club one evening, Craig instantly felt drawn to her up-to-something demeanor. The girl looked so calm in her movement yet so determined in the way her eyes searched around the club for something… or someone Craig had no idea.

Rain Alexander was her name. She kept coming to the Club 39 and seemed to always being surrounded by this anxious and determined aura every single time. Craig grew frustration to Rain’s secretive act that he kept pestering and―of course―charming her. Rain who was on mission needed no distraction, especially from a devilishly hot guy who was so eager to get her attention all night long. Craig made her feel special and lovable even without any physical contact; something that Rain never felt before and something that she’d been dreaming of feeling all her life.

‘He was heartbreak waiting to happen.’

Being a romantic was not always what men wanted from Rain. But growing up wishing for a prince charming to sweep her off her feet, Rain held a high hope to find one someday. Too bad the only man to whom she felt that feeling was no other than Craig the king’s of manwhore. Rain needed to stay away from Craig fast since 1). Distraction was a big no at the moment and 2). A big flirt like Craig wouldn’t want to settle down with only one woman any moment soon, especially with a hardcore romantic like her.

When Craig’s action showed that he was not just up to casual fling with Rain, his determination was tested to the point where he was faced with options whether he would keep clinging onto his ego or let Rain have her dream comes true. But it was not the only test coming their way. In the other side, Rain was faced with options whether she would choose her own happiness over everything or revisited her old mistakes again.

Anything could interfere with their future but Craig and Rain could make the one way between them work smoothly and all sunshine as long as faith was on the line.

I love everything about this novella. It was just enough: enough plot, enough twists, enough romance, enough satisfaction. Sometimes when you read a novella, you’d find yourselves wanting for more. One King’s Way gave you enough everything to enjoy in 158 pages. Not that I didn’t want to know about what kind of future they’d get eventually, but it’s more like I liked how they ended up for now and I did want to know more but not necessarily in a single story on their own. I’m just glad with how it played out in the end.

"And so the realist becomes a romantic."

"Only with you, darlin', only with you."

Craig’s dual side of personality: a flirt and a family man, was the attraction point of him. At one side, he might be the last candidate of man for you to make a long commitment with. But in another side, he had a potential to be a loyal partner in life because he grew up in a family like that. The limited pages of the novella didn’t force their romance into an ‘insta’-kind in my opinion since it started as a physical attraction at first, then it turned to be a bit more like a challenge for Craig toward Rain’s craving for affection which kept shifting a little into an exclusive relationship that led to Craig realizing his deep love for her one morning watching her sleep. That one scene when Craig’s realization came crushing down on him as he was reminded to the memories of her parents in the same situation, it was so beautiful and really touching. I swear I wanted to cry at that point but held myself because I was in public.

I could so relate with Rain’s romantic personality. But what I love from her more was the fact that she was also a strong independent woman in another side. These kinds of two sides of characteristic made a complex delineation of characters in this novella. And their issue of a realist and a romantic was executed very well. The introduction of the issue was presented from the start along with little confrontations between the characters even before the relationship began. Then it hit the climax and how it was resolved was just perfect for me. The ending was not like I expected but I didn’t complain about it. Guess it’s because I got what essential message the author actually wanted to relay through the conclusion.

One King’s Way was the first ODS book that didn’t make me think of Joss and Braden as much as I did in the other books and I think it’s a good sign because it meant this couple successfully directed my attention solely on them. But this novella just makes me miss this series even more. Hopefully Samantha Young would write another novella of this series again or just write a whole new series in the future that as good as ODS.

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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(Netgalley) ARC Review: Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins

Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins

Rating: /5

*I received digital ARC of this book from Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley*

Pub. Date: November 1st, 2015

Get a copy here!

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

The title was the very first thing that tugged the invisible string in my heart. It sounded sad and emanated poignant feeling like longing, aching, and saying farewell to someone you fell deeply in love with. And though the title says ‘Until We Meet Again’, it somehow indicated that none of them would ever come around to meet each other again; that it felt a lot like a final goodbye…

‘“…. Time travel is impossible”
“And yet, here we are, a hundred years apart and in each other’s arms”’
(Chapter XIX; Until We Meet Again)

