Sunday, June 22, 2014

Quintessentially Q by Pepper WInters (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Pepper Winters
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: December 13th 2013
Series: Monsters In The Dark #2
Pages: 376
Rating: 5 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add on Goodreads  


All my life, I battled with the knowledge I was twisted… fucked up to want something so deliciously dark—wrong on so many levels. But then slave fifty-eight entered my world. Hissing, fighting, with a core of iron, she showed me an existence where two wrongs make a right."

Tess is Q’s completely. Q is Tess’s irrevocably. But now, they must learn the boundaries of their unconventional relationship, while Tess seeks vengeance on the men who sold her. Q made a blood-oath to deliver their corpses at Tess’s feet, and that’s just what he’ll do.

He may be a monster, but he’s Tess’s monster.


 REVIEW:

For those of you that considered Tears Of Tess a dark and twisted book then you should not read this one. This is a much darker, twisted, painful book that you can possibly imagine. I had to stop reading at some parts just to get myself together from the shock, to register the fact that I was actually reading that particular scene or paragraph.

The book continues where Tears of Tess left off, we read one of the hottest sex scenes and I felt like everything would be okay in this book. Everything would turn out alright and Tess with Q would be able to do what they swore to each other.

The writing was great, the author did a great job with the point of view of Q and to be honest with thought and talked the way I had pictured him doing in the first book, so thats a plus for the story, when the author can actually sense what her fans need and deliver it. She also did a really good job with getting my heart ripped out of my chest.

Tess is being kidnapped under Q's nose and I wont spoil anything to you, I will just warn you that what you will be reading is games and fun, love and romance. It's violence to its extreme to the point that I panicked thinking even for a minute what trafficking victims go through. The only thing that I will tell you is that Tess will go through the 9 circles of Hell and back. As for Q, Q broke my heart into a thousand little pieces.

The writing like I said before was so good and this time the author gave Q a rather more animalistic side entwined with love for Tess. It was a scary narration since we see what a human can actually do if he has the means to take back what was taken from him. How can someone lose hope and find it to the weird places, how you shut down emotionally when someone you love is being forced to do the worst of tihngs, things that are no humanly imaginable and how you cope with these thoughts.

This is one great read with more adventure and pain that ever you ,will more than mesmerized by the talent of the author.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Black Box by Cassie Leo (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Cassie Leo
Publisher: Create Space Independent Publishing
Release Date: May 10th 2014
Pages: 394
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on Amazon
Add on Goodreads\

♥️ Three fateful encounters....
♥️ Two heart-breaking tragedies....
♥️ One last chance to get it right.

From New York Times best selling author Cassia Leo, comes an epic love story about rewriting destiny.

Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on three separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.

Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.

When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.


Review

Black box its not your typical love story – in fact its so much different and fresh that any love story out there. Written in a masterful way the author promises heartbreak, gloom and sadness and rejoice in a whole other level.

It all starts with Mikki a girl suffering from bipolar and a past full with unhealed wounds that hunt her everywhere. She feels her past everyday, she sees them, breathes them, she changed completely because of them but she never got over them. That memory never erased no matter how many meeting she had with her phycholgist no matter how many times she tried to kill herself. They are there but under the shadow of her scary past lies a mystery, her savior.

Meet Crush a sexy, sad and rich man who tries to hide from his friend death that happened four years ago,a guy who carries a burden and the worst of guilts on his shoulders a guy who tried to find the only person that made him feel and saved him without her knowledge, a girl that he will never forget no matter what...until he finds her in the most weird place – an airport.

It all started there at the airport a journey of two people that were ''strangers'' until they realised that they know each other and they had met under the most gory and sad circumstances. Their separate tragedies entwine to reveal the utmost purpose of fate. While the days the have together they explore themselves and their limits they also become close. Mikki never had so many first in her entire life but within a few days she managed to find herself and love herself for who she is and for what she wants to be. She embraced life and saw hope in the future for the first time.

The book is written really well but what put me off was the insta love and the too many coincidnces that really made some parts of the book cliché. Other than that the writing was really good, we had a double POV which for me was a huge plus since you get the whole story with no loose ends or gaps.
Its a great read that will make your heart ache from sadness but in the end you will rejoice with utmost excitement.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Pepper Winters
Publisher: Black Firefly
Publication Date: August 28th 2013
Series: Monsters in The Dark #1
Pages: 376
Rating: 5 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add on Goodreads

   A New Adult Dark Contemporary Romance, not suitable for people sensitive to grief, slavery, and nonconsensual sex. A story about finding love in the strangest of places, a will of iron that grows from necessity, and forgiveness that may not be enough.

