heartbreaking and beautiful that's basically what I can come up with at ...
934672
Touching ,heartbreaking and beautiful that's basically what I can come up with at the moment to describe how good this book is,for months I've seem Autumn share her work in progress and the outcome, the outcome I tell you is one of the best books I've read this year! It made me cry,broke my heart,made me swoon ...Loved it all! Great book!!
2907529
Beautiful and heartbreaking, as the horror of separation slowly makes itself known to the characters and the reader. Russian Olive to Red King is the latest joint work by Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen (Moving Pictures).

Its billed as a romance, but as the artists post, thats misleading. Olive is leaving on a work trip, and Red, left behind, has his own work to do. However, on a research trip in a small plan into the Russian wilderness, theres an accident.

One cant help but read into the edges, as someone nags Red for an overdue project, the life of the artist. Gorgeous setting shots punctuate each chapter, getting more and more cold and remote as events continue. Its beautifully illustrated, which makes the harsh story all the more powerful, particularly with the contrast with the warm, often orange coloring. Its a disturbing book, one that, like all their books together, requires significant involvement from the reader.

Due to the pacing of the story, theres an overall air of inevitability about many of the events. Thats whats so horrific  knowing that something terrible is going to happen and being unable to do anything but try to figure out a way to cope with it. Visually, Olive is dropping bits and pieces of her life behind her as she wanders the wilderness.

The second half (well, last third) of the book is Reds essay about death and absence, accompanied by a series of images that reveal themselves as a metaphor at the end.  (Review originally posted at ComicsWorthReading.com.)
3616537
This is a heartbreaking, beautiful story about a topic about which most of us are unaware. The characters are real and their personal journeys pull us in. For me, it is so important to be invested in the characters and this will not disappoint..
511967
Heartbreaking...powerful... wow..I can't even describe it with the rights words to give this book justice.
1190333
This is a hard one to rate because I am torn between it's too sad to be good, and it's beautifully, hauntingly good because it's so sad. In the end I've decided that it will be sticking with me for a long, long time and is sad in a positive way -- even though I did almost rip the book in two at a certain point.
The story of Marsden and Linnie is classic romance, the highest honor to love ever after, forever and ever. The ultimate of love  and togetherness.
On a side note, this novella is set during Christmas, and this is May. I guess either it wasn't ready for our Christmas just past in 2016, or an opportunity presented itself to get it out early in 2017.
Whichever the case may be, it packs a mighty emotional wallop.
2127836
Initial Thoughts: This book almost destroyed me. Heartbreaking.

Full Review:
Forbidden was very thought-provoking and I found myself, at times, both disgusted and sympathetic in equal measure. Having reflected on it for a few days, it is hard to look at the love between Lochan and Maya as wrong even if that is how society categorizes it.

Their family situation is completely dysfunctional. They were quasi-parents to their younger siblings, and they never really had a traditional brother and sister relationship. I couldn't help wondering if they'd had a normal upbringing would they have fallen in love or were they always destined for one another irrespective of their environment and their circumstances? It's an interesting question and one that's had me thinking about this book several days after I finished it.

Modern society has a genuine reason for saying no to incest - proven birth defects in any children born of incestuous relationships. And I get that, but my mind was contemplating all kinds of scenarios whereby it could be permitted - what if it was allowed and both parties agreed to sterilization, then the risk is eliminated. Of course, that wouldn't solve the stigma or the myriad of other issues, and I'm not saying every government should rush out and change their laws because it's a hugely sensitive complex issue, but I would genuinely feel for any couple like Lochie and Maya and believe it's wrong that society says they can't be together.

Characterization was superb in this book, with emotional depth and plenty of substance. I felt both of their pain as they struggled with their feelings for one another - as they tried valiantly to fight their attraction and burning need for one another. The irony is that the family unit was actually stronger when they were together - it made sense.

Their parents should be strung up for their neglect and I wanted to hurl my Kindle a few times, such was my loathing for both mum and dad.

