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dianasaurousrex07's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
mooncrab's review
4.0
Broke my damn heart, but such a good read. This was hard to put down but I needed to take breaks from the emotion of it. I love Leesa’s writing so much and it’s wholly evident that each word is carefully chosen, and each sentence meticulously crafted to paint a vivid picture. She writes relatable, realistic characters and reveals their stories in a really engaging way. It was so neat (and gut-wrenching) to read Eamon’s chapters knowing the voice is coming from a dead man; this is a unique choice and added a real depth of intensity to the story. There were certainly parts of the book that were triggering to anyone grieving, but there’s also a relatability that is strangely comforting. Highly recommended if you are looking for an emotional read, but be prepared to seek out happier books as a palette cleanser afterward!
juliasilge's review
4.0
The two main male characters in this book are wonderfully crafted: lovable and real and flawed. I so enjoyed following their intertwined story in this warm, sad, redemptive story about family and love. One of my favorite things about this story is how centered it is the contemporary American Southern experience, with characters who are people of color and dialogue that you can practically hear.
boggremlin's review
4.0
WOW. This was an incredible, engrossing novel. It is a heartbreaking story of grief and love, in all its forms.
readingandsunshine's review
5.0
This is my favorite book of 2018 so far. It's a beautiful story of love and grief, that had me laughing and crying all the way through.
ashleybhaley's review
4.0
“What no one tells you about grief is that you don’t want to figure out a way to live with it - you want the part of you that hurts to die instead.”
This is a story of grief, but it is also a story of healing, and it is written in a lyrical way that defies a lot of “literary rules” (in my opinion). It is told like a very personal conversation, a diary or confession to a lover. It’s raw, edgy, direct, sexy, and authentic to each of the character’s voices as you’re inside their most intimate thoughts.
“Grief radiates. Since Eamon was killed, my bones ache with sadness. There is a gritty black tea stain on my heart, every organ.”
This is a story of grief, but it is also a story of healing, and it is written in a lyrical way that defies a lot of “literary rules” (in my opinion). It is told like a very personal conversation, a diary or confession to a lover. It’s raw, edgy, direct, sexy, and authentic to each of the character’s voices as you’re inside their most intimate thoughts.
“Grief radiates. Since Eamon was killed, my bones ache with sadness. There is a gritty black tea stain on my heart, every organ.”
rmlknisely's review
5.0
This was a beautiful novel that has stayed with me since I finished. I finished reading this book around 1 AM on a plane home from my honeymoon and could not stop weeping.
hisparks23's review
4.0
I loved this, but (and?) I think it was one of the saddest books I’ve ever read. Amazing writing but oh so sad. It also did get a bit religiousy for my personal comfort level a few times, but otherwise I was struck by what a cozy, thoughtful, heartbreakingly special story this was.
Although I enjoyed all the POVs, I was not super fixated on the “current” aspect of the plot as much as I was both Eamon and Dalton’s narrations of the past. I absolutely loved reading about their friendship and brotherhood. The prose was striking in such a quiet, peaceful way. It was the kind of writing that feels emotional because it’s simple and elegant and easy, but truthful and vivid and complicated at the same time. It’s such a sad story, but it was told with such grace that I found beauty in the sadness. I don’t know how to explain it better than that.
I do sort of have a moral dilemma about what I would do if this happened to me and yeah maybe I wouldn’t make the same choices as Evi and Dalton, but that may be because I was very much on team Eamon and Evi after reading Eamon’s account of his love for her. And to me this book wasn’t about judging any of their choices anyway. It was about the deep realness of life and love and grief and how messy it is and can be. This one will be hard to forget.
Although I enjoyed all the POVs, I was not super fixated on the “current” aspect of the plot as much as I was both Eamon and Dalton’s narrations of the past. I absolutely loved reading about their friendship and brotherhood. The prose was striking in such a quiet, peaceful way. It was the kind of writing that feels emotional because it’s simple and elegant and easy, but truthful and vivid and complicated at the same time. It’s such a sad story, but it was told with such grace that I found beauty in the sadness. I don’t know how to explain it better than that.
I do sort of have a moral dilemma about what I would do if this happened to me and yeah maybe I wouldn’t make the same choices as Evi and Dalton, but that may be because I was very much on team Eamon and Evi after reading Eamon’s account of his love for her. And to me this book wasn’t about judging any of their choices anyway. It was about the deep realness of life and love and grief and how messy it is and can be. This one will be hard to forget.
lisakimmence3's review
5.0
Every woman I'd ever known felt like a copy of a copy of a copy when I met Evangeline. I'd heard men say things like that, heard actors say things like that in movies-that everything-was-black-and-white-until-he-met-her moment, then suddenly ultralight, vivid, eye-popping color. Evangeline was my Technicolor moment, the big reveal, the screaming colors so bright it felt as if I should hold my ears.
This book....this book broke me. It fixed me and it broke me. I'm so in love with all these glorious, wonderful, colorful characters. All of them their own shade of fixed and broken. The love on these pages is real....the grief, raw and painful. My heart is splayed for all to see the bleeding going on inside it. Absolutely loved this. All. Of. It. Thank you Leesa Cross-Smith.
I remember thinking something bad was going to happen eventually because everything was so perfect. I was so happy and so in love and this is Earth. Those things don't last because they're not meant to.
He is gone and I know I will spend the rest of my life fruitlessly searching for him.
This book....this book broke me. It fixed me and it broke me. I'm so in love with all these glorious, wonderful, colorful characters. All of them their own shade of fixed and broken. The love on these pages is real....the grief, raw and painful. My heart is splayed for all to see the bleeding going on inside it. Absolutely loved this. All. Of. It. Thank you Leesa Cross-Smith.
I remember thinking something bad was going to happen eventually because everything was so perfect. I was so happy and so in love and this is Earth. Those things don't last because they're not meant to.
He is gone and I know I will spend the rest of my life fruitlessly searching for him.