Review on Left Drowning

I’d heard so many good things about this book. Almost all of my blogger friends recommended this book to everyone they knew. I realized that I had to read this book, if only to see why everyone was raving about it. And so I picked it up, and began reading.
Left Drowning by Jessica Park
Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.

*This book is intended for mature audiences due to strong language and sexual content.
Age: New Adult; 17 years and up
Review: 5 butterflies
This book… this book is one of those books that will stay with you for a long, long time.

Blythe is a girl who’s been through a lot. More than I can possibly imagine—more than I could handle, I’m sure. The book starts out with Blythe drunk and stumbling into her apartment, alone. It was amusing and yet only a few pages later, incredibly sad.

Blythe has been through too much, and then she meets Sabin. And after that, Chris. She feels an attraction to Chris—not only a physical one, but more than that (I have no idea how to describe their relationship and it’s driving me nuts). And Chris slowly begins to help her heal. But Chris is also broken, and Blythe has absolutely no clue just how much.

I loved this book. I loved how the main characters were not the only focus. Estelle, Eric, Sabin, James and even Zach were big parts of this book, and they were what made this book even more amazing than it already was. They weren’t just 2D characters, they were deep, incredible characters with flaws and everything.

Blythe and Chris’s relationship was something of a puzzle to me in the beginning. I kept thinking, How can they have a relationship so quickly after meeting each other? But their relationship was one that made sense. After finishing the book—and, to be totally honest, I got glimpses while reading—it made sense. Though it might have been a bit too quickly for another person, for me it worked. Maybe it was the writing. Okay, scratch that. It definitely was the writing. I hate to sound cheesy, but the writing truly sucked me in. I felt like I was living their story right along with them.

While I was reading about Blythe and what happened to her, I found myself curled up into a protective ball on the couch. I didn’t realize it until later, but I had stopped breathing too. It felt so real and so heartbreakingly sad that I almost cried.

I did cry when Chris told his story.

And then I cried again when Blythe finally remembered.

There were things I suspected. Little details I found a little too random to be just left there without a purpose. I loved that. I loved how there were details that were foreshadowing and interconnecting the story. But I wasn’t 100% sure. You never can be, I suppose. The story did surprise me, and I wasn’t always sure it was going to end happily.

Normally I don’t like those sorts of stories. Those that you aren’t sure are going to end happily. Heck, once I got to the middle (after they were on winter break) I was pretty darn sure that Blythe (and I) was going to get more heartbreak. And I was right.

But the heartbreak is what made it all real. And it’s also what made this story so good. The ending, however, left me smiling. After so much heartbreak and devastation (so damn much) it was nice to see it end like it did. It was a bit open-ended, but that’s how this story was meant to end.

This story is one that I recommend to read when you are on break or don’t have any obligations, because you won’t be able to stop. You might have to take a few breaks in between to process everything that you’ve read, but they’re small and you’ll be eagerly opening that book again really soon.
Book links: Goodreads * Amazon (UK)

By the way, the UK cover looks amazing as well, don’t you think?
Yours,

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