**Spoilers Ahead, Read On With Caution**
I’m quite excited to do a little review of this, as it’s the first book I’ve read in a while that I finished in a few hours. Literally. I’m pretty sure it was about four and a half hours in total, and I absolutely could not put it down. This is completely Colleen Hoover at her best, and I haven’t enjoyed one of her books this much since IT ENDS WITH US, NOVEMBER 9 and ALL YOUR PERFECTS. This book is definitely up there with my favourites.
“Damaged people recognise other damaged people. It’s like a club you don’t want a membership to.”
Beyah and Samson are complete opposites within life. Beyah comes from a life of poverty with an addicted mother in their trailer, and Samson is from a wealthy family with many homes. They first meet after tragedy drives Beyah to her fathers home in Texas, where she meets her new step mum and step sister. The story picks up as soon Beyah’s feet hit Texan soil and her eyes meet Samsons’. Theirs is a complex introduction, as it’s all uneven flooring, and unsteady assumptions.
“I think when you’re the worst of people, finding the worst in others becomes a survival tactic of sorts. You focus heavily on the darkness in people in hopes of masking the true shade of your own darkness.”
Something beautiful about this book is how effortless it is to read. You completely slip into the plot, into Beyah’s mind and the rush of her now-changing life. I loved the subtle first introduction we get between Beyah and Samson. The utter turmoil happening inside Beyah’s world, clashing with a dark stranger on a boat photographing her, all while she’s trying to deal with the newfound living situation with her estranged father. I love that their first meeting wasn’t vocal, it wasn’t even really a meeting. More a glance with a stranger and shared experience.
“You can fill your life with nice things, but nice things don’t fill the holes in your soul.” “What fills the holes in the soul?” Samson’s eyes scroll over my face for a few seconds. “Pieces of someone else’s soul.”
Watching the progression between Beyah and Samson grow was bar far my favourite part of this book. Seeing them become something to each other, when neither of them wanted or needed it. Knowing they both had a huge expiration date stamped on their summer, and were ready to walk away at the end of it. I loved seeing their small moments, and how they grew into big ones. Sitting on the roof under some fireworks, being in the ocean with only the moon on their skin, showering on the stilt level and laughing. Getting to experience that first love zing, and have it be authentic and undeniable. This reenforces CoHo as my favourite author, she’s effortless and articulate.
I have no doubts that I’ll read this book again and again. It’s pure sunshine on the first waves of a new day. Pure magic.
“Maybe we did grow heart bones. But what if the only way of knowing you grew a heart bone is by feeling the agony caused by the break?”
BECAUSE BOOKS 