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mariiiiiiiiiia 's review for:
Come Alive
by Jessica Hawkins
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Wow—this book was an emotional roller coaster! Come Alive is the second installment in The Cityscape Series, following Come Undone. Book 1 ended on a cliffhanger, leaving Liv reeling from both David’s departure and the tragic loss of Davena—all within 24 hours. The emotional aftermath leaves Liv feeling numb and lifeless as she tries to move on. Unfortunately, her marriage to Bill remains bland, boring, and painfully predictable.
Bill wants Liv to move on from the grief, but he’s unaware of David’s role in her heartbreak. After parting ways with David, Liv assumes she’ll never see him again. But he can’t stop thinking about her—and soon reappears in Chicago, accompanied by a new woman. Liv and David find themselves struggling with their unresolved emotions and intense chemistry, all while trying to keep their connection secret.
There’s a lot of arguing, longing, and even hotter sex scenes than in Come Undone. One of my favorite quotes appears on page 100:
“Bill was so far, and David was so close. So close that if I angled slightly, I would whiff that earthy, subtle David-ness… ‘Did you just smell me?’ he [David] asked.”
LOL!
As the story unfolds, I found myself really starting to dislike Bill. He pressures Liv into a picture-perfect suburban life, pushing her to have children and settle down, even making appointments without consulting her. He comes off as manipulative, hiding behind a facade of “everything’s fine” while avoiding real emotional connection. Liv sees this but chooses not to react—another sign of the deep cracks in their relationship.
“We planned to visit his sister and her four kids the following weekend so I could see how alive a house full of children was. And finally, at his firm request, I’d agreed to stop taking birth control.” (p. 251)
The author weaves in the theme of aliveness throughout the book in various ways. Liv feels truly alive only when she’s with David. During a home tour in Oak Park, David—who’s an architect—describes how he could renovate a house, making “the space come alive” (p. 150), subtly drawing a parallel between physical spaces and emotional states.
Liv also opens up to David about the trauma of her past—her accident and her parents’ divorce—and how it changed her:
“‘What were you like?’ [David asks.] I closed my eyes and memory began to seep in—the memory of the girl I was before the divorce. It was a place I rarely let myself go. ‘I was alive.’” (p. 204)
There’s a lot of back-and-forth between Liv and David in the second half of the book, which kept me guessing about how things would end. Come Alive captures the raw, complicated truth about love—especially the kind that makes you question everything and risk it all.
I’m already diving into the final book in the series, Come Together—I need to know how it all ends!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity