The Hopeless Romantics Book Blog are pleased to be a part of the Release Blitz & Review for Missy Johnson's "Out Of Reach."
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1hyVnTX
Synopsis:
My best friend was dying and I was in love with his girl.
Andy and I had been best friends since we were eight-years old.
Watching him slowly fade away, ever closer to his final breath, made me so incredibly angry. I knew there was nothing I could do to change it--I had given in to despair, but Andy had not. He had one last hand to play.
He wasn't going to simply sit back and wait for Death to claim him--not Andy. He was going to live life until he couldn't hold his eyes open any longer.
Andy didn't want to die in some sterile hospital and asked me to take him and Emily to the beach. It would be our last road trip together.
Emily. Emily was a problem for me.
I harbored a secret that would have torn our friendship apart. I was in love with Andy's girl, and had been since she'd walked into our sixth grade class, so many years ago.
So what kind of person am I? My best friend is dying, and it's awful--but my heart still aches for his girl. I hate myself for thinking beyond Andy's death and whether there could ever be a future for Emily and I, but I can't help it.
I'm in love with her.
Review: Surj Harvey
Tissues... do not go into this book without them... they're a MUST because this one will have a lump firmly lodged in your throat from start to finish and the waterworks will definitely come no matter how hard you try to suppress them. This was such an emotional yet beautiful story that will absolutely touch your soul and make you appreciate every second you have with those you love.
Life was a game and the end result was death. There was no way around that.
No restarting things because you were playing it badly. You had one shot, and that was it.
After reading the synopsis, as much as I was intrigued, I was also slightly dubious as to the direction "Out of Reach" would take, my main worry being either the possibility of cheating or the cliched scenario of best friend jumping into dead boyfriends shoes. I'm so glad neither of those things happened. Instead, Missy Johnson wrote this book realistically and tastefully, with heart and emotion. And as events unraveled, they seemed natural for the progression of the story. Not once did I feel the any aspects were rushed nor did I at any point feel uncomfortable with what I was reading. If anything, I was sucked into this book, captivated by how everything unfolded before my eyes.
You can choose who you fall in love with, but you can choose whether you act on those feelings.
And I chose not to.
"Out of Reach" told the story of childhood friends, Andy, Seth and Emily, each of them learning to come to terms to death. You see, despite fighting a long, hard battle with cancer, Andy was at the end stages of the disease... he was terminal. He'd accepted that his time was almost up and so wanted his last weeks to be spent creating precious, happy memories with those he loved (his girlfriend and his best friend). It was difficult not to be affected by Andy's character. He was just such a beautiful, selfless, loving person, always putting Emily and Seth before himself. The time he had left was about making sure they would be OK after his death and so he put his master plan to work! I loved his bucket list and I loved that he completed the tasks vicariously through his loved ones... just brilliant considering most of the tasks involved them overcoming their fears!!! LOL.
Friendships like ours were rare. They didn't come along often, so when they did you
had to make the most of them. The uniqueness of ours was we were like three
pieces to a puzzle; it didn't feel right if one was missing.
I was touched by Emily's character. She loved Andy, heart and soul and I don't think there's anyone who reads this book that would think otherwise. I felt every ounce of what she was going through, every crack in her heart, every tear spilled as she watched the man she'd loved for as long as she could remember slowly deteriorate. Truly soul destroying. And Seth... most will have made up their minds about him just from reading the synopsis but this man is so far from what you might initially think it's untrue. He sacrificed a lot ... putting friendship before all else. I couldn't begrudge the thoughts he had on occasion... he was only human after all... but the fact remained... he kept those feelings locked tightly away knowing the hurt they could cause.
It was hopeless. It was standing in a rainstorm and pretending you weren't getting wet.
"Out of Reach" wasn't necessarily a love story. Yes there was a element of that, but this was more about embracing life, it was about friendship, sacrifice, death, grieving and healing. There were moments I was close to tears but there were also uplifting moments, moments that made me laugh. Unfortunately, the undercurrent of what was to come was always there in the back of my mind though, laying heavy on my heart.
This was a beautifully written, perfectly paced, poignant, heart moving story and I rated it
4 Hearts.
Author Bio:
Missy lives in a small town in Central Victoria with her husband, and her confused pets (a dog who think she's a cat, a cat who thinks he's a dog...you get the picture).
When she's not writing, she can usually be found looking for something to read.
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