Monday, August 28, 2017

Book Review for Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry


NINETEEN LETTERS
by JODI PERRY

Braxton

Nineteen. There’s something about that number; it not only brought us together, bonding us forever, it also played a hand in tearing us apart.

The nineteenth of January 1996. I’ll never forget it. It was the day we met. I was seven and she was six. It was the day she moved in next door, and the day I developed my first crush on a girl.

Exactly nineteen years later, all my dreams came true when she became my wife. She was the love of my life. My soul mate. My everything. The reason I looked forward to waking up every morning.

Then tragedy struck. Nineteen days after we married, she was in an accident that would change our lives forever. When she woke from her coma, she had no memory of me, of us, of the love we shared.

I was crushed. She was my air, and without her I couldn’t breathe.

The sparkle that once glistened her eyes when she looked at me was gone. To her, now, I was a stranger. I had not only lost my wife, I had lost my best friend.

But I refused to let this tragedy be the end of us. That’s when I started to write her letters, stories of our life. Of when we met. About the happier times, and everything we had experienced together.

What we had was far too beautiful to be forgotten.


REVIEW: 3.5 HEARTBREAKING STARS
"Everything was so new to us back then, and in a way, it's the same now. It's a new beginning. A chance to relive all the magic we once shared."

This was my first book by Jodi (JL) Perry, and I hope to say it won't be my last. She definitely had an ability to bring some emotions out of me. Not always were they kind ones, but she definitely told a story that I wanted to see through to the end. This book was an emotional ride from the beginning to the end, and by the time I was done, I was so glad I took the time to read it. It was beautiful.

I WILL BE HONEST: first and foremost, it took me a bit of time to start warming up to Jemma. I literally HATED her in the beginning days/months after the accident. I didn't get fear or vulnerability, I got rudeness and harshness. I didn't get her seeking answers to her questions, I found her avoiding everything and being so down when everyone was trying to help her. Now before I sound like a raving lunatic with no heart, please understand that I did understand that she was going through a traumatic event, but I eventually found peace with her and I found myself sympathizing with her a little more. But in the beginning, I most certainly did not. I almost felt that the order of emotions delivered by Perry was backwards and I wished we would have been able to fall in love with her, to be endeared to her plight, her fear, her uneasiness with the life that she was handed, but instead we got the rude, nasty, and quite disrespectful side of her BEFORE we were able to fall in love with her, so I already had a predisposition to not like her. I know, I sound like an evil wretched bitch. I don't mean to, I promise you that. Logically, I understood why she was upset and was quite closed in. I really do, but it was just hard to get warm fuzzies from her originally. However....she grew on me.

Please don't take this review as one long rant, because there were some amazingly beautiful parts that were breath-catching. I hate that I was so frustrated in the beginning by this one, and I am not entirely sure why I felt that way.  I know for a fact that this one was an "It's me, not you" scenario because, if I think about the reality behind the story, it was heartbreaking. It was raw. I felt his pain and his yearning. I felt his need and his desperation to make her remember him, remember their love, and to remember their life together. They were destined to be together, and there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn't going to give up until he was able to share that with her. I loved seeing that they made new memories, while he was trying to give her back her old memories. It was two-fold and I loved that aspect of it. I made mention a few times to some others I was discussing this with that Braxton was 100% the reason I kept reading this book. His letters and his dedication to her were everything to me. He was the definition of perfect. If I had the entire book in his POV, it would have easily been a 5 star read for me. I just really wish I warmed up to Jemma quicker. I truly do.

I found myself questioning why there were so many side stories that Perry went into great depth on when the main story was enough to keep me interested. This made for a long-winded book for me. I love meeting the supporting characters, because they are what keeps the story progressing sometimes, but when we dwell on some of the side stories instead of the main couple, it's takes away some of the focus for me. I also think the hardest part about some of the side stories were that they were almost eye-roll worthy too. The reason for her parent's break up? Um, just what? I wanted to scream *overboard*, but that wasn't my emotion to have I suppose. And the miscommunication between Brax and Jem didn't make sense after every single thing he had been doing for her....on both sides. Why didn't he explain better and why did she feel that way when he did everything for her? I am a big opponent of drama just for drama's sake, and these felt like they were added in for no reason. 

I'm very thankful I stuck this one out, even though I struggled with my rating a little bit. After the first letter, I was starting to warm up. I already knew I loved Braxton, and Perry did an amazing job letting us fall in love with him and the love he had for Jemma. He was an amazing man and Jemma was so lucky to have him in her life. So very lucky. Loves like theirs are rare to come by, and that part of the book made me feel all the love in the world. I honestly loved his letters and his POV the most. I loved Braxton. I loved his love for her. I loved his determination. I loved his heart. He was such a good man. Beautiful story, and one that I will easily recommend. It truly was a heartwarming and beautiful story. This one will stick with me for a long time to come. The concept was amazing. The story was a great one. 

ODD NOTE: I did not like the fact that she used 'apostrophes' for the dialogue where "quotations" were necessary. It was rather awkward and it caused me to have to re-read sentences because I missed the beginning of the dialogue. It made for a rough read at first (until I got used to it) because it just wasn't right to my eyes. I'm not sure if the grammar and punctuation rules are the same down under, and I realize there are different norms there than here. But I got used to it.....I think it was just the whole, once one thing starts to bother you, all the little things do too, if that makes sense. I'm sure that was the case here. This did NOT negatively impact my review at all. It was just a personal bug for me. I loved reading all the different words used that we don't use here. I had to ask a friend what a few were! I loved that part.

"What we had is far too beautiful to be forgotten."
~BEE
PURCHASE:
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2q1q3YT


~MEET JODI PERRY~
Jodi Perry is a wife and mother, and was born in Sydney, Australia. She has lived there her whole life. Under the name J. L. Perry, her previous four novels have all been #1 bestsellers in ebook: BASTARD, HOOKER, JAX, and THE BOSS. Foreign rights in BASTARD have been sold to Hungary and France where BASTARD was recently a Top 20 amazon ebook bestseller. Jodi travels annually to the UK and US to promote her books at romance events and to meet her readers. Her other titles include Luckiest Bastard, My Destiny, My Forever, Damaged and Against All Odds. NINETEEN LETTERS is her tenth novel, and debut under the name of Jodi Perry.

~CONNECT WITH JODI~

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