I knew this wasn't going to end well but that finale still KILLED me - I was sobbing my heart out for ages and I felt an actual pain in my heart. It was horrific but compelling.

I applaud the author for her ability to tackle such a complex subject with sensitivity and grit. It was never glorified or ridiculed.

The writing was breathtaking if a little over descriptive at times - I did skim a bit.

In summary, this book had a deep impact on me and I love books that challenge my thinking and challenge social norms. This one will definitely stay with me for a long time.
4713850
The heroine, one tough girl named "Girl," looks hard for love in this reversal of the Amercian pilgrimage story, going from the west back into the heartland. The prose is tough at first, as Girl is one tough young adult, very real. But the relentlessness of the prose in it's pacing, language, and clipped style, portrays perfectly the angular, alienated, alienating world of disenfrancished, love- and money-improverished youth. I really get under Girl's skin, feel what it's like to feel that lost.

What I love most about this heartbreaking story is that she keeps looking for love no matter what, everywhere, willing to take any offered thread, but then hopelessly tossing out what's offered in confusion and pain. This feels so like real life, rather than the romances of found love, that it makes my heart crack. I cry in the end, at the hopelessness of Girl's situation, at how long she has searched, and how long she will probably go on searching.

For me, this story is about the search for the love we never got from Mother, and the search for love and truth in the heartland. Just as our own alienated families have disappointed and betrayed us, so has the country. The American Dream is dead. The fields have gone fallow.

In the end, for me, this was not a hopeful story, but painfully true to life.
7267
Ahh. This was heartbreakingly beautiful. I really didn't expect this type of story from the author. I was pleasantly surprised. I can't even really wrap my head around the events in the story. It made me cry, and I'm not normally a crier.
2734811
I finished this book at 2 AM last night and I can't stop thinking about it. It made me happy. It made my sad. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It me proud. It made me empathize. It made me excited. It made me hope. It made me believe in fate and it made me feel true love and forgiveness.

Every emotion Sky went through, I went through. The conversation she had with herself was so beautiful and heartbreaking and therapeutic for her.

Holder's ability to know exactly what to say and do at the moment that she needs it most is proof positive that what happened in their lives up until the grocery store was meant to happen that exact same way because it made them who they are and brought them together.

The memories will keep coming - good and bad. But they, Sky & Holder will get through it together, forever.

I will be 39 next week and I got the reading bug when I was 16 with Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews and I have never, ever read a book that effected me so strongly. It has been almost 12 hours since finishing and I am still crying. Crying because my heart breaks for that little girl and my heart swells for the women that she is and the unconditional love that now envelopes her.

***disclaimer*** Although this book's main characters are 17-19 years old, as a mother of a 13 yr old girl, it should not be read by those younger than 18. Anything younger than that, would be way too much emotion for them to handle.
3946758
I was looking for a standalone to kill some time while waiting for a friend and jumped into this story.  I had been looking forward to reading it and time was on my side.  Let me just say WOW.  This book was so heavy, it had its comedic moments but overall it was a deep read.  At least for me.  The book revolves around siblings, kind of since Scout is not blood related to them, coming together during the last days of their father's life.  Each sibling is dealing with their own hang-ups and issues while they have to wait for the inevitable outcome.  Each siblings story is just so heartbreaking, but underneath it all is a beautiful love that unfolds.  I really worry that I'll say to much and spoil the story for someone else.  Let me just conclude with have a tissue ready, you will tear up, and although you get your HEA to me is was a little bittersweet.  I'm not knocking it in any way, but I didn't really leave smiling a big goofy grin, more of a heartfelt knowledge.
983659
I can't even put into words just how incredible this is. I LITERALLY cannot. This is just so.... I don't quite understand how to breathe or live or function anymore. I don't know if these are tears, or my SOUL POURING FROM MY EYES. Can one even LIVE properly after reading something so beautiful, amazing, and heart-breaking? Honestly, there really aren't any words I can put together to share with you the beauty and impact of this book. No matter how hard I try. I just can't. All I can do is cry and hope that people will take away from this book, not that it was just a good book they were glad to stumble upon, but take away the, I don't quite know how to phrase it, really, the outlook on the the way things are. How things have to be. How things can't be, no matter how hard you wish for them. And, just how things are. To some, it may seem depressing or sappy, but I say that it's just.... well.... the only way to know how amazing this is, is to read it yourself. You will NOT regret it."Okay?"
4817143
I will start off by saying this: trigger warnings. All the trigger warnings. This is a heartbreaking book and the main character experiences, as NPR stated, "the harshest childhoods in fiction."

