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laurenpier's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
purplesky02's review
3.0
Oh where to begin. There were parts of this book I really liked--the characters were well developed, the plot was interesting. A woman (Maddie) loses her husband (Aidan) in a mountain climbing accident and a stranger across the country (Nicholas) starts having memories of Aidan. The other main characters, JC, Aidan's best-friend and Gabriel, Maddie and Aidan's four year old son, were my two favorite characters. The story is told in alternating point of view, between Maddie, Aidan and Nicholas. I liked seeing how Maddie and Aidan's relationship developed. I liked the overall story, though there were things that annoyed me: the use of initials for names. Aidan is also known as AJ, for unknown reasons. There is the aforementioned JC. I guess that's only two, but I found it annoying. Gabriel is four years old (almost five, they mention), yet he acts like an older child--more like 7 or 8, maybe 9. He doesn't speak like any four year old I've ever seen or met. His mother puts on a movie and it's...Harry Potter? What? Four year olds are watching Harry Potter? What?
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
I don't see why Nicholas had to have a dog. The dog wasn't involved in the story at all and in the end he just ends up abandoning him. It made Nicholas seem like kind of a jerk in a small way. I was annoyed with Aidan's ghost or whatever for making his FOUR YEAR OLD SON say goodbye to him three times over, each time leaving Gabe crying. That is awful! And just for your own needs. The sex scenes were a tad ridiculous. A bit overly graphic. There was a common factor in almost every one of them that I won't mention, but it made me say, "What? Why?" every time.
I was ready to really not like the story, I hated Aidan for taking over Nicholas' life for his own needs. However, I did feel the author wrapped it up nicely. I liked the ending a lot and how it all came together. I loved the character of JC--he was warm, caring, kind, considerate (for the most part, and the times he wasn't, his behavior was understandable).
(END SPOILERS)
One last thing--the editing was sloppy. I noticed several errors (incorrect grammar, a random / at the end of a word). The tense was awkward, I wish she'd stuck to past tense instead of switching between the past tense and present tense.
Overall, I did like the book, and I would read more from Emily Colin. It was well researched in regards to the mountain climbing aspects, and as I said before, I thought the characters were well developed and fleshed out, and the overall plot was a very interesting concept. Saying that, I would've just read a book about the whole Maddie/Aidan/JC triangle.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
I don't see why Nicholas had to have a dog. The dog wasn't involved in the story at all and in the end he just ends up abandoning him. It made Nicholas seem like kind of a jerk in a small way. I was annoyed with Aidan's ghost or whatever for making his FOUR YEAR OLD SON say goodbye to him three times over, each time leaving Gabe crying. That is awful! And just for your own needs. The sex scenes were a tad ridiculous. A bit overly graphic. There was a common factor in almost every one of them that I won't mention, but it made me say, "What? Why?" every time.
I was ready to really not like the story, I hated Aidan for taking over Nicholas' life for his own needs. However, I did feel the author wrapped it up nicely. I liked the ending a lot and how it all came together. I loved the character of JC--he was warm, caring, kind, considerate (for the most part, and the times he wasn't, his behavior was understandable).
(END SPOILERS)
One last thing--the editing was sloppy. I noticed several errors (incorrect grammar, a random / at the end of a word). The tense was awkward, I wish she'd stuck to past tense instead of switching between the past tense and present tense.
Overall, I did like the book, and I would read more from Emily Colin. It was well researched in regards to the mountain climbing aspects, and as I said before, I thought the characters were well developed and fleshed out, and the overall plot was a very interesting concept. Saying that, I would've just read a book about the whole Maddie/Aidan/JC triangle.
acacia1rose's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
devonforest's review
3.0
I enjoyed the book overall, but it did seem a little slow paced at times and certain sections held my interest more so than others. The concept was interesting although I'm not sure if it fully realized its potential. But a decent read.
katie_samsock's review
2.0
*Spoilers*
I really really wanted to like this. I have a 50 page rule and I made it to 160 but I just couldn’t do it. The idea sounded so cool. But the layout was poor. I love me some dual timelines but this started getting sloppy to the point where I had to re read to figure out where I was. Sigh. The story between Nicholas and Aiden was also confusing. How was Aiden going between his ghost self and Nicholas? Who was Nicholas then when Aiden wasn’t inhabiting his body?
I really really wanted to like this. I have a 50 page rule and I made it to 160 but I just couldn’t do it. The idea sounded so cool. But the layout was poor. I love me some dual timelines but this started getting sloppy to the point where I had to re read to figure out where I was. Sigh. The story between Nicholas and Aiden was also confusing. How was Aiden going between his ghost self and Nicholas? Who was Nicholas then when Aiden wasn’t inhabiting his body?
akf_'s review
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
jbarr5's review
4.0
Madeline Kimble is a mother and a wife in Boulder, CO. Love the story of how she met and dated her husband Aiden. He's off on another of his high climbing mountain adventures and has promised to come home, always to them.
Problem is the avalanche. Reason why I wanted to read this book is because we were traveling up the hill to Paradise at the top of Mt. Rainier in Washington state when the guards had just closed the road we were on due to an avalanche. We waited a bit of time before we could travel further up the hill as they cleared the road, waiting for signs of more movement.
Find the climbing fascinating to read about, would never want to do it, I just like to learn new things.
Nicholas ia a professor in NC that has survived a motorcycle crash and he has lost his memory. After he's left the hospital he has dreams of whiteouts and being in an avalanche and another path/lives. He researches and finds out about Madeline and Gabe and Aidens' lives together.
Scary for me as I don't know what I believe in the afterlife but was interesting to hear this one book about it and how the dreams played a big part in solving the mystery of it all.
Hate that he has to be betrayed by his girlfriend when he had found out the real truth.
Bit of romance, sex and adventure and faith play a part in this book.
Problem is the avalanche. Reason why I wanted to read this book is because we were traveling up the hill to Paradise at the top of Mt. Rainier in Washington state when the guards had just closed the road we were on due to an avalanche. We waited a bit of time before we could travel further up the hill as they cleared the road, waiting for signs of more movement.
Find the climbing fascinating to read about, would never want to do it, I just like to learn new things.
Nicholas ia a professor in NC that has survived a motorcycle crash and he has lost his memory. After he's left the hospital he has dreams of whiteouts and being in an avalanche and another path/lives. He researches and finds out about Madeline and Gabe and Aidens' lives together.
Scary for me as I don't know what I believe in the afterlife but was interesting to hear this one book about it and how the dreams played a big part in solving the mystery of it all.
Hate that he has to be betrayed by his girlfriend when he had found out the real truth.
Bit of romance, sex and adventure and faith play a part in this book.
burghblakebooks's review
1.0
It's so bad I can't even bring myself to keep reading. Not the story, just the poor, POOR writing. Somebody motivate me please....