The summer everyone dreamed of had come around once again, except, it might be the most boring one for seventeen years old Cassandra. Unlike her best-friend who was lucky enough to get to spend a time in Paris, Cass had to tag along with her family to Crest Harbor where her stepfather, Frank, rented a house for the whole summer. Don’t get her wrong; Cass loved her family so much. It was just that she was half-frustrated to her own self for being so clueless with what she really wanted―or needed―to do with her summer and half-dreaded her mother for dragging her to a place where she felt like a total stranger which surely didn’t help with her issue on the first place. Every day went more like a punishment as Cass still getting used to the life Frank brought them into―a life where people would rent a big summer house with a private beach and hold a party every weekend while laughing at lame jokes and exchanging polite smiles with cup of tea in hands. Frank was a great stepfather who Cass felt grateful for, and he even gave her an adorable little brother that she loved so much with all her heart. But sometimes it still felt surreal that Cass and her mother were now living a whole different life than their ‘live-in-the-suburbs’ one any longer.
Cass tried her best to distract herself from dying of boredom in her own family’s summer house. And that’s including getting herself into trouble by sneaking into the neighbor’s pool; anything to infuse some little drama into her long torture of boring summer. Until one night, Cass met someone strange on the private beach behind her summer house. Someone with eccentric sense of fashion who didn’t just bring ‘drama’ to her life but also engulf her into a warm yet mysterious delicate summer that suddenly felt so short to her liking. Someone with odd choice of words and claimed to come from 1925.
Lawrence Foster had almost everything he seemed to need this summer: a great place to spend his vacation at, good friends to hang out with, and a beautiful girl who attracted to him. Yet there he was feeling as out of place as he’d ever been. Lawrence felt more like floundering with his summer than enjoying it. Everyone seemed to know what he wants as they stirred him to go along with the arranged plan: law school, being a lawyer, marry a girl from the elite class, when what Lawrence truly wanted was to write poetry. No one thrilled to hear his dream of being a poet, especially his own father who literally dreaded the very idea of it. It was after he met a strange girl on the beach which belongs to his uncle’s property that Lawrence felt that someone finally acknowledged his talent and even supported his dream. Cassandra, being the girl with whom he could be his own self. She was everything he never found in a girl before. Being with Cass made Lawrence realized that he should not have let the others get a control of his life, including which girl he should be with. Even if the said girl was someone with a witty and free soul who claimed to come from 2015.

‘“In my mind, you have come to embody my dreams,” he says softly. “A girl from another time. Who only exists on one windswept beach. You’re a poem, Cassandra. You’re my poem.”’
(Chapter XV; Until We Meet Again)

A cosmological anomaly allowed Lawrence and Cass to be able to meet each other, flesh and bone, hundred years apart, on the beach in Crest Harbor. Both was in denial when they first found the truth but hundred years apart or not, the feeling of attraction could not be avoided between two people who share a rather similar issue: obscure feeling toward the future. Soon it developed into something more when they realized their feeling could create some ‘new’ ripple of events over time between 1925 and 2015. Lawrence and Cass knew better not to play along with mysterious game they were in. But when a history record of 1925 told Cass that Lawrence’s life was in danger, she could not not plunge herself into a mysterious and dangerous circumstance with him. No matter what would change in the end, she could not let Lawrence’s fate stopped in some record of 1925.

Oh boy, I could go on forever with the synopsis above but I know better than telling the whole story here. I even left out some important points so that you could find it on your own on the book. But seriously, this book makes me realize just how much I love and hate time-travel story with sparks of romance. Why? I love it because it’s usually more romantic than any other kind of romance, much sweeter, and deeper in every way. Yet I hate it because it’s usually also crueler and sadder… because whatsoever kind of plot it goes with, the characters would never end up together eventually. Trust me. I’m not giving a spoiler here but the truth is it’s a fact in the history of time travel story I ever read. The couple would not stay together because it’s just against the rule. God…
then why these authors cruelly write such amazing love story of them in the first place??

Okay, ignore my stupid rambling.
‘Cause no matter what I complain here, this book proved to give me something more.

The beginning of the story felt a little pointless (and plot-less) as we introduced to background story of the heroine, Cassandra. I couldn’t really see the point of slipping the scene of her breaking into her neighbor’s pool and such except that it only made me see Cass as some annoying brat at first. But then I found the reason why a few chapters away later. And wow, it was kind of mind-blowing for me because I almost missed it that it caught me totally off guard. Cass is a girl with issue on her own which was being in the mid of what-will-I-be-later-in-the-future trap of anxiety just like any other teenagers her age. She loved to paint but she wasn’t sure if it was something that she would make a career out of. And a series of other interests that her mom totally supported but ended up being left out again and again. She might be a little difficult to connect with in the beginning but after she met Lawrence, she became much more likeable that she drew me in. Lawrence’s character meanwhile is amazingly loveable. And did I mention that he’s a poet? Dude, nineteen-twenties boy with a hell of a skill in writing poetry? Hell yeah, count me in! He might be a little too cheesy for some but seriously, cheesy-poet is just one of my biggest weaknesses in life (someone slap my mouth shut, please).