That aside, wow. WOW. This book is beautiful, haunting, twisting (and twisted) and, as I mentioned, heartbreaking. The book begins by diving into the middle of 4 best friends' twenty-something lives -- in the beginning I had a hard time keeping each one straight. After spending short sections of the book focusing a bit on each one, I saw that Jude would be the main focus of the book. Jude is hard working, loyal, tortured, and self-hating. From the outside his life seems forward-moving and fortunate, even. Inwardly, Jude struggles to overcome his incredibly painful childhood, despite being surrounded by wonderful friends and a loving family who legally adopted him as an adult. As the book follows Jude and his friends and family throughout his adult life, Hanya Yanagihara spends sections of the book providing flashbacks of Jude's childhood, painting a clear picture of where he's come through and providing the reader with understanding of who he is and why is the way he is as an adult.

I won't give anything else away, but I will say it is one of the best books I've read this year. I won't soon forget Jude and his friends and family. This book is recommended for those who like sobbing so hard your tears blur the words on the page in front of you.
4640606
It is such a beautiful story and it made me so incredibly sad. When a person loses touch with their emotions and insticts, like a lot of us do nowadays, the consequences can be very destructive.
3844858
When you talk about epic reads, or those stories that pull your heart strings until their taught, The Air He Breathes, is in that group that readers hold close to their hearts. There is one difference. The Air He Breathes is a story that is heartbreakingly beautiful, that it makes me contemplate how ever Brittainy found it in herself to finish writing. The strength she must possess as a writer to allow her characters to tell their story, this story, is amazing, and The Air He Breathes sits on a shelf on its own, basking in its own glory of love lost, of heartbreak no person should endure, and of a love reborn but still with its flaws.

  I WILL NOT be that reviewer who will shed any light on the contents of this book. I may have received an advanced readers copy, but just like most, I only had the blurb to read that made me want to read further. I mean, its also a Brittainy C. Cherry read, to me, that in itself makes me want to read without warrant. But yes, I did go in reading this story blind if you will. And thats how I want everyone else who picks up this MUST READ story. At no point was I disappointed in the words I read. At no point did I have a grasp of where the words were going to take me. At no point was I not swimming on the brink of tears. At no time did I regret my time that I spent In The Air He Breathes. As emotional as it was, tragic even, the way it was brought forth is smartly written with a style that is trendsetting and stands apart from others. The way Brittainy owns her craft is inspiring to authors and only gets better with each piece of art she publishes.

  Thank you Brittainy for writing this story and publishing it. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the greatness that was the end result and thank you to everyone reading this {non} review in advanced for being gracious enough to understand that I am saying to JUST READ THE AIR HE BREATHES. Just read it.

