Books to Breathe

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

“We may not have the details mapped out-and we don’t need to-but we both know which direction we don’t want to go.”

I will admit it, I was extremely apprehensive going into this book. Counting down the days until I could get it into my greedy little hands, yes, absolutely! But I absolutely LOVED the first story and was scared that nothing else could compare to the journey I took with Andrew and Camryn. I may not have experienced the same level of emotions with Always as I did with Never, but that is perfectly alright. As Camryn figures out in the book, you can’t re-create memories, it just taints them. Instead, you have to make new ones. That is exactly what I felt like this book did for me. It took me on a new journey, one similar to the last, but completely different in a plethora of new ways.

What Andrew and I have been slowly doing without realizing it is what shatters dreams: we’ve been getting too comfortable.

I know how easy it is to get comfortable in your relationship, to just assume that everything is okay and always will be. To not put forth the extra effort to keep it growing, changing. Because as living, breathing creatures, that is what we do. It is inevitable. No one stays the same person they were when they were younger. We get older, we become complacent, and we take for granted that people will always be there. Andrew and Camryn teach us all that we have to cherish what is right in front of us, EVERY DAY, in that moment, because you never know what the next day will bring. Tell someone you love them as often as possible, show them in ways only you know how. Appreciate them, and never take them for granted. Today is guaranteed, tomorrow never is.

Now, there comes a time in a person’s life when you have to face something so horrible that you feel like you’ll never be the same person again. It’s like something dark swoops down from somewhere above and steals every shred of happiness you have ever felt and all you can do is watch it, feel it go, knowing that no matter what you do in your life that you’ll never be able to get it back. Everybody goes through this at least once. No one is immune. But what I fail to understand is how one person can go through it enough for five people and in such a short time.

My heart simply broke into a thousand pieces MULTIPLE times in this book! The depths of despair, over and over, were insurmountable. I felt as if I would never crawl out of that black hole, and every time I inched up slightly, I fell back down. Though the walls seemed too high to climb, I never gave up hope. I could see the light around the bend, I just had to figure out how to get there. Because surely they would get there right? Surely this couple that I fell in love with would get their happily ever after? The problem with that though, in life, we aren’t guaranteed an happily ever after. And sometimes, it may come in the form of something that you didn’t even know was possible. Something you didn’t even know to dream of. And ever so slowly, the pieces start to get put back together.

“You’re the world to me,” I whisper onto her lips. “I hope you never forget that.”
“I’ll never forget. But if I ever do, for whatever reason, I hope you’ll always find a way to remind me.”
“Always,” I say and kiss her ravenously.

What I loved about Andrew and Camryn – this is a couple that fought for each other. Neither one could fool the other, and when they tried, they were called out on it. There were no lies, no half truths, no I am doing this to protect you. They simply were. Two halves of a whole. Two peas in a pod. Mirror images, complementing each other. Orpheus and Eurydice. In all their flaws and imperfections, they were perfect to me.

“We can’t control death,” I say. “There’s nothing either of us can do to avoid it or to hold it off. All we can control is how we live our lives before it comes for us. So, let’s promise each other things that we can hold true to no matter what.”

I felt like these two souls saw life in a very honest, raw way. They accepted the hardships thrown at them, but didn’t go down with a fight. They faced death head-on, never shying away. There is a truth in them that I think we should all strive for. I know I do. While nothing can surmount the epicness that was The Edge of Never, I loved this story for many different reasons. That said, it is by far a five star read for me, and one I will be revising in the future. I am not now, nor will I ever be, ready to let completely go of Andrew and Camryn!

“You think we’re lost?”
I tilt my head back a little and look up at the stars behind her and say, ”In society maybe. But together, no. I think we’re right where we need to be.”