Scan barcode
A review by shandra
Always by Kindle Alexander
5.0
Always, i.e. at all times, on all occasions, for all future time, and forever.
Life is something people often take for granted until they see it passing them by, the sand in the hour glass growing heavier on the bottom than on the top, or the face in the mirror happens to be noticeably more wrinkled than smooth.
Time is funny that way. It flows on whether one pays attention to it or not, but the moments that we do remember? They're priceless.
'Always' is a memoir of all the collected memories of a pair of lives lived synchronously; it is a treasure trove of the most valuable moments in these two men's lives.
Throughout the course of this book, Avery Adams goes from being a man who thinks he likes one night stands to being the kind of man who can lead a nation while still being available to his family as a father. He grows into the kind of man I, personally, would vote for if he ran for office and the kind of man that few are lucky enough to even catch a glimpse of in their lives. Avery is the kind of man whose charisma carries him right off the page and into the room while you're reading. I found myself thinking of his nervous habits, imagining him growing a little older, a little bolder, and a lot wiser. I empathized with his desire to try to prove he was still young even though he was celebrating a milestone that set him heading more down the hill than up it. I felt comforted by his certainty that everything would work out no matter how dire the circumstances appeared and I believed in him always.
Kane Dalton remains largely the same throughout the course of the work. His growth as an individual is more subtle in some ways yet more profound in others. He's someone I can very deeply relate to as I grew up queer in the South where religion holds more sway than politics. I was moved by his deep desire to be a good Christian while holding true to the reality that he was a gay man. Watching him reconcile his sexuality with his faith was hard to read through at times yet beautiful as well, the journey that he goes on takes him down a road that leads to self-acceptance when he needs it the most.
What makes this book so much more than a love story? It's that this story literally spans their entire lives from the most important moment either of them has: the moment they first meet.
It's not one of those love-at-first-sight-instantly-happily-ever-after books. These lives are marked with struggles, heartaches, and the pains of every day living. Avery and Kane fight. They disagree on things and they hold differing views on things and they have flaws, but they remain solidly in love throughout it all because that's what marriage is about: always. It's about staying there through the fights. It's about being there in spite of one another's flaws. It's about finding perfection in someone who is not perfect. It's about believing that no matter what this one person is the one person that should be yours eternally.
Avery and Kane make me believe in the magic of true love because it's not about magical love brought on by some mysticism.
Always is about enduring love which lasts from 33 or 35 in 1975 to the present day some nearly 40 years later.
It's about 40 years of loving the same person while that person loves one right back.
That's forever there. That's a love story. That's 'Always' to me.
I've seen that in my life. I've been blessed that way. That kind of love is rare. It is a priceless treasure which is not perfect, has its flaws just as I'm sure some will say this book does, but there are no truly perfect marriages exactly as there are no truly perfect books.
There are only truly perfect stories and this one will stick with me 'Always.'
Thank you for sharing your work with me, Kindle Alexander. It is well-deserving of all the stars it can be rated and the tears I cried while reading it weren't of sorrow, but of joy that someone could capture the reality of love so well in fiction.
*Note: My review was initially based on a complimentary copy provided to This Redhead LOVES Books Blog in exchange for my honest opinion. I have since purchased it as I wish it to remain a permanent part of my Kindle library.* ~Shandra Torbett, Reviewer for This Redhead LOVES Books
Life is something people often take for granted until they see it passing them by, the sand in the hour glass growing heavier on the bottom than on the top, or the face in the mirror happens to be noticeably more wrinkled than smooth.
Time is funny that way. It flows on whether one pays attention to it or not, but the moments that we do remember? They're priceless.
'Always' is a memoir of all the collected memories of a pair of lives lived synchronously; it is a treasure trove of the most valuable moments in these two men's lives.
Throughout the course of this book, Avery Adams goes from being a man who thinks he likes one night stands to being the kind of man who can lead a nation while still being available to his family as a father. He grows into the kind of man I, personally, would vote for if he ran for office and the kind of man that few are lucky enough to even catch a glimpse of in their lives. Avery is the kind of man whose charisma carries him right off the page and into the room while you're reading. I found myself thinking of his nervous habits, imagining him growing a little older, a little bolder, and a lot wiser. I empathized with his desire to try to prove he was still young even though he was celebrating a milestone that set him heading more down the hill than up it. I felt comforted by his certainty that everything would work out no matter how dire the circumstances appeared and I believed in him always.
Kane Dalton remains largely the same throughout the course of the work. His growth as an individual is more subtle in some ways yet more profound in others. He's someone I can very deeply relate to as I grew up queer in the South where religion holds more sway than politics. I was moved by his deep desire to be a good Christian while holding true to the reality that he was a gay man. Watching him reconcile his sexuality with his faith was hard to read through at times yet beautiful as well, the journey that he goes on takes him down a road that leads to self-acceptance when he needs it the most.
What makes this book so much more than a love story? It's that this story literally spans their entire lives from the most important moment either of them has: the moment they first meet.
It's not one of those love-at-first-sight-instantly-happily-ever-after books. These lives are marked with struggles, heartaches, and the pains of every day living. Avery and Kane fight. They disagree on things and they hold differing views on things and they have flaws, but they remain solidly in love throughout it all because that's what marriage is about: always. It's about staying there through the fights. It's about being there in spite of one another's flaws. It's about finding perfection in someone who is not perfect. It's about believing that no matter what this one person is the one person that should be yours eternally.
Avery and Kane make me believe in the magic of true love because it's not about magical love brought on by some mysticism.
Always is about enduring love which lasts from 33 or 35 in 1975 to the present day some nearly 40 years later.
It's about 40 years of loving the same person while that person loves one right back.
That's forever there. That's a love story. That's 'Always' to me.
I've seen that in my life. I've been blessed that way. That kind of love is rare. It is a priceless treasure which is not perfect, has its flaws just as I'm sure some will say this book does, but there are no truly perfect marriages exactly as there are no truly perfect books.
There are only truly perfect stories and this one will stick with me 'Always.'
Thank you for sharing your work with me, Kindle Alexander. It is well-deserving of all the stars it can be rated and the tears I cried while reading it weren't of sorrow, but of joy that someone could capture the reality of love so well in fiction.
*Note: My review was initially based on a complimentary copy provided to This Redhead LOVES Books Blog in exchange for my honest opinion. I have since purchased it as I wish it to remain a permanent part of my Kindle library.* ~Shandra Torbett, Reviewer for This Redhead LOVES Books