  You know that place in between nightmares and dreams? The place where tomorrows never come and the yesterdays don't hurt anymore? The pace where your heart beats in sync with mine? The place where time doesnt exist, and its easy to breathe? I want to live there with you. TC
3672424
This book hits so many emotions on so many levels, I find it hard to pull my thoughts together to tell readers how beautiful this story is. Grace and Eisav's story is as heartbreaking as it is beautiful. The story is full of secrets and lies that impact so many of the characters and complicates lives that should have been left untainted.
Grace loses so much through the course of this story. After losing her mother, her city life is uprooted and she is plunked down in rural Iowa. Keeping silent in her grief, the eleven-year-old only child slips silently into a large family that harbors so many secrets it is hard to figure out who is hiding what. The only person who can reach her is Eisav, one of the twins. A strong friendship develops between the two that over the years turns to love. Forbidden by the father, who hates Eisav the couple struggles until circumstances tear them apart.
This beautifully written story is a unique puzzle of interwoven pieces: part love story, part intrigue, part heartbreak, and part a redemption story. There are so many layers to this book and it is told in both the past and present. The storyline is intricate and the characters well developed. I had difficulty putting this gorgeous story down and it left a book hangover for days.
2577898
This was a heartbreaking and beautifully written story.  Truth be told, this book hurt to read.  It was raw, powerful, and very honest.  It took me a while to warm up to Kami, but once parts of her past were revealed everything about her made perfect sense.  She was a runner and honestly, after what she has been through in her life, I wasn't surprised that was her first instinct.  The things she endured in her childhood were unspeakable.  There were times when I was so overwhelmed with Kami's pain that I had to put my Kindle down and take deep breaths before I could continue.  Her agony and absolute belief that she was unlovable were so palpable.  My heart broke for this beautiful girl who deserved to know real love and happiness.

Sweet, patient Blaine stole my heart from the very beginning.  The chemistry between he and Kami was undeniable, but it was his love and complete adoration for her shone through every page.  He had so much hope for Kami and their future together, and I just loved how nurturing and gentle he was with her.  Blaine knew deep in his heart that Kami was worth everything, and aside from one moment when he let his pain get the best of him, fought incredibly hard to make their relationship work.  Unfortunately, no matter how much he loved or fought for her, ultimately it was Kami who had make the decision to save herself.  She had to make the choice to live and accept his love, and it hurt so much to watch her continuously push him away while she struggled with making those choices.

My heart felt like it split in two for Kami and Blaine so many times in this book.  These were two people I desperately wanted to see find a way to be together, and some parts of this book were pure agony.  I loved that the book was dual POV.  Blaine's chapters always seemed to come at just the right time and definitely heightened my reading experience.  I was constantly in awe while reading both Kami and Blaine's thoughts and feelings how they became so deeply embedded in my own mind and heart.  I can't imagine how difficult this book must have been to write, and I applaud S.L. Jennings for creating such a emotional and beautifully heartbreaking story of love, friendship, and hope.  Fear of Falling truly touched my heart, and I am looking forward to reading more from this author.
2630723
This is a heart-wrenchingly, beautiful story of one woman wading her way through the tragic loss of her husband and the subsequent grief that follows. The theme of the story is one I've read before: Widow loses husband, is now a single mother, finds new love that helps her through. However, what really made the story for me is the author's approach. She outlines which stage of grief, Liz, the main character/narrator is in, and follows each in order. The emotions are so strong I I felt each and every one of them. I FELT like this was MY loss. MY heart was shattered right along with Liz. I worked through the grief with Liz.

Well, obviously Liz is the one who loses her husband, Grady. He tragically dies of cancer after a hard fight, leaving behind Liz and their four young children. Understandably, she is a wreck. It is hard for her to go on. She is a stay at home mother and the every day things that were so simple, like getting get children to school on time, before Grady died is now monumentally difficult. She meets her new neighbor, Ben, on an especially difficult day, and at first finds him annoying. No reason, she's just moody, so she doesn't like him.

Ben knows the situation and slowly begins to help Liz. As she starts to accept his help, they forge a strong friendship and he becomes someone she trusts and relies on. Then feelings develop. Of course they are hard for Liz to accept. She is still mourning the loss of Grady and still loves him very much. And Ben...SIGH... He is so gentle and patient with her. He doesn't push, doesn't try to take Grady's place. He just wants her to make room for him. He makes this speech to her  Oh my heart! I think it is one of the most beautiful speeches and now my favorite out of all the books I've read!

There is so much I want to tell about this story, but I can't. No, I WON'T. This brilliantly written story HAS to be experienced first hand. The Five Stages of Falling in Love is the perfect example of what I'm looking for in books. Not just a story, but an experience. This book hit me on a level that only my most cherished stories have. It broke my heart and put the jagged pieces back together again. I was left with a bittersweet joy for the characters.