The plot was simple and well-built. Even though I somehow could guess certain scene but I still found the story as intriguing and mind-blowing. This book also made me laugh a lot of good times with Cass’s hilarious reaction of Lawrence’s cheesiness. Seeing this couple just made me want to make love-shaped confetti out of my work files and pour it all over my bed (seriously people, just slap me hard already). It was just so cute when Cass contemplated between telling or not telling Lawrence about the coming World War II, imagining him in a uniform and all. And I liked how wise Cass could be sometimes. I also liked Cass’ family. Even though their involvement in the story was not that much but I loved the portrayal of happy family they were in.

The ending was the best. When I thought this book would put a smile on my face in the end, it also didn’t forget to make me cry. It’s not that because I was sad, it’s because the ending was so beautiful that I cried. Ms. Collins did a nice job portraying the difference between the eras and slipped in little clues here and there to be unwrapped in mind-blowing revelations. The tension was real that I could feel it as if I was the one who’s on the scene battling with time and danger. I really liked it when she did that.

With lyrical and beautifully rhymed writing, Until We Meet Again is a time-travel story you would be engrossed deeply in, especially those who enjoy romance a little too much like me. And as a closing, here I present you a poem by my new favorite poet, Lawrence <3>

‘Of truth and sea, her eyes become
Bound, endless in the vast beyond.
And morning starlight’s milky shine
Reverberates her soul in mine’
(Chapter IV; Until We Meet Again)

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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Book Review: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Rating: /5

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AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

It took me so long to write this review down because the thing with reviewing a book that grabbed special place in your heart is worrying that the review you write wouldn’t justify the perfection of the book. Every Last Word did that to me.

Synopsis
Sixteen years old Samantha McAllister had been diagnosed with Purely-Obsessional OCD, which means she had a difficulty to control her own mind. Sam was easily obsessed over certain things, constantly filled with morbid thoughts of almost anything, and always second-guessing every single thing, both good and bad things. If things were good, Sam would feel the urge to doubt and mull over it until she thought she didn’t deserve it. If things were bad, Sam’s brain seemed like it always had a way to vision it to an extremely worse level. It made Sam struggle with daily life, moreover being one of the popular girls at school. Telling her best-friends of the popular circle was out of the question because even without her keeping a secret, their relationship was already a big fat challenge for Sam. Talking to psychiatrist and swimming had been two things that made her fight a little more bearable to face. But Sam’s life didn’t just last during that two sessions of talking and merging with the water; Sam had a whole 24/7 for 365 days to deal with every year. A whole years to dodge her mind from being ‘invaded’, to hide her number three-related habit from people, to pretend her life was normal.
When a girl named Caroline said hello a few lockers away from her, Sam never thought it would be a start of something more. Caroline who’s nothing like Sam’s best-friends became so much more when Sam caught herself telling Caroline her secrets with ease. Caroline was also the one who introduced Sam to a place where no one but school’s underdogs knew about. A place called ‘Poet’s Corner’ which Sam laughed at when Caroline said it would change her life, but turned out true. Sam met so many amazing people in that exclusive poetry club; people who she never saw around at school before because she’s too focus on her circle of friends. Writing poems helped her so much to transfer her overflowed thoughts into a better media than anxious feelings. Meeting those people with similar mindset and interest had shifted Sam’s perspective of seeing life. With a mental support from Caroline, slowly Sam started to find more courage to keep her fighting the anxiety. Especially when AJ, the boy who once shared a quite bitter history with her back then was now the one who gave her a much more important reason to change for better. Being among the ‘poets’, Sam realized that she had been missing the meaning of true friendship for years. The comfort, the feeling of being a part of something, the way it warms your soul without a word being said, Sam had never really found it before. When Sam started to find her place in her new circle of friends, Caroline insisted that Sam told the rest of the group about her sickness. But how could one confess that she had a problem with her mind? That it was constantly swarming with things she should’ve never thought in the first place? Finding new friends were definitely not an easy business for Sam. And to lost them all through a confession about her sanity?
Sam thought it was enough of having Caroline as the only friend she told her sickness to because Caroline got her like none of her friends ever did. And surely Sam wasn’t about to find out if the rest of the group felt the same way about her. Not even with AJ. But when what Sam had been holding tightly onto burst forth into debris of inconceivable reality, she was forced to face the real battle she’d been avoiding all along. That sometimes hiding a part of yourself, whatever it is, wouldn’t make your life any easier than just letting it paints a color to the portrait that captures every side that is you.

