This was such a stunning read. I finished it yesterday but needed to sit and think about it before I wrote my review. This is not because I wasn't sure if I liked it...no, I LOVED it. This was because I needed to 1) calm my nerves after reading it 2) I needed to think about how much of the story to tell in my review.
This is the conclusion to the story that began in Everything I Left Unsaid. This is not a stand alone, and I advise you to not read this book or this review before you read book 1.
Dylan and Annie are quite a pair. They both have so painful secrets. Book 1 is really about discovering Annie's and in the beginning of this story, her crap hits the fan and she is forced to confront what she has been running from. It's an ugly scene, fraught with tension and sadness. Things happen that change Annie forever, but what doesn't change is how she feels about Dylan and how he feels about her.
The series of events in the beginning lead us to more about Dylan and his family. This book is really about his chickens coming home to roost and his crap hitting the fan.
Dylan's got a lot to work out. He is filled with a self-loathing that has very deep and well watered roots. He doesn't think he deserves anything good and believes he is incapable of bring anything good to Annie's life.
These two spend the first part of the book trying to get up the courage to push the other away. Thank goodness that when one of them is pushing, the other one is refusing to let go.
There are so many dynamics at play in the story. It is a love story, Annie and Dylan's relationship is center stage and is the motivator for them to try to fix the other situations in their lives. But, this is also a story about family and reconciliation and forgiveness.
The whole time I was reading, I kept waiting for something to happen...you feel like something really bad is about to happen or be said any minute. Almost for the entire story. You will be on tenterhooks waiting for what you KNOW is coming. And even when it happens and the characters start to move forward, you STILL know it's not over. I typically hate the kind of stories where our characters can't relax. You know what I mean- where there is uncertainty for most of the book and you wish they would just get over whatever is wrong and together? What saves this book from falling into that annoying space is that the author reveals both of the character's inner dialogues. We know that even though they are struggling to overcome some of the horrible things that happen to them, that they do want the same thing. That their hearts in the right place. We expect that once the craziness dies down, these two will find their way.
The writing in this story is excellent. The story is dark, gritty and emotional and our characters are pretty much the same. There is no glamour or elegance in this story. But, it is still beautiful and sexy and the EMOTIONS just jump off the page.
Highly recommend that you read both of these, asap. It won't take you long because you won't be able to put it down!
The ARC was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
