MY THOUGHTS AFTER READING...
Believe it or not, this is only my first Pepper Winters ARC... I've read the Indebted Series a couple of years ago and to he honest, it was too brutal and too raw for my liking—but I was addicted nonetheless... and when I got an email that I'm to receive an ARC, I was excited but apprehensive at the same time. I haven't read the first two novels in the series, so I didn't have an idea what the story is all about except for the blurb that was provided.
This is the story of Jacob Wild and Hope Murphy... it started when they were kids, then teenagers and then when became adults. The book has three parts... and I'm already warning ya'll that it's not an easy read. It's a very angsty love-story. I even had mixed feelings about it... I didn't expect it to be very sad. I mean, yes, I expected angst but it was more angst than I anticipated. At some point, it even felt like it was too much, and almost draining. Sure, there were parts that were alright, but it was too sadness and tragedy in one lifetime.
I understand grief and phobias... and heck, I even think I have PTSD because of my father's passing—I was a daddy's girl... I could relate being reticent, being aloof and just keeping to myself... but people deal differently... I still cry so much about it even after 12yrs... I'm not saying I understand the fact about Jacob's aversion to touching and getting close to people but we all deal with grief differently... and with each loved one dying, it takes something away from you.
The push and pull was frustrating... I kept on asking myself, will they? Finally?? and right until the couple of last chapters, I was wary... I never thought it would end the way it did... I even lost hope at one point—the irony... but I'm glad it did. It took all the heaviness away... and it was an epic ending to an epic love story.