A review by astridthebookishsweettooth
A Crack in Everything by L.H. Cosway
5.0
Review @ Vanilla & Spice Books
Dreaming big is the only way to get away from the harsh reality of living in a neighborhood in Dublin, where bleakness and gang violence rule the daily life of their inhabitants. It's what Dylan does - he is determined to leave this part of his life behind.
Evelyn doesn't have aspirations like that - her mom had her when she was 15, pretty much the average age for girls to get pregnant in that quarter of Dublin. Her aunt, a very young woman with hopes and dreams of her own took her in. This is the setting when A CRACK IN EVERYTHING starts.
Evelyn has a sunny, optimistic personality. While she realizes that the place she lives in isn't ideal she always looks for the good things in her life. Always on her side, having her back, supporting and loving her are her aunt Yvonne and her best, gay friend, Sam. When Dylan crashes into her life she not only finds a friend but a love so deep it could last a life time.
Dylan is the realist to Evelyn's optimist. Her positive outlook on life is what draws him to her. He looks at the bleak life ahead if he stays in the same place but Ev is the light that breaks through the clouds for him.
I am completely in love. Totally and 100%. Evelyn and Dylan experience first love like any teenager. Like any teenager they feel that it will last forever and in their case I would even agree. It's all-encompassing and deep.
... I can only see my dreams clearly when I look through you first.”
My insides blared on loudspeaker, while my voice was barely a whisper. “I don’t understand.”
Dylan gave a sad laugh. “I just feel like any achievements are pointless unless I have you by my side.”
In a heartbeat, I saw an entire life, a timeline of seventy or more years, with the only constant being Dylan’s hand in mine.
However, life and tragedy don't stop, not even for love. I loved, laughed and cried with the characters of this story. Sam, Evelyn's best friend, in particular stole my heart. He was an amazing friend, didn't have a filter and called people out on their BS. Just as wonderful was Yvonne, Evelyn's aunt. What a good heart this woman has.
Dylan, oh my, good to the core, honest, serious, an old soul if you will - he adored Evelyn, it was plain to see and he never held back to show her. He stood up for her and protected her. Dylan shot up the ranks to one of my favorite heroes, he is so incredibly special. His talent, to be able to smell the finest nuances of fragrances, is also unusual and makes him stand out of the mass of main characters.
Finally, Evelyn - her talent is gardening and it complements Dylan's perfectly.I loved the bright light she shone on her friends and especially on Dylan, who often fixated on the gloom and doom in his life. She was so good at pulling him out of it. Until she broke too.
One thing I wanted to mention which didn't make complete sense to me...Evelyn waited to have sex atypically long - Dylan is her first and they don't use protection. They don't even talk about it. It's Sam who actually raises the issue. It wasn't exactly plausible and completely out of character for somebody as cautious as Evelyn to have unprotected sex.
It didn't make sense to me given the time she waited for her first time and what she knew about her mom and other girls in the neighborhood who became pregnant as teenagers - however, that is nitpicking, because the first installment was otherwise perfection.
“God, we make me sick sometimes.” I chuckled. “We make me sick sometimes, too.”
A Crack in Everything is the first installment about an epic love that is unbearable to watch being torn apart because it's not the main character's doing that makes it happen. L.H. Cosway captures the atmosphere of the dreary, a little hopeless life in a working class quarter in Dublin. I wish I could tell you every little thing that I loved about this book but my review would become so long you wouldn't read it - that is if I haven't lost you already.
The story ends on cliffhanger and what a cliffhanger it is.
There was a crack in me now, and someday it was going to expand and swallow me whole.
