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sherleysreadingcorner 's review for:

The Apple Tree by Jewel E. Ann
5.0
emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

*𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚π₯π₯ π‘πšπ­π’π§π : 5.0 ⭐
*π’π©π’πœπž π‹πžπ―πžπ₯: 3.0 🌢️

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πŸ†€πŸ†„πŸ…ΈπŸ…²πŸ…Ί πŸ†ƒπŸ…·πŸ…ΎπŸ†„πŸ…ΆπŸ…·πŸ†ƒπŸ†‚
This book was SOOOOOOOOOO Good! I started it on the 9th and could not sleep trying to finish it. Got to finish it early the morning of the 10th and now I don't know what to do with myself. This book took me on a journey; an emotional roller coaster. I experienced joy, sadness, happiness, warmth. I just cannot explain it. The characters were so well developed and real, and the world building and nostalgia (set in 1987) was just an added bonus.

Eve and Kyle's love story was just amazingly well-written!  

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⬇️ SOME SPOILERS MAY BE FOUND BELOW ⬇️

πŸ…΄πŸ†‡πŸ†ƒπŸ…΄πŸ…½πŸ…³πŸ…΄πŸ…³ πŸ…³πŸ…ΈπŸ†‚πŸ…²πŸ†„πŸ†‚πŸ†‚πŸ…ΈπŸ…ΎπŸ…½/πŸ†ƒπŸ…·πŸ…ΎπŸ†„πŸ…ΆπŸ…·πŸ†ƒπŸ†‚ 

π–π‘πšπ­ 𝐈 π‹π¨π―πžπ:
β€’ As a music lover, I LOVED that there was a song dedicated to each chapter and that the songs had some correlation to what was happening in the chapter (it was like a playlist for the book and I LOVED all of the songs)
β€’ Eve’s special relationship with her Grandma Bonnieβ€”this was her safe space; a judgment free zone and Grandma Bonnie keeps Eve’s secrets which is a bonus! πŸ˜‰
o I also really liked how Grandma Bonnie was always a listening ear and gave the best advice. 
β€’ Adam and Kyle are a hoot. I laughed so much during their scenes. 
β€’ Josh was the cutest little thing, and Kyle was such an excellent father
β€’ Eve when we meet her is stifled. As a preacher’s daughter, it’s like she has to walk on eggshells. On top of this, she is carrying so much burden and guilt as it relates to her parents and their relationship and how their religious believes and their expectations of her makes her feel like she will never measure up. This causes her to want to become and she in fact does become very rebellious. In the book, she always talks about wanting to be β€œfearless” and every time she said that, my heart broke a little for her. To walk around feeling like no one understands you or appreciates you or accepts you for you must be really hard and that is why we see her turning to substance abuse. What I loved was how she could be herself with Kyle. I loved that, like Grandma Bonnie, Kyle loved and accepted Eve as she was, and he even helped her when she needed it the most. He was her safe space; she could be calm and at peace with him. He was also willing to lose everything and everyone in his life just to have her by his side. I loved how he stood up to his brother and fought for his love! This was such a beautiful love story. 
β€’ Eve’s fraught/troubled relationship with her parents really resonated with me and one of the quotes that spoke the most to my soul was this one: β€œYou have to love us even when you can’t control us, or else it’s not unconditional love.” Her relationship with her parents reminded me so much of mine with my parents. The religious aspect, the feeling that you will never measure up, the way her parents sought to control her to the point where she felt like she was suffocating was all relatable. Now, as a parent myself, I can understand where her parents were coming from but through this book I realize that control is a form of conditional love. We have to pour as much love and guidance into our children as we can and then we have to let go. We have to trust that we have done enough.
β€’ The nostalgia got me for sure! Reading about Walkman with headphones and the scenes when she was talking on the phone and wrapping the cord around her fingers, it brought me back to my childhood
β€’ The pinning, the want for each other, the pull between these two; my goodness---their chemistry was on fire, and I absolutely LOVED it! This was a steamy one for sure. πŸ”₯🌢️πŸ₯΅

πŸ††πŸ…·πŸ…°πŸ†ƒ πŸ†ƒπŸ…Ύ πŸ…΄πŸ†‡πŸ…ΏπŸ…΄πŸ…²πŸ†ƒ
🍎Small Town
🍎Age Gap
🍎Dad’s Best Friend’s Little Brother
🍎She’s the Pastor’s Daughter x He’s the new high school football coach
🍎Brother’s Best Friend’s Daughter
🍎Taboo Relationship
🍎Single Dad
🍎She’s His Babysitter
🍎Neighbors
🍎Forbidden Love
🍎Strict/Unsympathetic Parents
🍎Traumatic Past/Abandonment Issues 

πŸ…΅πŸ…°πŸ†…πŸ…ΎπŸ†πŸ…ΈπŸ†ƒπŸ…΄ πŸ†€πŸ†„πŸ…ΎπŸ†ƒπŸ…΄πŸ†‚/πŸ†‚πŸ…°πŸ†ˆπŸ…ΈπŸ…½πŸ…ΆπŸ†‚ 
🍎 β€œAngels are just rebels in disguise.”
🍎 β€œShe was like a cigarette, addictive and bad for me, yet oddly alluring.”
🍎 β€œEverything and everyone in my life is boring and predictable. Be a little more inappropriate with me.”
🍎 β€œI don’t want to be part of the herd. I just want to be myself and go wherever that leads me.”
🍎 β€œβ€¦Women like you…bring men like me to our knees.”
🍎 β€œI was wind and fireβ€”destructive and out of control. He was earth and waterβ€”a grounding calm force.”
🍎 β€œShe made me reckless, and it felt like a high I had to chase.”
🍎 β€œLet me live. Let me stumble. Let me figure things out as I go. Just love me. That’s it.”
🍎 β€œYou have to love us even when you can’t control us, or else it’s not unconditional love.”
🍎 β€œI love that you’ll never stop taking my breath away. And when I’m old and on my deathbed, I’m going to give you this smile with my last breath, and doing so will be the greatest honor of my life.”

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🎢 Chaka Khan β€œI Feel For You”
🎢 Poison β€œTalk Dirty to Me”
🎢 George Michael β€œI Want Your Sex”
🎢 Tina Turner β€œWhat’s Love Got to Do With It”
🎢 Prince and The Revolution β€œPurple Rain”
🎢 Phil Collins β€œIn The Air Tonight”
🎢 Pat Benatar β€œLove Is a Battlefield”
🎢 Journey β€œOpen Arms”

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* 𝑢𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 π‘Ήπ’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ˆ & π‘Ίπ’‘π’Šπ’„π’† 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 5.0 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒆