The Hopeless Romantics Book Blog are pleased to be a part of the Blog Tour & Giveaway for Angie McKeon's "Against all Odds."
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1fXZf3g
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1staAhk
Synopsis:
Our lives shattered... Our hearts broken... Our souls torn to pieces...
He was my world, my whole life. My reason for breathing. I had a perfect marriage, a baby on the way, and I felt fulfilled—almost invincible.
Until the day life hit, leaving me broken, vulnerable, and alone.
She was my life. My ray of hope on the cloudiest day. With her, I thought I had the ultimate safety. A love that would never hurt or betray me. I gave her my heart, my body, and my soul.
Until she broke me, destroying every dream and illusion I had about life, love, and marriage.
In our grief, we made a mistake. A mistake I'm not sure we can come back from.
Blog Tour Review: Surj Harvey
Holy smokes Angie McKeon, for a debut novel, this was brilliant. Your choice of subject matter was most definitely a controversial one but I feel you executed it perfectly. There was no sugar coating on your part and instead, I was given an raw, honest and even brutal account of everything this couple went through, every ounce of pain encountered and it hurt like a mo fo.
Even though I can feel, I'm dead. My heart and soul are dead,
and I have no intention of living again.
Kylie and Cooper had the perfect life. It was filled with love and happiness, hopes and dreams until tragedy snatched it all from under them leaving what can only be described as an empty shell of a marriage. As they struggled to come to terms with their loss, instead of finding solace in one another, they slowly but surely not only destroyed themselves but everything they had shared causing unimaginable pain in the process. The first 50% of this book made for uncomfortable reading as I watched Kylie and Cooper make poor decision after poor decision. Rules were broken, lines were blurred and morals went out of the window as I watched this train wreck of a marriage crumble. Anger, frustration and heart break consumed me and I could have shaken the characters. WTF were they doing?
But love shouldn't fuck us up like this. Love shouldn't incinerate our souls, suck us dry, or kill us. Love shouldn't feel like work. And this-- this is work. As much as my body screams for you,
my heart is dying. There are moments I wish I could flip a switch and feel nothing. I would give anything to feel numb, because the constant ache within the center of my chest is killing me.
Initially, Kylie's character confused me. I just couldn't understand what she was playing at. Her behaviour infuriated me to the point of wanting to throw my kindle across the room. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion and every thing she did seemed to add fuel to an already burning fire. I didn't get it. But then I started getting the flash backs and things started to become clearer.
I'm playing with knives. I can feel myself getting cut. Not once, but repeatedly.
That's not to say I agreed with what she did but this was a woman who hadn't grieved, who hadn't come to terms with her loss and felt completely alone in the world. She craved Cooper who was lost in his own grief.
To be honest, I didn't gel with Cooper's character initially either. He came across as cold, very matter of fact and it was like the love he had once felt for his wife had completely disintegrated. It didn't help that the first half of the book was told from Kylie's POV so everything I felt for this man was through her eyes. Lucky for him because I got his POV in the second half of the book and I soooo softened towards him. This was a man who was hurting, who felt so helpless. He wasn't a saint in all of this but his chapters certainly helped to redeem him somewhat.
So onto Grayson... the third wheel in all of this fuckedupness. Unfortunately as much as most people swooned for him, he made my blood boil. I wanted to like him but he did nothing to help his cause. I guess I was rooting for Cooper and Kylie and this son of a bitch was getting in the way... stirring everything up. I know his intentions were good but listen to what your friends are saying and leave them be for gods sake!!!
" ... love isn't perfect. It doesn't come in pretty packages. Sometimes it dents and bruises
and doesthings it regrets, but it also forgives, and shows mercy, and supports.
It soothes and fights to the death."
The writing in "Against all Odds" was perfect and I would never have guessed it had come from a first time author but this book was such a pain in the ass to read because of everything it made me feel. Angie McKeon has a way with the words and managed to draw so many emotions from me. Add the flashbacks in to the equation and I was completely drained by the end (but it was worth it). The story was definitely unique and absolutely took balls to write because I know so many readers try to steer clear of this subject matter. Life isn't always pretty. It isn't always a bed of roses and sometimes people lose their way a little... go off the rails so to speak and this book showed that in its rawest form. Thank you for a great but emotional read. I can't wait to read more from this author... roll on Grayson's book. I rated "Against all Odds" 4 Hearts
Excerpt:
“Look at me, Kylie,” he says.
If I look at him, I’ll die. My heart will crumble, and I won’t make it out of his office. I can’t do it. The pain is unbearable. When I leave here, he’s with her. The thought of him with her, while I’m pining away for him makes me sick.
It destroys me.
“Please, Ky. I need you to look at me. Don’t do this. Don’t play fucking games with me. I need you to look at me now.”
Just do it. Suck it up.
I turn around and look at him with tears in my eyes and distress smeared across my features like paint on a canvas. My body seeps anguish I can’t hide. I can never hide my heart. My feelings are always written on every seam of my face, every angle of my form. My distress penetrates the air around me, pulling him into my suffering, entangling and entrapping him within the storm that rages in me. I’m broken without him and I’ve been without him for so long that I’ve lost pieces of myself along the way. The jar that holds the last of my heart is about to shatter until nothing is left but shards of the woman I used to be.
“I can’t take this anymore,” I whisper, my voice broken. “We need to talk about us over dinner.”
I can’t give a voice to my thoughts. If nothing changes between now and then, our marriage can’t go on. He’s killing me, and I’m killing him. Together, we’re a car wreck heading straight for a cliff. A cliff that spans a mountain. We are on our way to certain emotional death and this ride’s something I don’t want to be a part of anymore. I want off.
His eyes pierce mine, and I know he knows what I’m thinking. He looks stunned, and for a split second, I see fear. Cold, fucking fear. He sees everything I need him to see and more. I hope he gets it. I hope he understands that this might be the end of our road. We need to have something to work for, or we have nothing. I love him, but this love hurts. It hurts in a way I would’ve never dreamed it could.
Author Info:
A multi-tasker from birth—and now proudly able to add 'writer' to my resume—I'm a mother, wife and blogger. I love to read, write and drink copious amounts of iced coffee.
All three aforementioned addictions are detrimental to my sanity.
I have a voracious appetite for dark, painful and twisted reads. I'm enamored with the concept of love and heart break. I believe life is a journey, a tale in its own for each of us. The road to happiness is sometimes paved with stones from hell, or glitters of satisfaction graced from the heavens above.
In my upcoming debut novel, 'Against All Odds,' I strive to make you feel. I believe any emotion—whether painful or happy—is good. To me, the key to living is to go through life feeling its ups and downs. Love is dark and it can be painful but, at the end of the day, it can save the most lost of souls and the most broken of hearts
Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Angie_McKeon
Website: http://angiemckeon.blogspot.com/
Giveaway:
I want to read it because I heard a lot of great things from this.
ReplyDeleteThank you