Left Drowning - Jessica Park
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| Left Drowning, is haunting, heartbreaking, and emotionally charged. It will leave you reeling long after you have finished. It is a MUST READ! Synopsis
What does it take to rise from life’s depths, swim against
the current, and breathe?
Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep
her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College.
Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an
undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past
may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris
pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half
her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps
her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into
calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s
traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be
the only person who can keep him from drowning.**This book is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.** Left Drowning Amazon.com Left Drowning Amazon.ca Left Drowning Amazon.uk My Review "I see perfection in things that are likely considered imperfections to others." I am writing this review directly after finishing Left Drowning, in order to process. This book was a very emotional 5++ stars! I created a new shelf on my Goodreads lists just for this book! "Reality is not necessarily my friend - then again, neither are dreams - but this moment, this reality, is beautiful. I am alone without being lonely, for once, staring across the water and watching the sun begin its climb into the clear blue sky." A young woman suffers an incredible loss, while at the exact same time a young man escapes the fear and torture that has become his life. While two die, three escape with their lives. Scarred, tormented, broken, but they survive. .. "Death and grief make everyone around you vanish because death and grief are intolerable." This book builds slowly, when I first met the characters Blythe, Sabin, Chris, James, Zach, Eric and Estelle, I was taken aback by how real they were. I mean truly real, in a non apologetic, honest, and realistic way. They are college students and they act like college students. The banter and conversations that take place, I could actually hear them in my mind. This book played out in in front of my eyes as clear as if I watching it on the big screen. It was heartbreaking, realistic, traumatic, unapologetic, honest and unwavering. The subject matter in this book is difficult to read in many places, as the memories of the abuse, the emotional and physical scars are so vivid, you are transported to their world. I was so engrossed in this book, everything just faded away, and when I finished I was just.... just.... breathe. "And he thinks about the future and how this present hell is not forever. It's just pain." Two people drawn together by events uncontrollable. Lives intertwined so completely you cannot see where one begins and the other ends. The characters in this book are family, in every sense of the word. Love unconditional, unyielding support, patience, undeniable chemistry, compassion, forgiveness, and healing, are what makes this book extraordinary. "I am. It's a constant struggle to stay near the surface. I have just enough air to stop me from totally going under, but not enough to thrive." The author breaks your heart over and over, throughout this book "You are the great love of my life that I'm never going to have." "She raises hers, too, and they reach out as though they are touching palm to palm. Her fingers fold as if they are falling between his, and Chris makes the same motion. She has become part of him, this girl, and he lowers his hands to rest over his heart. He will keep her there always." I felt like I was on a roller coaster, throughout the entire read. That being said, what she shatters, she heals, and in the end, you are left, just sitting. Processing, smiling, crying, and sighing with relief and happiness. Happiness that love can heal, truly heal and help you move forward. Love can heal you, you can move past survival, it can let you live, freeing you from the past, allowing to look forward and finally accept and anticipate your future. "I am overwhelmingly in love with you," Chris says as he matches my steps. "I've spent most of my life thinking that my father never gave me anything but pain. But that's not true. He did give me something. Someone. You. He gave me you." Left Drowning, is haunting, heartbreaking, and emotionally charged. It will leave you reeling long after you have finished. It is a MUST READ! |
