Jennifer Millikin

Very sweet second chance romance

I enjoyed how Addison and Brady had stories that were parallel to each other in certain aspects. Especially the twist at the end. This was beautifully written and the author really delved into character interaction and the slow-building friendship.

These steamy times we're not explicit. More inferred on what they were doing and then fade to black. So if you're looking for more erotic scenes this would not be your favorite. However, you'd miss a great story.… (mais)

Beyond the pale is an idiomatic expression which means outside the bounds of normal or acceptable behavior. For me, this would also describe the kind of friendship the three main characters of this story have. Lennon Davies. Finn Jeffries. Brady Sterling. Outrageous and intolerable. Finn and Brady are bestfriends since grade school. In third grade, they met Lennon. She became the third member of the group. From then on, they were inseparable and have always been there for each other through thick and thin, but all that changed when something happened on the night of their high school graduation. These three went on their separate ways until their paths crossed again when Lennon's mom died. When Lennon goes back to Agua Mesa, Finn and Brady are bound to be there too. What would their reunion be like? Are things going to be like they were before?

I remember feeling varied emotions when I was reading this story. It invoked a lot of feelings. I mostly felt for Lennon. She has a crappy home life. She doesn't feel loved by her mom. But I think, she also has the best friends in the whole wide world - Finn and Brady. These two would bring down the moon for her if she asks them to. That's how thick these three are. Their friendship is to be envied.

Of all the books of Millikin that I've read, this is probably the most shocking and most surprising. On the first chapter alone, I already felt the tension, the apprehension and the drama that is going to unfold. I was pulled helplessly into the love triangle and the intertwined and complicated relationship of these three main characters. I felt like their reunion is going to bring back old wound, things that were left unspoken will be hinted at and things that were left alone or were swept under the rug will likely to be unearthed. I felt that electrifying and live tension in the air. It felt like I too was walking on eggshells.

I would say that this story had me asking a lot of questions after it ended. I had this sudden urge to find and talk to someone who've just read the story and ask, "WHAT THE F%%% JUST HAPPENED?" (Yes, all in CAPS.) We have to compare notes. I had to go back to the last few pages or probably the last two chapters to make sure I got it right and that my reaction was justified. And I did get it right. I wasn't hallucinating or even imagining. That was the part that did me in. That was the part which made this book "Oh, so beyond the pale." Until now, months after reading this book, I still feel like at a loss. I still can't believe it. It made me ask myself, "what if I were Lennon, would that experience shape me to be a better person or mess me up more? Would it change the way I see life in general? Would I be thankful for it or would it make me loathe myself? These are just a few of the questions running through my head. At the same time, I was also in awe as to the lengths one would go in the name of friendship and love. And I don't blame them. If I Brady or Finn, I would have probably done anything in my power to save Lennon from any more heartaches and desperation. I think, for once in our life, we all experience that one moment where we are called to do something beyond the pale. Something that is maybe beyond the bounds of reason. I call it something you do or a decision born out of a moment of temporary madness. Or if you're insane most of the time, something you do on a very rare lucid interval. Something you might actually regret but if you're asked if you would do it again, you would still do it without a moment's hesitation. It's one of those decisions which you might not ever dream of making but then you will commit to it again, a thousand times over because you know you're doing it for someone you love more than your life. I have once been on that kind of situation and I would say, if I had to go through that again, I'd still do it - a thousand times over. Just like a hero willing to go through that painful and gruesome death over and over again even in the next lifetime, only because he knows that the sacrifice would be so worth it.

With that said, I give this book 5/5 Lincoln's. The five-dollar bill is so significant in this story because it somehow marked the start of that unbreakable bond between Finn and Lennon. Who Lennon ends up with is also one of the many questions I asked. Who could the lucky guy be - Finn or Brady? I had my own bet and how I came up with that was by imagining "if I were Lennon", which actually happened a lot in the course of reading this story. I think, you won't get the full experience of this wonderful tale if you've never ever felt like you were actually Lennon. It's a requirement. At some point, you not only need to empathize with Lennon but you have be her in order to fully understand the dynamics between the characters and the essence of the story. You have to experience Lennon at some point and only then are you allowed to judge how and why the characters are who they are. If you were just a bystander unable to partake in the intimate experience, then you have not fully grasped the intention of this book. So yes, it would take a while for you to debrief after reading this. You will end up with a lot of questions as I have. And believe me, you will try to analyze the events of the story like it's the most important thing in the universe because you have to make sure that you understand what's really written between the lines and what has been implied. Yes, this is probably one of the best-written stories that had stayed with me days or even months after because I can't seem to get over it. It sticks with you like that stubborn gum in your shoe that you can't seem to wipe off.

Maybe that's how life goes. Perhaps we aren't a collection of the hearts we break, the love we fail into, or the experiences we have. We start out whole, and as we go through life, we carve out pieces of ourselves and leave them behind. Maybe we pick up the pieces of others, and stitch them onto us, until we are a fabric made of everyone else.
- Jennifer Millikin, Beyond the Pale -

Thanks again, Jennifer Millikin for the ARC. I had a great time reading this story and I think this has been one of your best stories yet.… (mais)