I always love books that deal with mental illness issue. I don’t know. It’s just that I never really meet any person who’s dealing with one. I want to know about it in a form that is not just a bunch of scientific facts on medical journals. I want a story of people who lives with it; I want a social perspective about it. And so I choose fiction read to help me fulfill my need on that. Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Down Syndrome, I read about all that but never an OCD one. Well, I read one but it’s more to the compulsive type and wasn’t really the main focus of the story. That’s why the second I read the blurb of Every Last Word on GR I knew that I had to read this one. No further questions needed.

Enlightening Details of Topic
First of all, I know almost nothing about OCD before and I’m really glad that the author did describe EVERYTHING about it in this book. Unlike every book about mental illness that I’ve read before where the story was mostly told from the perspective of the characters who didn’t suffer the illness, Every Last Word was told from the very person who’s diagnosed with OCD, Sam. We got a clear picture of Sam’s struggle to fight her illness, how it affected her social skills, her never-ending haunting fear that maybe she was indeed crazy. Though many would assume that this book would be really sad and all, I think that Every Last Word was a bit more to the heartwarming side than heartbreaking. Sam who’s been living with OCD since at a very young age actually had been doing real good handling her own situation. She had this psychiatrist who really knows what to do to help her, a very supporting family, and whenever her anxiety kicked in, she knew exactly what action should she do to tone it down. It was that as she grew up, the need to feel ‘normal’ was one thing that had been pressuring her. Sam just wanted to be like any of her friends whose their only secret was which boy they hooked up with last weekend, that their only worry was what dress to wear on party tomorrow night. Sam wanted to be able to share all her burdens to her friends, having a long heart-to-heart talk with someone her age, not a shrink or anyone on her family. That’s why the appearance of Caroline in her life was like a highlight of her long ‘lonely’ time. She found herself pouring her heart out to Caroline, something she never even thought of doing with her childhood best-friends.

Relatable Character
I’m sure that so many people could relate with Sam’s character (I could). The feeling of wanting to be ‘normal’ is something that almost everyone ever felt at least once in their life. It doesn’t have to be something grand, but it is all out there, the definition of ‘normal’ that everyone dreams of having: ‘I’m-smart-like-them’ normal, ‘I’m-that-easy-going-as-them’ normal, ‘I-have-a-pretty-hair-as-hers’ normal. All of that is the kind of ‘normal’s that you would easily overlook as you grow up and earn your own share of wisdom about life. In Sam’s case, she’s having an I-don’t-have-such-restless-and-uncontrollable-mind kind of normal which made her attempt to make peace with it was a little tricky. That’s where the professional-help played a major role in this situation. The author successfully captured every moment of real life of people with OCD through the neat and well-built plot of the story.

Real Portrayal of Friendship
I like the dynamic of teenage friendship in this book. Tamara didn’t necessarily add too much drama into it because Sam was not a complete timid character and despite her anxiety issue, she didn’t mind uttering her opinion when a situation was disadvantaging her side. The author also didn’t actually pointing out that Sam’s choosing poets-friends over Crazy Eights (Sam’s group of popular friends) meant the former is the good kids group and the later is the bad kids group. It was more like that as life changing, so does people. People grew up, and along with that they would form a new opinion toward certain things. Sam used to be that popular girl who enjoyed making fun of unpopular kids and as she grew up and life made her see and experience a lot of things on her own, she realized that what she’d done before was awful. Her friends might not―or hadn’t yet―realize that because they didn’t go through the same thing Sam did. And it was fine; it’s not the end of their life. It was something that happened all the time: people changed, people move on. Sam might not be a solid part of Crazy Eights anymore, but she wasn’t necessarily an enemy either.

Captivating Romance
Sam’s romance with AJ was something to die for. I loved how it was slowly built and how their moments weren’t just these meaningless cute scenes of two people in love. It was more. Sam and AJ were bound through a bitter past, an understanding of being an outcast, and a shared passion of writing poetry. AJ helped Sam to go through whatever it was Sam was dealing with as Sam learned to understand what AJ used to feel like being someone ‘different’ than the rest. When Sam struggled with her own guilt of keeping AJ in the dark about her illness, AJ was so patient to not pushing her and to wait for Sam to tell him everything on her own will.

