by RENEE CARLINO
See you on the other side.
Laya Marston’s husband, Cameron, a daredevil enthusiast, always said this before heading off on his next adventure. He was the complete opposite of her, ready and willing to dive off a cliff-face, or parachute across a canyon—and Laya loved him for it. But she was different: pragmatic, regimented, devoted to her career and to supporting Cameron from the sidelines of his death-defying feats.
Opposites attract, right?
But when Cameron dies suddenly and tragically, all the stages of grief go out the window. Laya becomes lost in denial, living in the delusion that Cameron will come back to her. She begins posting on his Facebook page, reminiscing about their life together, and imagining new adventures for the two of them.
Micah Evans, a young and handsome architect at Laya’s father’s firm, is also stuck––paralyzed by the banal details of his career, his friendships, and his love life. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for, only that there is someone out there who can bring energy and spirit to the humdrum of his life.
When Micah discovers Laya’s tragic and bizarre Facebook posts, he’s determined to show Laya her life is still worth living. Leaving her anonymous gifts and notes, trying to recreate the sense of adventure she once shared with her late husband, Micah finds a new passion watching Laya come out of the darkness. And Laya finds a new joy in the experiences Micah has created for her.
But for Laya, letting another man in still feels like a betrayal to her late husband. Even though Micah may be everything she could wish for, she wonders if she deserves to find happiness again.
"Scars are a testament to life."
My thoughts upon immediately starting this book: I feel like the voice in this book was one of ease, but with a quiet power behind it. You and Me, we are chatting. We are having a conversation and the prose is lighthearted, even though the subject matter has some heavy moments.
My thoughts just barely in the book: I feel like something is missing. The things that should have broken me - subject matter alone, read like I was removed from the pain and the turmoil that I should have felt while I was reading the book. Their interactions felt very clipped and robotic. There wasn't any emotion, any inflection in the voice, and there wasn't any feeling in their reactions.
My thoughts towards the end of the book: I liked it enough to try and finish it - but that clearly failed. I don't think I am hating on it - but the writing style seriously lacked in this one for me. Not exactly well written, grammatically or perfectly spelled out, but Renee's voice kinda worked for me....until it didn't. The execution lacked terribly.
This book should have been a lesson in living and letting go of a past that cannot be changed, putting a lot into perspective - love those you love, and love them often for you don't know when that will be the last time you kiss them....love them.....hug them....say goodbye to them. Or even hear their voice. But, the sad reality is who really wants to let go of their one true love? Their soulmate? The one they married, in sickness and in health, until death do they part? I did get teary-eyed a time or two, because I put myself in Laya's shoes, but it took me putting myself in her shoes, not because I was gathering that from the writing itself. I thought about what it meant to lose a love that meant everything to me. It could have been eye-opening and heartbreaking in some points, but for some reason, that wasn't expressed very well and it fell short.
Micah was a different.....breed. Sure, I can joke, but he had his hangups and his own set of issues to contend with. His overall personality made me smile, though, and that gave me pause for a few chapters. He had a heart of gold, wanted 'real' things, and made for a character that had me rooting for him in all the ways possible, but he certainly came across as if he had "problems." I'm not a huge fan of softer men in general. I like a man that is confident and strong, one that goes with purpose and determination. Micah was so different from my norm that I had to ask myself how I truly felt. Honestly, the farther I got in, it got more difficult. I was trying to reconcile his issues with the way he was written, and it came across that he was slow - but he wasn't. A Harvard educated architect should have had more depth, more gumption, more meat to his thought processes. I'm going to blame the writing style on that. He was very one-dimensional when it was all said and done.
But, then again, maybe that's why the attraction to Laya was there because she, too, was very one dimensional. No real inflection in her voice or her character's actions, yet she had this broken heart to contend with. I wish I felt the pain that she was going through. The heartbreak that she supposedly felt. The grieving she did was very out of the ordinary, and I am not entirely sure I was able to go along with it or understand it. Believe me when I say I like different, something to make me think - something out of the box. But, it was just....awkward.
I did love how two souls were blindly feeling their way through new pathways and trying to be respectful of each other, but also pursuing what they felt in their hearts to be something that needed exploring. I enjoyed the tip-toeing around the obvious emotions, but also the calming nature of Micah holding Laya and rubbing her back. This book, it was all about the little things making up the big picture and that was my favorite part. That was all very sweet and relatable, and that was nice to read. As weird as it sounds, I think it's safe to say that I got caught up in the weirdness. The awkwardness between the characters was really endearing, if I can say that as an outsider looking in.
But, when Laya started to turn down a dark road, I didn't much care for the 'demonization' of a certain character. It felt out of place given what I had already read....how I had already fallen in love with them, and now I'm feeling like it was all a ruse. I just didn't care for it and the book took a very downhill turn after this, and it continued down a very slippery slope. That kind of took me out of the book and I started to skim after that. I knew I needed to call it at that point. I don't like skimming and I don't generally finished a skimmed book.
I honestly feel like there were some transitional issues, but the storyline was great. I think Carlino missed out on the ability to embellish with feelings/adjectives because some of her points just.....stop. But having said that, I also know this is how Carlino writes - or maybe it's how she's edited, I don't know. Some parts of it leave me wanting more well-rounded, better thought out phrasing, while other parts made me really feel the storyline and the characters' actions and feelings. The staccato rhythm that came with her storytelling could really go either way. The story itself could have been a 4 for me, easily and happily - but the writing could have been cleaned up quite a bit, expounded upon, so that sits at a 2, barely. I just feel like there are missed opportunities with her ability to flesh out scenes. Instead of cluing us in on some of the characters' feelings - she let them hang and I wanted to see that play out - to give it a more rounded reading experience. She had so many opportunities to build around some scenes that could have been 'felt' more, but they kind of went stagnant and fell flat.
Overall, the writing left something to be desired, but knowing she can write a story that moves me (Before We Were Strangers, Blind Kiss) I may have given it more time, resulting in a relaxed rating in my expectations, because I knew what she was trying to say, and how she was trying to articulate it. But, I was looking for more emotion and feeling being written in and shown throughout some of the scenes. I loved and appreciated what little of Laya's pain I read, and her fear of starting over. I felt some of Micah's desires and worries about stepping on toes, or saying the wrong thing - but it really was over the top and unnecessary. I struggled more with the fact that he talked about seeing a therapist about his "thoughts" and yet, none of that was really discussed or explained through 2/3 of the book so I question if it was really necessary. It added more of an annoyance than a story arc.
Was some of it predictable? Ehh...maybe. I could see things a mile away, but they played out easily and timeline appropriate, and I was thankful for that. Overall, I liked the story, but the writing lacked emotional connectivity and embellishment. I think this was a lesson for me, knowing some of her books work for me and others just have not - I need to read before I get excited about her books from now on. I feel like this was yet another letdown for a book that commanded emotions and feelings and didn't give me any of it.
~BEE
No giveaways for DNF reviews
~MEET RENEE CARLINO~
Renée Carlino is a screenwriter and bestselling author of contemporary women's novels and new adult fiction. Her books have been featured in national publications, including USA TODAY, Huffington Post, Latina magazine, and Publisher's Weekly. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons, and their sweet dog June. When she's not at the beach with her boys or working on her next project, she likes to spend her time reading, going to concerts, and eating dark chocolate. Learn more at www.reneecarlino.com
~CONNECT WITH RENEE~
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Appreciate the honesty in your reviews. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Candice. It's not easy when you've read and loved the author before, but this one - I just couldn't make it through.
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