Young Adult – K. J. Farnham

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If I had to describe The Bright Effect with one word, it would be WOW.

Without warning, this book ripped my heart apart. I felt sadness, anger, and disbelief. Out. Of. Nowhere. All after I spent more than half of the book getting to know and falling in love with three key characters. But then Doughton and Cope did something extraordinary. They slowly put my heart (and one of the characters) back together again.

During the first half, we are introduced to twins Amelia and Daphne Bright. While both girls are popular, Amelia is serious and studious, and Daphne is fun and the life of the party. These characters are so well developed, each with distinctive personalities and mannerisms. I loved both and felt as though I was right there next to them when they joked around and when they shared more tender, sisterly moments. We also get to know Sebastian (Bash), who has taken a step back from the social scene due to responsibilities at home. When Amelia and Bash cross paths, sparks fly. To my delight, their relationship develops slowly, and everything they think and say and do while they get to know each other is sweet and gives me butterflies. Knowing these three characters so well is what makes what happens midway through unbearable in so many ways.

At the beginning of the second part, I had no idea what to expect. And to be honest, the shift in mood was jarring, so I worried that I would not be okay with the ending. Well, it turns out I didn’t need to worry because Doughton and Cope knew exactly what they were doing. Bravo for handling such a sensitive topic with depth and for not glossing over the pain involved.

I should also mention how much I enjoyed the writing style of these two authors. I don’t know who wrote what, but it doesn’t even matter because the style was consistent throughout. The dialogue was great too. It was realistic and flowed beautifully.

There are so many awesome quotes in this book. Here are a few of my favorites:

“Like everyone else, she wants to pry and handle my misery like a coat that she can put on and discard whenever she feels like it.”

“The memories whisper across my arms and back, bringing up goose bumps on my flesh, haunting me like a shadow that I can never outrun.”

“The past is a condemned building we’re being evicted from and the future is nothing but a forwarding address to a place we’ve never been.”

Even though this book might break your heart like it broke mine, it’s a must-read.

GOODREADS

AMAZON

*Many thanks to the authors for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Never Never Part Two by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

October 19, 2015September 2, 2018 K. J. Farnham

Immediately after I finished Never Never part one, I purchased part two. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t immediate. I did spend a few seconds lamenting the fact that it was over and then another few seconds cursing the authors for making me buy the next part to find out WTH is going on, but part two was definitely on my Kindle within 30 seconds. That’s how good part one is.

Here I am, 12 hours later, writing my review. And if I didn’t have kids, I would have written it six hours ago.

Never Never part two picks up exactly where part one leaves off, with Silas as the narrator. Not a beat was skipped–not for us anyway. But for Silas and Charlie, they are pretty much back to square one with trying to figure out why they are suffering from memory loss. They’re also faced with an additional obstacle; they’re separated in this book! (Boooo!) So Silas is forced to work alone to discover more pieces to the puzzle.

I must admit that I was even more miffed when this one ended than I was with part one, partly because I need to buy yet another book to find out what’s going on and partly because I have to wait until next year. 😦

I love these characters (even Charlie who can be kinda bitchy at times), and I’m crossing my fingers hoping for a happily ever after for them.

GOODREADS

AMAZON

Book Reviews

Book Review: Never Never Part One by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

October 19, 2015September 2, 2018 K. J. Farnham

Over the last couple of years, I’ve purchased several Colleen Hoover books for my Kindle. The funny thing is, the more I kept hearing about them, the less urgency I felt to read them. Sometimes I’m just weird like that–not in a hurry to check out whatever is trending. Big mistake this time–HUGE–because this book is brilliant, and I have no doubt I will enjoy the rest of Hoover’s (and Fisher’s) books. Why did I wait so long to jump on the CoHo bandwagon?!

I love a good mystery, so Never Never sucked me in from the get-go. It begins with a disoriented Charlie who has no clue where she is or who she is. She quickly realizes that she’s a high school student and must go about her day gathering info (such as her own name) from fellow classmates in hopes of understanding the haze of confusion she’s under. Things become even more interesting when Charlie realizes she’s not alone. Silas, her apparent boyfriend, seems to be suffering from the same inexplicable memory loss. From that point on, Charlie and Silas know they have to work together to figure out what’s going on.

This story is fast-paced and written in a way that made me feel like I was watching a movie. Now that’s good writing. Pieces of the puzzle are expertly revealed via the alternating perspectives of Charlie and Silas. Not only was I dying to find out what has caused the couple to lose their memories, but I also wanted so badly to know the status of their relationship. You see, they’re a couple, yet they aren’t. What’s even more intriguing is that their relationship seems to be tied to whatever has caused the memory loss.

Now, even if I was one to share spoilers, I wouldn’t be able to in this case because you have to buy parts two and three to find out exactly what’s going on! And that’s the only gripe I have with Never Never. It ends with the worst possible cliffhanger EVER! Or maybe worst isn’t the right word. Maybe I should say best because I one-clicked part 2 immediately.

If you enjoy mystery, suspense and young, rapturous love (and don’t mind cliffhangers that require you to purchase subsequent parts to find out what happens), I highly recommend Never Never.

Memorable Quotes: