Emma Scott

4.5 stars

This was a gem of a book. There were times that I became so engrossed in the book that time seemed to come to a standstill. The attention to details (X marks the spot or the handprint that resembled a W that symbolized the initials) were spot on. This author has a cadence to her words that seem almost lyrical at times.

Willow. I couldn't stop my heart for hurting for her. She truly embodies what it is like being a woman and fighting to erase the blemishes of the past. Isaac. Good show more lord, my heart hurt for him for entirely different reasons. He was proof that where you're from doesn't define you. Some people are just meant to shine. show less

I can't even formulate enough words to describe the feelings that I felt reading this heavy, thought provoking, realistic, and heartbreakingly beautiful tale that nearly left me drowning in a puddle of my own tears. I was like holy shit, who the fuck is Emma Scott and why did it take me this long to discover who she was?! I can hardly fathom how she was able to bring the story to life with the descriptive writing style she displayed that showcased the in-depth feelings and the gut-wrenching show more pain our leads, Max and Silas, suffered through in which case bursted through the binds of the book, leaving me buried in a pile of tissues. Sure not everything was grand with the read (no book is perfect people, let's be real!) because I did have an issue with the slow intake as well as some sensitive and triggering scenes that left a bad taste in my mouth but nevertheless everything else about this story was golden and it became damn near impossible to put this down. So bravo to the author for making this one of the most remarking end of year read for me!

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There are a few constants in my life:

1) I will continue to review books and tell everyone I know what books I love
2) I will tell anyone and everyone about my dogs
3) Emma Scott books will make me bawl my eyes out.
4) I will read EVERYTHING Emma Scott writes

MY NEW FAVE AUTHOR.

Let me just say that this is my third Emma Scott book to review, and every book I read is better and better. I love the way she writes and evokes such passion and emotion into the story where you feel as if you are not show more just reading it, you are living it like you are a part of the story. Like I said- NEW FAVE AUTHOR! These books have completely dethroned some of my long time faves.

In this book, we see a story of a ten year old boy and girl who meet by chance and hit it off. They write to each other during the years which doesn’t go as they planned as they never receive the letters.

Fate, has other plans when they meet again in an elite high school. Emery and Xander are just teens, but their feelings have never faded from years ago when they were just kids. Emery is the kind popular girl from a rich influential family and daughter of a controlling father. Xander is a genius from a less prominent family, but his dad, a genius too, has his health failing.

This story is heart breaking and soul crushing- and then in true Emma Scott fashion, she mends it all together in a beautiful way. It’s like through the mud and dirt and rain, a beautiful flower grows to show that sometimes to grow we have to be buried. I found myself smiling and laughing, and hurting along with the main characters. I felt almost every bit of emotion they did (which is a testament to the author and narrators of the audiobook). Ugh! This book gripped me by the heart and wouldn’t let go! I think it’s etched itself there along with her previous ones: ‘Full Tilt’, and ‘All In’ which is fine. I’m saving a place for all her books in my heart as the previous ones are there, and this one is now among some of my fave books I’ve ever read. This one, like the others, made me cry! BIG TIME!

If you like an emotional read with heart, please do yourself a favor and read this book. This book is heavily influenced by Romeo and Juliet (with a happy ending) with a hint of The Notebook. If you are fans of those, I think you’d love this one. I know I did. I don’t think I will forgot it anytime soon.

Themes/tropes: grief, heartbreak, family expectations, controlling parent, acceptance, found family, friendship, bonds, promises, forgiveness.

Audiobook was wonderful. Once again they chose the right narrators. It was dual narration and both did an amazing job giving life to the characters and evoking such emotion in their production. show less

Content warning for suicidal thoughts, mentions of past child abuse, and torture.

This is the second book in a series (duology?). I haven't read the first, but this book explains the setup well enough that I was able to follow along just fine. Basically, Ambri is a demon who once served another demon named Casziel. He helped Casziel free himself so that he could become human once more. This understandably caused other demons to question Ambri's loyalties, so at the beginning of this book show more Ambri is asked to prove himself by pushing a human to commit suicide.

The human Ambri picks is Cole Matheson. Not only does he have slight connections to Casziel (Ambri was a little in love with Casziel and not entirely happy when he opted to become human again), but he's also already feeling pretty depressed and hopeless. Cole is a struggling artist who's having trouble believing in his own talent, since nothing he does seems enough to capture anyone's attention and pay his bills. Ambri approaches him during a particularly low point and, instead of taking the easy route and giving him one last push into darkness, offers to become Cole's muse and patron. He's willing to pay for all of Cole's supplies and allow Cole to sell works depicting him in demon form, in exchange for a portrait of himself in his human form. Ambri was ostracized by his family before he'd even had an official portrait painted, and it's always upset him that his family members' portraits have survived while he isn't even a footnote in history books.

Ambri's demonic colleagues are understandably suspicious of Ambri's actions. Supposedly, Ambri plans to boost Cole's career before sending him crashing down into the abyss. However, as he and Cole get to know each other, the two begin to fall for each other. If Ambri goes through with his plans, he'll be responsible for the downfall of the man he loves. Even if he opts to sacrifice himself for Cole's sake, it may not be enough - there are plenty of demons who'd be more than happy to finish what Ambri started.

Facebook advertising got me on this one, but happily, it worked out. I don't usually gravitate towards angel/demon romances. The thing that snagged me with this book was Ambri - I have a soft spot for characters who seem confident and fully aware of how hot they are but who are actually great big balls of self-doubt. Ambri knows he's attractive, but bitter experience has taught him that, although people will definitely lust after him, he's not the sort of person people fall in love with. No one he's ever loved has returned his feelings enough to want to stay with him.

Until Cole, of course. Cole was the personification of artistic self-doubt, barely scraping by until Ambri showed up. His depression and worries felt very real, but I'll admit that, overall, he was a much less interesting character than Ambri. He was a nice guy, though, and it was probably a good thing he wasn't as intense as Ambri.

At some point in his history as a demon, Ambri likely did things that I would have found unforgivable. On-page, however, Ambri was a fairly pathetic demon. After he met Cole, he couldn't even bring himself to do his usual nightly seductions of random strangers. And although he technically had terrible plans for Cole, I didn't even vaguely believe he'd manage to go through with them. He was pretty much a goner the instant he arranged to be Cole's muse and patron, and if I'd had any doubts, they wouldn't have survived the scene where Cole got sick and Ambri anxiously nursed him back to health.

None of this book's emotional beats were particularly surprising, but they were executed well enough that it didn't matter. I enjoyed this overall and need to look through the author's other books at some point, to see if there are more with tropes and character types that would work for me.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less