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Thursday, April 25, 2013

My review of Shattered Rose by T. L. Gray


About the book:

When obsession and love blend, and darkness consumes the mind and spirit, is it even possible to recognize the light?

Set in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, nineteen-year-old Avery Nichols embarks on a journey of love, loss and recognition that perfection is often an illusion. She gives all she has to the one man who cannot love her back, but still refuses let her go. Now another fights to give her everything she doesn’t believe she deserves.

It is the beginning of her sophomore year at Winsor University, and Avery is determined that nothing will stop her momentum, not even the internal battle she has fought for four years. Forced to live on campus because of her alumni scholarship, Avery is thrilled when she is placed in the coveted University Apartments and is swept away by her roommate’s cousin, Jake, whose charm and charisma touches every part of her soul and shatters every piece of her heart. Broken and lost, Avery meets Parker, a man who not only offers her hope, but also teaches her to love in ways she never thought possible.

Jake is complicated and damaged, fighting to find his way after the loss of his mother, and despite his every attempt to stop it, Avery gets behind his defenses and forces him to feel once again. He doesn’t want to love her, but can’t let her go. Parker is genuine, honest, and falls for Avery the moment he sees her. He wants nothing more than to love her, if she would only let him.

My review:

I can't remember the last time I read a book from start to finish in one day. And this book was over 400 pages long. It came in the mail today and I opened it and said to myself that I'd just read a few pages. Well I just finished and it was so good it is making my favorite fiction list. I started to get choked up a number of times when Avery thought about how much she hated herself and yet God sent someone into her life to show her His unconditional love for her. It was beautiful.

The crazy relationship with Jake made sense too. In fact, he reminded me of my ex and in a frighteningly similar fashion. I couldn't tell you how many times I'd seen women go for the bad boys when the good guy was right in front of them. Avery's confusion was genuine and I remembered feeling the same way back when I was the same age and dealt with the same eating disorder, though I dealt with it differently and it wasn't as severe. The coolest thing of all was when I found my savior and that happened for me in a very similar fashion as it happened to Avery. That gave me goosebumps as I remembered my brokenness that day.

Anyway, it was also a powerful love story and very realistic. I can't remember the last time I was so emotionally gripped by a story and when I cared about the characters so much that I ached for them. Avery's journey was so deep and so complex, but I loved reading it because it also rang so true.

For anyone who has ever been plagued with self-loathing, felt unworthy, picked men who made their insecurities worse, and dealt with addictive behavior - this book is for you. It shows how faith in Jesus is the only true answer and does so in a compelling and honest fashion. I'm so glad I took the time to read this book - not that I could stop once I started it. I just wish it was autographed. Oh well.

Shattered Rose was published by CreateSpace and released April 16, 2013.

2 comments:

Sheila Deeth said...

Wow. You make this sound really well worth reading. Thank you.

cheap jersey said...

good to read your post! I like this book!!

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