A LOT of Feels
Reading this book made me feel a lot of things all at once but strangely not sad. I was amazed with Sam’s struggle to make peace with herself. I was touched by the sincerity of AJ’s love to Sam. I cried because I was relief that Sam got such a great support team behind her back, ranging from wonderful psychiatrist to amazing boyfriend. I cried because I was glad that everything was finally working in the end. I was in awe with all of those beautiful poetries everyone writes in this book. I was charmed by every little detail the author slipped here and there to strengthen the connection between every element in the story. I was in total speechless when that major heart-attack trigger twist was unraveled making me furiously flipping back the pages all the way to the first chapter and reread it right in that moment because I JUST COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES WITH WHAT I READ.

Final Thought(s)
I really enjoyed how Tamara presented such a heavy topic in a way that didn’t frustrate readers with its dark tone or its medical-y science-y explanation of the illness, but there were enough important details about OCD that the readers could get from a fiction book. It’s obvious with the way the author relayed the story that the reason she wrote this book in the first place wasn’t solely to increase awareness of people about this illness. It’s also to encourage them who’s diagnosed with the same illness as Sam to understand that they’re not alone; that there are another ‘Sue’ who will help them going through their situation, that somewhere out there, there will be another ‘poetry’ for them, another ‘Poet’s Corner’, another ‘AJ’ that will support them throughout the way.
Every Last Word tells a story of a teen with mental illness trying to ‘fit’ in with her surroundings. It might be heartbreaking for some but I opt with the term heartwarming and touching since that exactly what this book made me feels. And this might be such a long (and boring) review to read, but I could suggest you to skip this review and just read the book.
That’s, people, how badly I recommend you to read this book.

P.S. If you’re the kind of reader who enjoys music while reading, I suggest you to visit Tamara’s website to find her playlist(s) for the book. It’s so good and splendidly fitting!

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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ARC Review: Black Diamond (Diamond in the Rough #2) by Elisa Marie Hopkins

Black Diamond by Elisa Marie Hopkins
Rating: /5

*I received e-ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Pub. Date: October 20th, 2015

Get a copy here!

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Read also: Review of A Diamond in the Rough (Diamond in the Rough #1)!

Synopsis
Black Diamond picked up where it left off after the tragedy of Sophie Cavall’s kidnapping by some mysterious people with unclear motive. Even though the drama was finally over, apparently it was not the end of the traumatic episode of Sophie’s life. The captor might had been caught, she might had come back to Oliver’s arms, but the discomfort feeling and flashes of dark memories still haunting her days here and there. It wasn’t a trauma that Sophie felt within her soul, she was sure; it was a feeling of constant wary and cautious toward every little odd happening around her. It didn’t help that she had to deal with her new-found cryptic half-sister, Sarah, every day. Sophie couldn’t really figure her out, what with Sarah’s undecipherable relationship with John Bridge, Sophie’s said captor. Now even after the cursed man was held away, he still managed to have control over Sophie’s life. Oliver never stopped assure her that everything was over, that John wouldn’t get a chance to hurt her again. But as much as Sophie wanted to believe him, she just couldn’t shake the weird feeling she had inside. John never revealed the actual motive behind the kidnapping. Sophie believed that there must be something behind the different way John treated her than the other victims. When the disturbing tragedy was twisted around by the media into some drama with Sophie as its main actor, Sophie couldn’t just stay still. With the help from a trustful resource, Sophie found out that there was more to John’s secretive act; that there were people who took advantage of Sophie’s circumstance at the same time. Was this some sort of psychological game that John has plotted all along to drive Sophie’s sanity to the edge? Or this might be a big conspiracy to ruin not only Sophie’s career and life, but those of her closed one as well? Whatever it was, Sophie should make a quick move to unravel it. And whoever it was, could very well not only break her apart, but also threaten her relationship with Oliver.

