A review by ashrd88
The Unfinished Line by Jen Lyon

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0


****This review contains vague spoilers as well as implied references to the heavy topics discussed in this story****

I don’t often write reviews. Almost never, really. For this, I couldn’t not. If I could give this book 1000 stars, I would. It will shatter you in the best possible way. Leave you gutted but longing for more. It will make you feel hopeful and hopeless at the same time. And once it’s over, it will leave a hole the size of your heart in your chest and a pit the size of a fist in your throat. But it will be worth it. It will be worth every second to live the story that is Dillon Sinclair. To live the love story that is Kameryn and Dillon. 

I’m in absolute shambles even though I knew what to expect. I knew from the moment I read the content warnings. I knew as soon as I read the words loss, grieving, and mental illness as trigger warnings. I knew from the opening sentence. I knew the moment Abby Craden’s intoxicating voice switched from Kam’s first person POV to Dillion’s third person. Still, I decided to trudge on. Decided to smother the voice in the back of my head that told me I wasn’t strong enough to read it, couldn’t handle it, shouldn’t put myself through it knowing it would hit a little too close to home. I pushed down the uneasiness and decided to wade neck deep into the abyss that promised a heartachingly beautiful and unforgettable love story, knowing there would not be a happily ever after. 

I was a bundle of angst and something else I don’t even know how to describe from the moment the story started. The closer I got to the end, the more dread I felt. On the verge of tears so many times throughout. Shedding a few unexpectedly during tender moments shared between the two women I was falling in love with and some other expected ones during scenes that began to splinter my heart. Eventually, somewhere around Scene 48 I lost it and I have yet to regain any sort of semblance of composure. That was nearly 10 hours ago. I listened straight through without pausing once. I fell madly, deeply in love with these characters and felt every word, every laugh, every cry in my very soul. I don’t think I’ll ever be whole again. I am shattered. Staples, tape, glue… concrete doesn’t even have the strength to piece the shards that are my heart back together. 

You, Jen Lyon, have a brilliant mind. It’s a work of art. You have written a book for the ages. You used your arsenal of words to weave a story of hope and desire. Friendship and love. Trepidation and despair. You draw every possible emotion from the reader in the span of 427 pages. Less really. I’m wreaked. Broken. Shattered. Into a billion tiny pieces. And I haven’t even began the grieving process yet. 

Thank you, Jen. And I can’t stand you. In the best possible way. 
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