“My life was complete. Happy, content, everything neat and perfect.
Then it all changed.
I was sold.”

        Tess Snow has everything she ever wanted: one more semester before a career in property development, a loving boyfriend, and a future dazzling bright with possibility.
       For their two year anniversary, Brax surprises Tess with a romantic trip to Mexico. Sandy beaches, delicious cocktails, and soul-connecting sex set the mood for a wonderful holiday. With a full heart, and looking forward to a passion filled week, Tess is on top of the world.
       But lusty paradise is shattered.
       Kidnapped. Drugged. Stolen. Tess is forced into a world full of darkness and terror.
     Captive and alone with no savior, no lover, no faith, no future, Tess evolves from terrified girl to fierce fighter. But no matter her strength, it can’t save her from the horror of being sold.
    Can Brax find Tess before she’s broken and ruined, or will Tess’s new owner change her life forever?


Review: 
Tears of Tess ARC was kindly provided by Black Firefly books
 I only have to make one statement on this particular book.
If I was Christian Grey I would probably weep in front of Q. A lot of people related this book to Fifty Shades of Grey and to say the least: They are so so wrong. Tears of Tess is a much darker, much agonizing, much much more mature and well developed book than Fifty Shades. Q himself is a book on its own. Tess herself is a bible on her own. The Plot itself is like nothing I ever read before.

It all starts with Tess...a 22 year old university student getting ready for a vacation to unknown with her boyfriend Brax. From page one I wanted to slap her so hard so she could wake up (that changed later). We see a girl in a relationship that she is not completely happy in, she wants to try new things and then she is scared the reaction of her possessive, yet protective and sweet boyfriend. I read her fears and her thoughts while she was trying to find a way to change Brax.

The vacation doesnt go the way they planned, not because of what you may think but because Tess failed to make Brax see what she wanted the most. More action in the bedroom.
While in Mexico, Tess is being kidnapped by human traffickers, her worst nightmares simply could not be compared with what she went through. And this is where the book actually started for me. This is when Tess is being transformed to a strong human being trying to survive under the worst possible conditions, while she is beaten and degraded from animals. I loved the fact that the author did a good job describing the feelings of Tess while she was being abused,the thoughts, the ways she planned to take revenge and get the hell out of there.
Suddenly from an unknown place she found herself in France,being mocked by a rich,twisted, dark Man. A man she loathed at first sight, Q.

Meet Q Mercer ,the most broken, dark, twisted, beautiful character I ever read in a book. The most troubled creature that no one could save or so he thinks. He is a man that doesnt know how to control his feelings and urges and he is even scared of how far he can go with himself. But as the book moves on we learn that beneath every monster there is a broken man fighting with his demons, a man who cant show any emotions because behind all this armor he is too scared and vulnerable.

Tess is being troubled by the need to be touched by Q to be devoured into this twisted world of his. She wanted whips and straps and handcuffs and now she has these and an even more frightening future awaits her. She finds herself attracted to Q and again we see the genius of the author as she made Tess go back and forth in her mind, torn between her old life and the new, between Brax and Q, we see her making the comparisons, troubled and confused between right and wrong until in the end she chooses what she thinks is right.

This is a brutal love story, dont expect romance, poems or roses this is the world of a twisted man with only dark thoughts and actions to mark his life and the life of Tess. I cant say anything more in this review without risking spoiling important things to you.

Tears of Tess has everything in it, from stupid romance, to kidnapping, to violence, rape, human trafficking ,abuse and humiliation to hardcore BDSM. It gives a sense of dark masochism and how it feels to be a submissive. How deep down all of us hide a room with our darkest fantasies, fantasies that even scare us, fantasies that can be released as easily as we thought of them and either get us drowned in blood or drowned in pleasure. A book about self discovery, self appreciation, self understanding and the power of taking control of who you are and coming to terms with.

I simply cant wait for book two.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Jessica Sorensen
Release Date: August 6th 2013
Publisher: Forever

Pages:400
Series: The Coincidence #1
Rating:5 stars

Buy on: Amazon
Add on Goodreads

For Kayden, suffering in silence was the only way to survive. If he was lucky, he could keep his head down, do as he was told, and make it through the day. But one night it seemed like his luck-and his life-might finally end... until an angel named Callie appeared just in time to rescue him.

