 |
| FOLLOW THE TOUR HERE. |
Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:What if you had to relive the same five days over and over?
And what if at the end of it, your boyfriend is killed…
And you have to watch. Every time.
You don’t know why you’re stuck in this nightmare.
But you do know that these are the rules you now live by:
Wake Up.
Run.
Die.
Repeat.
Now, the only way to escape this loop is to attempt something crazy. Something dangerous. Something completely unexpected. This time…you’re not going to run.
Combining heart-pounding romance and a thrilling mystery Never Apart is a stunning story you won’t soon forget.
Review:
"It's one of the first things you learn here: the best parties are by the river, you can only get beer at the gas station out of town, and Ander Hale and Grace Freeman are the resident Romeo and Juliet - minus the warring families." - hardcover copy, pg. 153
Romily Bernard's Never Apart was one of my most anticipated releases of the fall. Not only does it have a GORGEOUS cover but also an attention grabbing tagline. So to say I was just excited when I received an ARC of it would be a serious understatement - I was jumping up and down ecstatic.
The Result? Romantic, mysterious, and emotional, Never Apart poses the question - how far would you go to save your first love...
Never Apart features two timelines - then and now. Then divulges into the start of the summer, back when Grace, Ander, Jem, and Finn were best friends, spending their days doing everything and nothing at all. Now focus on the Groundhog Day-like disaster Grace's life has began, one that involves Grace spending her days attempting to save Ander and herself from Finn's deadly hands.
Books involving two timelines can either be a hit or miss, in my opinion, but in the case of Never Apart it was a hit. I thought Romily did a great job of building suspense as well as development through the alternating timelines. Both offered up interesting looks into Grace's life, and without the "then" portion, I don't think this book would've been nearly as strong, as it offered up the perfect amount of backstory to get a full picture look into what was happening in the "now."
Grace is a character you can't help but love but the start. Her character is for every teenage who's felt that their small town is suffocating as well as silencing and that there's more out there to life then knowing the same people from the day you're born to the day you die.
Over the course of the book, Grace struggles with her dislike off her small-town. She hates how silent and timid it makes her; however, at the same time, she can't imagine leaving the ones she loves - Jem, Ander, her parents, and even Finn - behind. Worst yet, her family and friends are just as divided as she herself is one the issue. As the book progresses, Grace comes to head with the decision to stay or leave, and her journey is one that I felt was not only pitch perfect but also realistic, even considering the Groundhog feels to the plot.
More importantly, I enjoyed that Romily Bernard showed that first love can be messy and troubled. From the moment Ander was introduced I couldn't stand him. He had so many issues of his own; however, he only ever focussed on calling Grace out on her short comings. It was hard for me to see what Grace saw in him; however, I appreciated the progress she made regarding the situation as the book progressed. Finn, on the other hand, was the real standout guy - he was intelligent and sweet. I loved how he always tried to get Grace to come out of her shell. No matter how negatively he was portrayed in the "now" portions, I forever held-out hope he was the good guy at the end.
The only aspect of this book that didn't "wow" me was the pacing. It wasn't always even, and sometimes (especially in the middle) it was hard to trudge through.
Regardless, Never Apart is perfect for fans of romantic suspense, and with the dark, mysterious undertones it contains, I must say it's perfect reading material for chilly October evenings.
Grade: B
Never Apart is now out!
Source: eARC provide by publisher - thanks EntangledTeen!
Buy Links:
Amazon | Amazon
Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N
| iBooks
| Kobo | Entangled
About the Author:
Romily Bernard graduated from Georgia State University with a literature degree. Since then, she's worked as a riding instructor, cell-phone salesperson, personal assistant, horse groomer and exercise rider, accounting assistant, and, during a very dark time, customer service representative. . . . She's also, of course, now a YA novelist. So don't let anyone tell you a BA degree will keep you unemployed. Romily currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Her debut novel, Find Me, won the Golden Heart Award for YA Romance from the Romance Writers of America in 2012.
Author Links:
I don't if I how I would react to have to relive the same 5 days over and over again. Sounds like an intriguing read though. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds very interesting. I need more thriller novels on my TBR and this seems like it's going to be one of them.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard much about this but I really enjoyed her prior duology so am interested in checking this out!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by! Jen Ryland