Review: Until We Break by Jamie Howard
Note: This ARC was provided by St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.
"I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work. Are you sure you want to play this game with me, Luke? Because let me be very clear about something: I play to win, and I don't care what casualties I leave along the way."
Still nursing a broken heart after learning her boyfriend spent most of their relationship cheating on her with different women, eighteen-year-old Sloane Avery vows to spend her summer in Briscoll Bay staying as far away from guys like nineteen-year-old Luke Evans, the town's go-to guy if you're looking for no-strings-attached sex. But it appears that fate has a way of throwing Sloane and Luke together, and while Sloane may have pre-conceived notions of him, the more time she spends with him, the more she realizes that there's more to him than being the local manwhore. They try to be friends, but the simmering attraction between them is difficult to ignore. A life-changing tragedy changes things between them more than once, leading them to one unforgettable night together and a day after that leaves two broken hearts.
It takes five years before Sloane is brought back to Briscoll Bay by her grandmother's plea, but she isn't the same Sloane that Luke fell for. She's jaded and cold and has no qualms using her words to tear people apart, whether in one fell swoop or piece by piece. Luke believes that the Sloane he met five years ago can still be found somewhere beneath the new, hard exterior. But Luke's grown up since they last saw each other and his life has changed in more ways than one. The one thing that appears to have remained the same, however, is his reaction whenever Sloane is around. There was a time that the impossible seemed possible for these two, but with Sloane vowing to never give Luke any opportunity to crush her heart once more, getting back to how things were is something that may not happen until one or both of them break.
Holy book debuts, bookaholics! When I was invited to read and review this debut release, I took one look at the synopsis and went for it, thinking this was going to be a pleasant second chance romance with a bit of angst here and there. But nope! Until We Break threw me for a loop, with a heartrendingly painful story between two teenagers who seem to start off on the wrong foot and find an unexpected kind of love during the summer only to have everything turn on its head by one terrible betrayal. The story is told in two parts--the first one from the summer and the second five years later. It was fascinating to read how both lead characters, Sloane Avery and Luke Evans, were when they spend their first summer together in Briscoll Bay and how they've both changed when their paths expectantly cross again after five years apart.
With Sloane and Luke being as young as they were five years ago, they were bound to do thoughtless things and make ill-conceived choices. More often than not, it was easier to walk or run away from a situation rather than confront it and that can lead to even worse decisions being made. They both made assumptions that were going to lead them down very different avenues, so that when they meet again, so much has changed and it's almost as if they've swapped places. There were a number of times that I so wanted to shake these two to make them see the error of their ways, but sometimes you need to learn fall in order to get back up again. There were a few surprises in the story that certainly strengthened my belief that this wasn't your run-of-the-mill second chance romance and with that, I am one satisfied bookaholic.
Now, don't think that this was all angsty and drama-filled. You'll end up sadly mistaken, because there were quite a few moments of lightheartedness, courtesy of the notable supporting characters, especially Blaire Avery, Sloane's younger sister, and Gran Bunny, their grandmother. This book had one of the most memorable main character pairings I've come across in quite a while, and I can't help but give kudos to the author for making Sloane unapologetically real in her pain and anger. She did things in this book that I'm sure many women only dream about doing to those who have hurt and crossed them. I'm thinking this is the first in a still-untitled series since the author's next book, Until It's Right, is about another supporting character here. Of course, I could be wrong, but either way, Until We Break is a five-plus-star must-read. ♥
Release Date: 10 November 2015
Date Read: 10 November 2015
Learn more about Jamie Howard.
Comments
Post a Comment