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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Very much slow moving, and truthfully didn't love it until I had ~50 pages left, but by the end, it broke my heart. Such human characters. Cross-Smith does a beautiful job highlighting the juxtapositions that are so difficult to wrap our minds around—the beauty that still exists when we are depressed, the tug of healing when traumas are revisited, the “small mercies, even when things are dark and scary.”
“For so long he thought nothing mattered. How could it? But he knew Tallie mattered. Her kindness and patience and forgiveness had changed his life by making him want to keep it.”
“See. There is soft light. There are small mercies.”
“For so long he thought nothing mattered. How could it? But he knew Tallie mattered. Her kindness and patience and forgiveness had changed his life by making him want to keep it.”
“See. There is soft light. There are small mercies.”
The strongest elements of this novel are its characterization of the two main characters. I think Emmett’s issues with mental health are explained in an interesting manner, and I enjoy Tallia’s take on it from a therapist’s point of view. There are some major plot points that seem odd but which are necessary to how the novel plays out- like Tallia bringing Emmett into her home as a stranger on the night she meets him. Overall, perhaps a bit too much romance for me, and romance that didn’t seem entirely led into, but I enjoyed it for the most part.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
2.5 really and only because I did enjoy how she described certain things with colors or smells. I thought it was unique. Like “yellow meow”.
But it is SO overwritten. There were entire chunks that I thought were pointless and added nothing to the story. Long descriptions and boring chit chat between characters.
The dialogue between the main characters were really short and felt more like a quick Q&A that was flat and kind of unrealistic.
Also, what kind of therapist is this asking this guy if his parents have any mental health issues. Anxiety? depression? Trying to diagnose him based on hiss family. He’s freaking GRIEVING and she’s over here trying to diagnose him. This author clearly doesn’t understand grief and it was really frustrating to read.
And using the word “disorders” or “Illness” when talking about mental health really bothered me and shows me she did zero research on trauma. Labeling something as normal and human like trauma and grief as an ILLNESS is messed up.
The writing sometimes was mega cheesy:
“His feelings shuffled like a deck of cards - diamonds of embarrassment, overreacting clubs, stubbornness in spades, the ace of guilt. And his heart, their hearts, still beating.” Lolllll stoppppp.
I also hated all the descriptions in the parentheses. Later she explains what they’re about but they really disrupted the flow of things and honestly, I skipped like 80% of them, knowing they’d add nothing to the story.
Bottom line: she’s a shit therapist who makes terrible decisions and I’m mad at myself for staying up till 4am reading this book bc I wanted to know what had happened to the guy. I was super disappointed and the ending? garbage.
But it is SO overwritten. There were entire chunks that I thought were pointless and added nothing to the story. Long descriptions and boring chit chat between characters.
The dialogue between the main characters were really short and felt more like a quick Q&A that was flat and kind of unrealistic.
Also, what kind of therapist is this asking this guy if his parents have any mental health issues. Anxiety? depression? Trying to diagnose him based on hiss family. He’s freaking GRIEVING and she’s over here trying to diagnose him. This author clearly doesn’t understand grief and it was really frustrating to read.
And using the word “disorders” or “Illness” when talking about mental health really bothered me and shows me she did zero research on trauma. Labeling something as normal and human like trauma and grief as an ILLNESS is messed up.
The writing sometimes was mega cheesy:
“His feelings shuffled like a deck of cards - diamonds of embarrassment, overreacting clubs, stubbornness in spades, the ace of guilt. And his heart, their hearts, still beating.” Lolllll stoppppp.
I also hated all the descriptions in the parentheses. Later she explains what they’re about but they really disrupted the flow of things and honestly, I skipped like 80% of them, knowing they’d add nothing to the story.
Bottom line: she’s a shit therapist who makes terrible decisions and I’m mad at myself for staying up till 4am reading this book bc I wanted to know what had happened to the guy. I was super disappointed and the ending? garbage.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book felt disjointed and haphazard. The characters weren’t believable and the dialogue was self-consciously labored. Plus it was depressing. Not a good read for me.