Callie has never believed in luck. Not since her twelfth birthday when everything was taken from her. After the worst was over, she locked up her feelings and vowed never to tell anyone what happened. Now, six years later, she continues to struggle with the painful secret that threatens to consume her.

When fate lands Kayden and Callie at the same college, Kayden is determined to get to know the beautiful girl who changed his destiny. Quiet and reserved, Callie still fears letting anyone else into her world. But Kayden is certain that Callie has come back into his life for a reason. And the more he tries to be a part of her life, the more he realizes that, this time, it's Callie who needs to be saved...


Review:

I had this on my reading list for quite some time now and as always I picked it up becaise I could not find one of the books I was looking for...as always it was by chance...by chance a really well developed, great book.

As you all know by now I usually drop a book on page 30 if its not good and a lot of times I decide whether or not I will continue reading from page one. With this one I had a really strong bond, mainly with Callie, reading the prologue was all I needed to know that she would be a complex and well developed character. The author did a really good job with creating Carrie, she threw in just the right amount of sadness, melancholy and pain to give us a 18 year old wanting to leave her nightmares behind and get control of her life. Just the right amount of teen-angst in addition to the uncertainness of the newly emerged adult.

While Callie leaves for college with her best friend, she tries to do all the thing she wasnt able to do while back home, go to parties, fall in love, let someone understand you and feel you and all the things normal people do. She missed all those things because someone stole it from her.

The author managed to give us a broken from rape character, developed in that way that I felt she was real, she was an actual victim.The thoughts and the perspective of life was so different from what we experience in todays yound-adult, new adult novels these days. Although this is one of the cliché love stories it was told in that way that made it a little different. My heart felt for her so many times while she was trying to change her life with small steps one of the time with the help of  Kayden, a boy from her past, a boy she could not forget because simply he seemed as troubled.

Kayden coming from an abusive family, an abusive father and an alcoholic father, tries to leave everything behind and get as far away from his home as possible. One summer night of one of the parties his family had his dad would go over the edge as usual and abuse him, it would be bad if it wasnt for Callie, who she was passing by by accident. She saved him. After that Kayden was looking for  her everywhere until he accidentally bumped on her on campus. And here everything changes.

There is not a lot that I can say on the plot because I dont want to spoil any major scenes.

What I loved about this book is the fact that the author took her time to develop the relationship between those two and I felt like I had all the time in the world to read this amazing book. The book is mostly about facing your fears, coming to terms with our inner demons and taking control of the life that was stolen from you. Do not expect insta-love and romance from page one because thats not gonna happen and I loved it so so much.

 One of the major things that had me so pissed about the plot was the freaking CLIFFHANGER!!!!! Like SERIOUSLY? Thank god I dont have to wait for book two.

Other than that I think the Coincidence of Callie and Kayden is an amazing read, probably perfect, the author made me relate with the characters and change my ideas on some subjects.

I really hope you will enjoy.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Twisted by K.A. Robinson (book review by Efterpi)

Author: K.A. Robinson
Release Date: May 7th 2013
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 320
Series: Torn #2
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add on Goodreads

Chloe and Drake have found their happily ever after... Almost.

When Chloe's mother comes back into her life with a bang, it sets off a chain of events no one could have ever expected.
Everyone has their demons, and Chloe and Drake's hit them with a vengence.

Sex, drugs, money, a crazy ex, and Rock n Roll.... Can they survive it all?

Things are beginning to feel a bit... Twisted.


Review: 
ARC Kindly Provided by Atria Books

This book had me pulling my hair so hard I thought I would be bald by the end of it. It was amazing.

While we continue with the story of Chloe and Drake we come face to face with their pasts. Chloe has to deal with her impossible mother trying to avoid involving Drake in this abusive relatioship, but once Drake leaves for his tour with his band everything goes downhill.

In a series of events we get to see Chloe unravel in the worst possible way, and while her cousin is trying to help her deal with her problems Drake has to deal with his fears..jealousy, insecurity and drugs mix with his bad boy attitude in a lethal combination.

The second book of the series Torn is much more serious, concentrates on the problems of each of the characters and how they try to solve them without ruining each other. We get to see that understanding and love can heal every open wound and that with communication you get to tame the most horrible beast.

