Sam's Reading: A Work in Progress

1/14/18 Reread: I think if you count the times I go back and reread the book nearly immediately, this might be my 6th or 7th time. What astounds me about this book is how heavily incorporated all the motifs are- the opposites, the mirrors, the blue. I ridiculously JUST noticed that the were both in robin's egg blue for the first time they undress each other. So much so that there are times that on this 6th or 7th reread I feel like I find new things, and am astounded over again by the strength and consistency of the writing. I even found lines that I'd missed highlighting before!

I've said in conversations about this book on this site that the first person really works here because I feel like Joshua is is the plot, and you would think that would be a drawback, but it isn't. It really isn't. I'm not sure this will help my book slump, but it sure helped for the few hours I got to read it.

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9/7/17 Reread: Yep, it's better every time. Yep, sometimes I still read 4 pages, turn back and reread them. Yep, I am totally anxious about how Sally Thorne follow this up. Then again, does it matter? If I'm disappointed or in a slump or think of robin's egg blue or mirrors or recommend this book to someone else or see one of my friends re/reading it, I'll just happily crack it open again.

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Original Review: This book was a delight, honestly. The dialogue was so strong (apart from a cringeworthy love declaration due to a bad word choice), it built romance so well, developed the relationship so well, it leaves you breathless and reading then rereading passages again and again. So many quotable lines and passages, especially in context. I don't always like a delay of gratification - waiting for the big scene till 80% of the book, but this was so well done that the anticipation itself was also delicious.

"I die when you blink." has to be one of the most original and swoonworthy lines every uttered. There's more...
"When I kiss him, his exhalation is long, until he's completely empty. I want to fill him back up. I don't realize it until a few minutes of dreamy, melting minutes have passed that I've been talking to him with my kiss. You matter. You're important to me. This matters."

"I love him so much it's like a thread piercing me. Punching holes. Dragging through. Stitching love into me. I'll never be able to untangle myself from this feeling. The color of love is surely this robin's egg blue."
"It's the strangest sensation. I need to confide in him. He's the one person I should not trust, but I'm nearly bursting with the secret that I love him and it is hurting me."
"When our mouths touch it's like it's for the first time. Now that I have this page blue love running through me, the intensity is too much. I try to pull back but he smoothly lays me back."
"I do, I'm sorry, but I work fast. I hopes it's not too forward of me to say, but your eyes are incredible, Lucy, I die when you blink."

I just love how unexpected and layered the hero is, and how open and beautiful the heroine is. Needless to say, this book just worked for me.