That was, until I met Ellison James….
Since the moment I first saw her she was a raging bull; tackling me in the mud and throwing out insults as fast as her tongue could form the sound.
She was snarky
She was rude
And she pissed me off like no other woman could.
I lived beside her for a summer and in the three months that I walked by her side...
She opened my eyes
She changed my life
And she made me a better man.
5 Fantastic Stars
Review by Jen Hagen
I wish I was fluent in enough adjectives to describe this
book, but I am speechless other than to say it is beautiful, soul-searching, emotional,
and life-changing. It brought me to
tears on several occasions not only because of the content, but because of the
emotions that the author can draw along with it. I’m usually a very quick reader, but in this
particular case I savored every word and let the author place me directly into
the story and experience it in real time.
I was with the characters on every mile of their journey that they took
together, and even apart.
Hunter is enjoying the summer before he begins college as
he has lived his life for the last couple years,
--full of sex,
drugs and partying hard. His parents are
wealthy and have paid no attention to Hunter except for making certain that he
lives up to their expectations and puts on the proper façade in front of their
peers. Hunter is a genius and has been
accepted on a full scholarship to Harvard.
Hunter has no interests in life other than going to parties and snorting
lines. After one particularly bad night,
his parents finally come to the realization that Hunter is taking his life and
amenities for granted. They are sending
him off to live with his uncle in the boonies of Florida where they expect him
to live in “poverty” conditions and have no access to his money.
Hunter and Ellison butt heads the first time they
meet. She is a spitfire and will not
back down from any challenge. Nobody
stands in Ellison’s way, and nobody gets the best of her. If you think you’ve got the upper hand with
Ellison, think again. It’s best to heed
the advice of those who know Ellison up close and personal.
“I’d let her do
what she’s going to do so that you can get it over with as quickly as
possible. It’s kind of like ripping a
Band-Aid. Just let her do what she’s
going to do and eventually the sting will go away.”
Ellison is a simple girl who has a great outlook on
life. She basks in the glory of nature
and silence and heeds others to do the same.
She expects people to find the better in themselves and to make their
life worth living. Sadly, Ellison has
grown up without a mother and knows all too well that life is not a given, and
to embrace the joys found in every single day.
Hunter gets caught up in the aura surrounding Ellison and
is transfixed by the way she can take a situation and make you find the reason
for being alive. Hunter wants to be a
better person because of Ellison. She
has made him realize that he can’t always think about himself in life, he needs
to put others before him and to find what matters in his life.
Nothing was
important to me – but me. And now,
Ellison was as well. I couldn’t ignore
that annoying fact, but the epiphany was still the same. I was wasting my life. I was filling it up with pointless
distractions and I was partying to cover up the boredom and pain I was
suffering.
Although Hunter has this realization, it’s hard to
continue to fight when temptation is thrust in your face. Hunter may think he has changed and can stay
away from his indiscretions, but when given the choice to make can he stand on
his own to fight the demons away or will the past euphoric feelings overpower
him? Hunter‘s one moment of relapse
could threaten all the progress he has made forming a bond with Ellison.
Ellison was the
type of girl who gave you one chance – and if you f*cked it up, you might as well
pack your sh*t and move along. And I’d
f*cked it up. Big time.
I always enjoy hearing a male POV and the majority of
this story is told from Hunter’s POV. He
is raw with his thinking, pain evident, and humor plentiful. He is a stubborn person and he can stand his
own against Ellison. Words can’t break
her down, but actions can and he is persistent in his pursuit for forgiveness; and
of the greatest gifts that Ellison has given him, it is the art of
patience. Unfortunately time is running
short as the summer is almost over. It’s
time for Hunter to head north to Harvard.
Even if Hunter wanted to, Ellison would never let him give up his dreams
for her.
“Why can’t I just
stay here and love you?” A single tear broke free of my eye. I felt it make its path down my cheek. It grew cold against the heat of my skin and
my body trembled from the strength it took for me to keep the rest of the tears
to follow in its path. I was pleading
with her with that one sentence.
This is the emotion that I love to feel when I read…one
tear running down a guy’s face…the epitome of a broken heart made evident by
the author’s words and eliciting an equal emotional response from the reader. There are so many tears that you will
encounter in their journey. Some will be
Hunter’s, some Ellison’s, and I expect some will be yours. The epilogue will likely leave you in
tears. It is one of the most beautiful
epilogues I have ever read, and I am difficult to please when it comes to
epilogues!
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