I loved the writing and how Robinson did a good job with the supporting characters as well. Other than that some drama was unnecessary and some scenes seemed a little forced but that was the only drawback. The book itself was an emotional roller coaster that I never wanted it to stop, it pulled me in and by the time the book was done I came up breathless and wanting more.

Cant wait to read book 3.

Tidal by Emily Snow (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Emily Snow
Release Date: December 14th 2012
Publisher: MagnoliaB Publishing LLC
Pages: 313
Rating: 4 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add to Goodreads

Now that Willow Avery is out of rehab, she's got one chance left to prove herself before she’s officially on every producer’s shit list. At least, that's what her parents and agent are claiming. She doesn't really give a damn if she never makes another movie or not—she just wants to get on with her life, get back to her friends, and find her next escape. But Willow is broke. And whether she likes it or not, acting is the only job she knows how to do.

When she accepts the lead in a beach drama, Willow finds herself in Hawaii. And in Hawaii, she finds Cooper, the gorgeous surfer hired to train her for her new role. With the bluest eyes she’s ever seen and the sexiest Australian accent she’s ever heard, Cooper’s different from the men she’s used to. He doesn’t want to use her. And he refuses to let her fail. But when an old friend re-enters Willow’s life—a friend whose toxicity she’s been drawn to time and time before and whose presence brings about the painful memories she's tried so hard to suppress—Willow will have to choose between the girl she was and the person she’s becoming. The lifestyle that helps her forget the pain and the guy she’s falling hard for.


Review:


This little book was just amazing. I had it my nook for god know how long and I just regretted the fact that I didnt read it sooner.

Let me start by saying this: The characters were so well built, so scrutinized tot he last detail, so amazing that It made my heart swell with pain and love and confusion as the book went on.

Meet Willow, a 20 year old actress already on the verge of failure thanks to her shenanigans around the Los Angeles club scene. Being the victim of alcohol and drugs, having two rounds of rehab under her belt she is finally out and already on her last chance to make a good movie before she ends up in porn.

From page one I knew that this would be a tough book, addressing not only celebrity problems, but self confidence and self appreciation, the need to take control of your life and the need to be understood by everyone who think you are someone you are not. Willow is the perfect character, she has sadness in her, she perceives the world differently and she is not acting like high and mighty that most people do in the Hollywood industry- she is just plain and empty on the inside. She is afraid to love and she is afraid to dare, she doesnt care anymore because caring on of the biggest secrets in her life she is exhausted. She just wants to do what she is supposed to and be left alone and then she meets Cooper.

In one word Cooper is brilliant. He is a surfer and has this funny, assholish, bad boy attitude, I want to get in your pants style that makes him one of the best book boyfriends ever. He is broken himself, lost his mother from drugs and was always under the glare of his abusive father, Cooper tries to find his way in the world through surfing – until he meets Willow. Then everything explodes of both of them and its just amazing to watch.

This is not like other books where the girl falls for the guy within chapters, its slow, torturing and beautiful because the narration is just great. The author did a really good job and while we get tortured we get to see the perfect personality of Willow. Get an insight in her world and trust me I felt every single thing,i felt like I could be friends with her.

The author skipped some parts in the book, like the filming of the movie but I dont think that this was important enough, there were the basic scenes and scenes that we should read about but nothing redudant. The book takes place is Honolulu, Hawaii and the description is really good, bringing Hawaii to my feet (almost felt the sand) and being able to draw a picture of the blue sea and the trees etc.

I loved that the ending was not rushed unlike some other, ehm, books and that it close beautifully.

Monday, June 9, 2014

With the Band by L.A. Witt (book review by Efterpi)

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS ADULT MATERIAL.

Author: L.A. Witt
Release Date: March 22nd 2011
Publisher: Loose Id
Pages: 252
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add on: Goodreads, Shelfari

Hard rock band Schadenfreude is finally on the verge of the success that’s eluded them for the last several years. With Aaron McClure as their new lead singer, nothing’s going to stop them…except maybe a steamy, secret relationship between Aaron and bassist Bastian Koehler. Aaron knows all too well what can happen when band members get involved with each other. After all, his last band was a casualty of his last relationship, and Schadenfreude forbids band members from dating for that very reason. But Bastian is too hot to resist, and besides, it’s just sex, so what’s the harm?

Bastian has just gotten out of a long relationship with his volatile ex-fiancée when Aaron catches his eye. The sexy singer is irresistible, and in spite of the potential for strife within the band if this comes out, Bastian can’t help himself.

