Read and Review #3 - Where I End And You Begin (Andra Brynn)

Title: Where I End And You Begin

Author: Andra Brynn

Publication date: 13 August 2013

Publisher: House of the Moon Publishing

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Synopsis:

In Japan, they say there’s a red thread of fate that binds people who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. It may tangle, it may knot, it may stretch or fray, but it will never break. It is a future as indelible as the past. I hope that isn't true. I pity anyone destined to meet me.

For Bianca Ray, the past is always catching up, one way or another. Now in her third semester at college, it's doing it again. Too much drinking has led to plummeting grades and rising absences, putting her scholarships in peril. When she makes it clear that she needs help—all over the floor of her history class—she’s given one last chance to shape up: seek therapy and bring her grades up by the end of the semester, or she’s out.

Enter Catholic seminarian Daniel McGuire. The last thing Bianca wants is an aspiring priest to counsel her on how to live her life, but the handsome graduate student is different from the holy rollers she fled from at home. Gentle and unobtrusive, he helps her pick up the pieces and find a new way to live: not running from the past, but facing it head on.

But opening up her heart to release the pain means that something else can come in. As Bianca and Daniel grow closer, their relationship moves onto dangerous ground and the fragile courage Bianca has built up threatens to fail her. Can she exorcise the ghosts of her past, or will they catch hold and drag her down where not even Daniel can reach her?

My rating:

4 out 5 suggests reading in with the lights on

My review:

*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review* 

This book was like a breath of fresh air after reading one new adult book after another etched with the same theme in the plot. I believe this is the second book I've ever read that involves a priest/minister/pastor falling in love with a fallen (or something like that) woman/girl. But then again, Daniel didn't even make any vows to be a priest, he was just studying to be one.

We have Bianca Ray; party girl, drunk every night, fucks every night, has an obsession with ghost stories and still somehow managed to maintain her GPA. I like Bianca, however, I felt like there's something off up till the end. Something in me kept saying, 'Bianca doesn't sound right'. But I kept going up till I reach this little part towards the end.

"There's a pause. "Bianca." I hear him say.

 "Wait," Tanya says. "Who?"

 I have to get out of here.

"Who?" Tanya says again.

"Your roommate?" he says as though she's an idiot.

"Oh,"Tanya says. Then, "Oh. You mean Annie.""

I shit you not when my eyes instantly widen and I started choking. It was one of those moment where it felt like 'Holy shit what!' and 'I KNEW IT!' came together and I wasn't sure which one to attend to first. But it felt right, like something just clicked right into place. 

"I have to smile a bit. "Did you think I was a ghost? Just for a second?"

To my surprise, he laughs. "Yeah," he says."

Exactly.

Next, we have Daniel McGuire; studying to be a priest, wears prim clothes, hardly swears and is sweet, kind and innocent through and through. I'll put Daniel in the beta-heroes type because that is exactly what he is. The kindness he shows towards Bianca makes me feel warmth all over, despite the chilly feeling I get from their surroundings.

This book was well-written, albeit most of it revolving ghost stories and the afterlife. Growing up in a religious household, I can understand both Daniel and Bianca's point of views in religion. And to quote the words of comedian Steve Harvey, 'Everyone is on the borderline.', where he says that no one is really a shoe-in into heaven.

However, I didn't understand the whole thing with Bianca's running away from her past. What was she running away from exactly? There were two possibilities and I was not sure which was the stronger factor. It wasn't tackled in the end and it sort of didn't explain why she started drinking and all.

I picked up this book thinking 'Hey, must be one of those forbidden love stories.' Boy was I wrong. Yes, there was romance brewing in the air, but it wasn't explored as much as I hoped it would. But it was kind (that's the word I can describe it in) until the end where I was like, 'Wait what? I want more!'. 

It's a good book if you can muster enough courage for a few ghost stories. If you're not into a book that's dark, you might not want to pick this up. I give this a 4 star because of the excellent writing and storytelling. And maybe because of Daniel too. I wish there's a continuity to this story where Daniel and Bianca get to explore their relationship more. If there isn't, then it's still a good finish nevertheless.