It’s ‘More’!
I still remembered how the ending of A Diamond in the Rough makes me all giddy to read its sequel. Now, Ms. Elisa did it again with Black Diamond. Compared to the first book, Black Diamond has a far more complex plot. The details kind of make me light-headed but once I got a hang of it, the plot was really intriguing that it had me on the edge of my seat for hours. The plot was very well-thought and even though the complexity might be a little too much for some people, the author made it bearable with her flowing writing style. Not only that she always chose the right words to relay the complex plot in a way that would be easy to digest, she had this style of including subjective opinions on certain things in the book that made the story was not just a plain fiction but also a fiction that has valuable material on some real issues in our life. And those facts she slipped here and there about anything was just amazing!
Anyway, I wouldn’t go far with the plot since it was too complicated to be explained briefly here.

‘Diamond’ Couple: Best Favorite EVER
Now, let’s talk about the characters. As always, I am fascinated by the unique couple of Sophie and Oliver. I couldn’t forget how this couple had stolen my heart on book first with their smart and humorous banters. Sophie’s demeanor had shifted into a tad more aggressive after the kidnap. She over thought every potential threat. She went ballistic upon a slight uncomfy-ness. Her no-nonsense personality made her recovery a lot faster than most kidnap survivors because instead of wallowing herself in bad memories, Sophie focused on improving herself in self-defense physically. But deep inside the tragedy left her a mental scar which she didn’t want to acknowledge but couldn’t nevertheless. Being kidnapped was already a bad nightmare come true, but being kidnapped by a psychopath whose motive was unknown was nightmare in a whole worse disturbing level. It left an unimaginable feeling of discomfort that lingering even when you were no longer being kidnapped.
I really felt bad for Sophie for all those circumstances she’d been through since she was just a kid but I didn’t want to pity her anyway. People like Sophie didn’t want to be pitied and I felt so touched that Oliver knew that side of her very well. It wasn’t because Oliver didn’t care about her; it was because he cared about her that he did that.

‘He wants to hold her in his arms, but he waits. Oliver sees her for what she struggles with: sees her for what she desires. Right now all of her is yelling, “Just let me be.” And he accepts her quietness, just sits there as if saying, “Okay, but I’m here anyway.”’ 

Oliver, as always, showed his infinite support for Sophie in his own way. He always knew where to position himself toward her in just any situation. He knew when to stay behind the line and when to step into Sophie’s space. And Sophie, as hard-headed as she could be, knew when to let her guard down in front of Oliver. Each of them might be a frustrating person for the others but they always tried to make a room in between their egos to be filled by love. They might argue all the time and when they got into real fight it would be a little worse but they always admitted each other’s mistake in the end. I think I’m more and more mesmerized with this couple each book. I guess I understand now why the author chose a title of diamond…

He’s Not Perfect but He Is
Despite all the perfections that we saw in Oliver Black, we were once again reminded that he was just a human who made mistakes in his life. I liked how he didn’t want to keep anything from Sophie; that no matter how embarrassed he was about himself, he would just tell her everything anyway. I really really loved how his mind works. And with all his cute little trivia and logical speech, how precise and careful he was with his every move and plan, he could as well make a thousand mistakes and I would forgive him a thousand times as well.

Romantic-Suspense, Literally
Whenever I find a ‘romantic suspense’ read, my mind would always fly to the kind of book that has so much thriller scenes in the story and spice it up with romance to attract female readers. Black Diamond is not like that, though. This book is labeled itself as romantic suspense, and it is exactly what it labeled as. It’s a romance. And a suspense read. Black Diamond and its predecessor might be the best suspense novel I’ve ever read with its rich details of events, plot and twists and all. And they are also a romance. A romance in which the hero and heroine didn’t need to say they love each other repeatedly for the readers to feel the sparks between them. The author didn’t even need to over-sweeten Sophie and Oliver’s moments because just the two of them being together on the same scene, bickering, arguing, complaining, throwing fun facts, had already romanticized the scene to a degree that makes you craving for more and biting your nails in a mix of awe and envy.

Working Brain Is Sexy
As much as I want to go over and over again about this couple, I think it only fair to discuss another part of the story. Did I tell you the part where I was fascinated by the richness of the twist? This book did make my brain works. I couldn’t decipher the mystery behind all these twists. You need to focus if you want to get the story. But don’t worry that your brain would get all twisted because the author slipped casual jokes here and there. I think I laughed and smiled a lot more in this book than in book one.

Aaaand…
The ending, as usual, was one cruel punishment from the author to the readers who enjoyed the book a little too much. I literally dropped my jaw and had a hard time putting it back when that particular line on the epilogue slapped me hard on the face.
But I know that I could always count on Ms. Elisa to pay it back on the next book. Well, It’s just a matter of patience now...

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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