Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I do not know where these 4-5 star reviews are coming from. I just could not get attached to these characters. It was all very meh.
A smartly plotted, perfectly paced, unbelievably engaging and sweeping love story that I won’t soon forget. This is a book that book lovers will love and this love story is one I’m sure romance readers will lose their minds over.
I freaking love these stories! I am the biggest sucker for second chance romances, and ones that involve a couple who grew up together? Forget about it! I’m there every time. In Swear on This Life, Renee Carlino tells about a boy and a girl who are each other’s lifelines during a time in their lives when they have nothing in the world to hope for. It’s also a story about a woman in her late twenties who is trying to discover who she is as she attempts to move forward in her life, but completely unable to forget the past. That past comes crashing into her present when she discovers that she’s the focus of the acclaimed, bestselling novel, by author J. Colby, a novel everyone is talking about.
I loved how everything in this book unfolded! This novel is a novel within a novel, and as Emi reads the pages and sees the secrets her first love reveals to the world, then so does the reader. We see how their relationship evolves; we see their struggles, and the beauty they create together. We also see Emi grapple with her feelings, as the narrative shifts between the real present, and the past as seen from J. Colby (Jase’s) perspective. It makes for a serious page-turner, and I finished this in just a few hours.
Great characters enhance Renee Carlino’s compelling plot. Emi and Jase are captivating in all their incarnations, from when they’re optimistic innocents, to jaded and curious teens, to when they meet again as changed adults, inexplicably drawn to each other. Their chemistry is great! But then, I can’t think of a time when I didn’t feel the chemistry between Carlino’s protagonists in any of her novels.
Swear on This Life is a sweetly emotional journey, one where I was unsure if my heart would stay intact in the end. This love story is about fate, second chances, and being brave enough to trust in what you feel is right, even if it is terrifying and almost guarantees that you’ll get hurt. Carlino made me feel hope and belief in the kind of big love that can survive the world around it -- the kind of love in movies, and well, in books.
I freaking love these stories! I am the biggest sucker for second chance romances, and ones that involve a couple who grew up together? Forget about it! I’m there every time. In Swear on This Life, Renee Carlino tells about a boy and a girl who are each other’s lifelines during a time in their lives when they have nothing in the world to hope for. It’s also a story about a woman in her late twenties who is trying to discover who she is as she attempts to move forward in her life, but completely unable to forget the past. That past comes crashing into her present when she discovers that she’s the focus of the acclaimed, bestselling novel, by author J. Colby, a novel everyone is talking about.
I loved how everything in this book unfolded! This novel is a novel within a novel, and as Emi reads the pages and sees the secrets her first love reveals to the world, then so does the reader. We see how their relationship evolves; we see their struggles, and the beauty they create together. We also see Emi grapple with her feelings, as the narrative shifts between the real present, and the past as seen from J. Colby (Jase’s) perspective. It makes for a serious page-turner, and I finished this in just a few hours.
Great characters enhance Renee Carlino’s compelling plot. Emi and Jase are captivating in all their incarnations, from when they’re optimistic innocents, to jaded and curious teens, to when they meet again as changed adults, inexplicably drawn to each other. Their chemistry is great! But then, I can’t think of a time when I didn’t feel the chemistry between Carlino’s protagonists in any of her novels.
Swear on This Life is a sweetly emotional journey, one where I was unsure if my heart would stay intact in the end. This love story is about fate, second chances, and being brave enough to trust in what you feel is right, even if it is terrifying and almost guarantees that you’ll get hurt. Carlino made me feel hope and belief in the kind of big love that can survive the world around it -- the kind of love in movies, and well, in books.
as i will say over and over again CHEATING IS NOT ROMANTIC
This was impactful and definitely not a happy read. It was intense and beautiful and at times harrowing. I was intrigued by the storytelling and the switch between Emelin’s real life in the now, and the story in the Roads Between (a novel written by the MMC in the now perspective of the book) and how the different points in time (and/or points of view) impacted the story as a whole. And the ending! Not just the ending of Swear on this Life, but the ending of the Roads Between had me shedding a tear.
Regardless, I do have to say I didn’t like Emelin as a character. The girl knows how to hold a grudge, and she was so mean to the people around her, and her boyfriend specifically. Emelin of the past was such a genuinely sweet character with so much heart, whereas Emelin in the now was just mad at everyone and everything. Although I would understand this as being a product of her past, it is mentioned that she remained so sweet no matter what happened to her, and we see this throughout the story in the Roads Between. Therefore there was a total disconnect between past Emelin and present Emelin for me.
Overall though, this was such a strong and impactful story of love, loss, and overcoming adversity against all odds.
Regardless, I do have to say I didn’t like Emelin as a character. The girl knows how to hold a grudge, and she was so mean to the people around her, and her boyfriend specifically. Emelin of the past was such a genuinely sweet character with so much heart, whereas Emelin in the now was just mad at everyone and everything. Although I would understand this as being a product of her past, it is mentioned that she remained so sweet no matter what happened to her, and we see this throughout the story in the Roads Between. Therefore there was a total disconnect between past Emelin and present Emelin for me.
Overall though, this was such a strong and impactful story of love, loss, and overcoming adversity against all odds.
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very well written, although I kept forgetting whether we were in real life or the book (my fault probably).
I think it is such a cool and unique way to give a characters backstory while integrating it into the plot.
Definitely check the trigger warnings before going in to it.
I think it is such a cool and unique way to give a characters backstory while integrating it into the plot.
Definitely check the trigger warnings before going in to it.
I really enjoyed this book but it did remind me of another book - now if I can just remember the name of it.
Review to come
Re read - audiobook
Review to come
Re read - audiobook
emotional
slow-paced