Their passion in the bedroom is rivaled only by their ambition as musicians, though, and pretty soon, it's going to tear them, and Schadenfreude apart, if they can't get back to playing with the band.


Review:

To be clear before we go on with this review ,I have never ever in my life so far read one single book of gay romance or M/M or whoever you guys call it..this is my first and from what I have heard from other bloggers its a really good read in comparison to other M/M novels out there..and it was...it really was.

Once the book start we get a little background on Aaron, the main character of this book. He is on the way to Seattle, returning from Los Angeles after his band broke up because of him and his boyfriend. Pure drama in my opinion.

Once Aaron meets up with his brother in order to join their band since they fired their singer, he comes face to face with Bastian...German btw. The attraction is instant but the problem is that Bastian is straight so that leaves Aaron alone in the shower masturbating over Bastian. To keep things short Bastian (bisexual) makes the first move and we find both of those rockers in a sequence of pure lust and cheek-blushing sex scenes. So hot I could feel the steam coming off my Nook's screen.
The writer seemed to be doing a great job with the descriptive part of the book but seemed to be doing exactly the opposite when it came to actual dialogues and dropping a little of background info on both of the main characters.

 The good thing with the first page though was the writing, it had me hooked on the book until the end. And after page three or four things went south...really south in a bad way. What struck me the most was the repetition of words and phrases in one single page that made me want to scream from frustation and annoyance. This is Writing 101 there Witt, seriously wasnt that the first thing you learned?

Conversations seemed to circling around the same context of ''How are we going to come forward to our families and friends?'' ,''What will they say?'' etc over and over again it made it tiring and really annoying at times. All the sex scenes started with ''We should stop..'' and ended in pure sex.
Bastian and Aaron didnt seem to be talking about anything else but the situations mentioned above and when they did they cut it short because of more SEX. Seriously?

I also hated how the band responded to the revelation of their relationship and how this thing kept dranging on and on and on. We live in the 21st century for fucks sake, I mean how hard is it to stomach the fact that two people are gay and in a relationship fucking their brains out in secrecy every night?

As for the characters dont expect a lot of depth and a lot of intuition they are just plain. I couldnt even bond with Aaron on Bastian.

The ending was really disappointing because for an unexplained reason it was rushed and cut short.

Three stars it is for the sex scenes and how hot they were.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: May 27th 2014
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderly
Series: The Mortal Instruments #6
Pages: 725
Buy on: Amazon
Add on: Goodreads, Shelfari, Booklikes

In this dazzling and long-awaited conclusion to the acclaimed Mortal Instruments series, Clary and her friends fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary's own brother.

Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell.

The embattled Shadowhunters withdraw to Idris - but not even the famed demon towers of Alicante can keep Sebastian at bay. And with the Nephilim trapped in Idris, who will guard the world against demons?

When one of the greatest betrayals the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Alec must flee - even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned...

Love will be sacrificed and lives lost in the terrible battle for the fate of the word in the thrilling final installment of the classic urban fantasy series The Mortal Instruments!


Review:

NO MAJOR SPOILERS.
I cant believe the series is over. I just cant. I mean I have been reading these books for years now, I spend days and nights obsessing over the Mortal Instrument series and not its done.

The final installment of the MI was in one word OUTSTANDING. I didn;t expect that. Uusally the last books in a saga are rushed and sloppy but not with this one. Claire took her time to write everything down in order to satisfy her fans (of course we waited two whole years for the book to come out). There is not one thing that you cant find in the City of Heavenly Fire. Romance -Check. Long conversations – Check. Action – Check. Incest- Check. I loved the fact that there were long conversations in this one, that all the things that had never been told in the previous books are being told in this one. Some may think its tiring but not at all since every single page is filled with important things and confessions everyone have been expecting.

Although, we get to see a lot of Jace and Clary, the romantic scenes are a bit less that in the previous books but those few ones are scorching hot, so detailed and well written in detail that I wanted more more more.
There is a lot of pain and a lot of loss, hate and betrayal but from all this I felt compassion and pity for Sebastian. Beautiful, cruel, psycho Sebastian. I felt that Claire was not fair to him, she never gave him a chance but in the very end when it was too late. I felt sorry for him because deep down he felt alone and unloved. He wanted people to approve of him but no one did, and who wanted the most to be next to him he couldn't have simply because it was his sister. He never knew love and starved for it like a wolf and he tried to gain it the wrong way. It was just sad and unfair.

