Review: "Toxic" by Rachel Van Dyken


"All we had were moments strung together. Each one is over in a blink of an eye."


There are books that capture your attention from cover to cover, and then there are those extraordinary books that stay with you long after you've put them back on your shelves or turned off your e-reader. Toxic by Rachel Van Dyken definitely falls into the latter group. ^.^

Toxic is the second book in the Ruin series and turns the spotlight on Gabe Hyde, recovering manwhore with a heart of gold and best friend of Weston Michels, male lead character of Ruin and all-around good guy. He certainly made his mark in the first book and I was thrilled that readers finally get to know his story...and what a story it is!

"A guy's gotta wonder if it's just in his destiny to never be found."


Gabe has a secret and he goes to whatever lengths necessary to make sure it stays a secret. He has a past and is reminded of and confronted by the consequences of his actions in one of the most painful ways possible. He tries to live his life by his own rules, sticking to his circle of friends--Wes, Kiersten Rowe (Wes' fiancée), and Lisa (okay, I still don't know Lisa's last name and this is the second book), Gabe's cousin and Kiersten's roommate--and just graduating from college. Then he meets Saylor (nope, no last name either), a freshman studying music theory, and his world turns right-side up (yup, that's what I meant to write).

"If I could breathe you in, all of you, every day of my life, it wouldn't be enough."


I'll be honest and admit that I wasn't a fan of Saylor's in the beginning. The girl had a bad habit of making assumptions when it came to Gabe and that just bugged the heck out of me. As the story went on and Saylor slowly realized she had Gabe pegged all wrong, she grew on me. She turned out to have a really good heart and the things she did for Gabe later on were always done out of love. When they were together, there was always this spark, this chemistry. They were simply inevitable.

"Because in the end...that's all I was--broken.  A shell of a human."


And Gabe? I truly felt for the guy. From someone who seemed to be on top of the world only to fall off the face of the earth after tragedy strikes, to him being who he is today... It was as if he never really lived life the way he wanted to, even under anonymity. Gabe wasn't perfect but once you learn his story, you get such a better understanding of him and you can't help but love him for being perfectly imperfect.  ^.^

"Forever. We have until forever."


Remember what I said somewhere at the beginning of this review? There are books that just stay with you. I read Toxic more than a week ago and I read its predecessor, Ruin, nearly a year ago. Both these books have stayed with me. The stories and the characters for both books are simply unforgettable. ^.^ I'll re-post my Goodreads review of Ruin here on my book blog soon (possibly this week). 

There's something about Rachel Van Dyken that makes her weave these wonderfully memorable stories about characters who aren't one-dimensional and who make you want to believe in the power of true love. I've only had the privilege of reading three of Ms. Van Dyken's books, all of which are part of the Ruin series (my review for Reckless will be my next post), but each one has brought something unexpected to the table, something I appreciate whenever I'm fortunate enough to find in the books I read. ♥

So, do I think you should read Toxic? Hell yeah. I think my five-star rating tells you just how much I think you should add this beautiful tale to your reading list. I smiled, I laughed, I got teary-eyed, and I just LOVED everything this book had to offer. Toxic is on my list of best reads for 2014. ^.^ And when you buy your copy of Toxic, make sure you buy Ruin as well. ^.^ You won't regret buying either of them.  ♥

Date read: 06 July 2014

Learn more about the gifted Rachel Van Dyken here.

You can buy Toxic and Ms. Van Dyken's other books on Amazon | Barnes & Noble.

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