There are a lot of action scenes in City of Heavenly Fire that are packed up with adrenaline and then they are followed by long conversations. There is one particular scene or more like scenes in a big scene that made me see the possibilities this book could have. That from one story you could make a thousand more with the same characters – how Claire could so easily change the route of the book to something completely different and yet as beautiful.

Jonathan grinned. It was unconcerned happy grin, the grin of a someone who'd never really had much to worry about beyond pretty girls and whether one of his little sisters had eaten the other sister's wedding cake.
I mean think about it. How different the book would be.

Clary sat on the ground, seeing in front of her not the shell of a destroyed town but the eyes of the brother and the sister that she could have.

And then of course there was what I was expecting the most. I always thought of this since I picked up the series but I never read a single innuendo or a single thought in the whole series about it until I reached this little paragraph.

Clary sat up straight. ''You know'', she said ''do you think there's any chance that you two could...'' She gestured between Jace and Alec. ''It would be kind of hot''.

Really? No kidding. I was fangirling so hard when I read these lines. I mean it would just be great a whole new novel by it self.

Apart from the fact that there was a great storytelling and plot, funny, sad, emotional and filled with hate and adreanline scenes that made this book amazing there were also some drawbacks. One of them was the repetition of phrases and words over and over again. Especially some phrases that had been told in previous books they kept being repeated making sure that the reader memorized them.

Also there is a very dragged scene towards the end of the book that really had me skip a couple of lines because the whole argument- conversation went around in circles.

Other than those drawbacks the book itself was amazing and in my opinion a great closure to the series.

And dont forget in less than a year the Dark Articifes will be in our hands and from what I read they promise lots of action and forbidden love.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (book review by Efterpi)

Author: Jojo Moyes
Release Date: December 31st 2012
Publisher: Pamela Dorman books/Viking
Pages: 369
Rating: 5 stars
Buy on: Amazon

 Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.



Review:

Once I read the first two pages of the book I immediately understood that this will be a hard book to judge, it is nothing like the books I read before but it is so beautiful and sad and a huge tear jerker.
It starts with a small background story that initially a lot of us may not understand and it moves on in the present with Lou.

An ordinary woman in her mid 20's. A woman with no real interests and no adventurous life but with a scary experience behind her. When Lou loses her job because of the financial crisis she is over herself because her family has it hard. She knows that there is no way that she will find a decent job in order to support herself and her family and she seems to lose hope when she visits the unemployment office the only available job for her is as a carer for a quadriplegic man. She has no experience over this but then again she doesnt have experience in anything at all its the money that she needs and the pay is good that motivate her to go in for the interview.

Once she is hired she comes face to face with Will. A 35 year old man in a wheel chair unable to move from his chest and down. An ex businessman, he used to be encircled by fame, women sex and luxury and now he is being Lou's nightmare on a wheel chair. She is uncomfortable being around him he is making her life a living hell with his attitude and here starts adventure.

While the book moves on we start to see the real reason Will is treating Lou like that. That he is fighting for his right to have a say in his life now that his mother wants to control most of it out of fear that he will attempt suicide. Now that he is unable to take control of his own life by himself, that he constantly needs someone there to help him with everything. Deep inside we see a man thinking of his amazing and adventurous past and comparing it to the dull and full with misery future that expects him. He simply didnt chose this life for himself. Here we experience the great writing of the author. Although the perspective is from Lou;s point of view we get to know Will a lot better.

We get to see Lou getting attracted to him as he is being a little nicer to him, how she tries to cheer him and actually change her life for the best because of him. How she doing a great research on quadriplegics and the effort she puts in making Will's life easier. But to all that there is a reason.

Some of you may be little reluctant when it comes to the subject of the book. Its a really complicated story that evolves in a love story and how a small decision can change your life for ever. We see how a person can change who you are in a matter of a few months. That was the most beautiful part of the book , how I, the reader got to bond with Will and Lou. Their personalities are so alive, so full of life that I laughed and cried with them. They made me see things from a different perspective.
Moyes does not preach or judge of anyones ethics and decisions and she is really going through the stages of life and how an accident can change you. She gives some interesting perspectives on subjects but still she is letting the reader decide what to believe and what to judge. For me this is amazing storytelling.

I will definitely come back to this book again one day. In my opinion this is a book for those who like books that make you think , books that make you cry and books that the ending always leaves a taste bittersweet and for a lot of thought. Definitely worthed it.