Friday, March 25, 2016

review || THROUGH HER EYES { blog tour } by Ava Harrison


28955455
AH Publishing | March 16, 2016 | New Adult Romance
★★★★

SOURCE: TRSOR PROMOTIONS

One phone call changed me.
Three simple words and I was shattered.
Damaged.
Broken.
Alone.
So I started over.
And my journey of rediscovery led me straight into his arms.
Chase Porter.
The stranger who showed me life from a different perspective.
But we both had secrets…
His would destroy my world.


{ about ava harrison } .

Ava Harrison is a New Yorker, born and bred.

When she’s not journaling her life, you can find her window shopping, cooking dinner for her family, or curled up on her couch reading a book.

{ excerpt } .

I was a horrible person.

Truly.

But I had goals, and he didn’t fit into them.

I didn’t know how to take back the words I’d said. They filtered through my brain like a bad dream that I just couldn’t awaken from. Just when they started to slowly slip away, they resurfaced. Rooted so deeply in my psyche, there was really no place for them to hide.

If only I’d known the ramifications of my actions. If only I’d known how my decisions would hurt me beyond repair.

But at the time, I couldn’t let him halt my progress. I was so close . . .

“Are you in love with me, Aria? Do you want to be with me?” Parker asked, and my heart completely stopped. I had waited so long to hear those words, for him to see me as more than a friend.

“No. I don’t want to be with you,” I replied. Even as the words left my mouth, I knew they were a lie.

I didn’t just love him. It was so much more than that. So much more than love. He was my rock, my friend. He was the lifeline that ran through me.

At the time, I thought I had no choice . . . I thought he would be able to see that after everything I’d been through I needed to succeed. I needed to make up for the loss of my brother Owen. In the end, though, my decisions were always toxic.

Toxic to him.

Toxic to Owen.

Toxic to everyone.

“No, I don’t love you.”

Those were the last words he heard as he turned and walked away.

My heart tightened in my chest as the words replayed over and over again that afternoon. A record skipping that I just couldn’t turn off.

Then the phone rang.

Three words were uttered.

Three words that changed my life.

The phone slipped from my trembling hand, and I dropped to the floor.

I couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t scream.

Cemented in place.

My shoulders curled in, and I clutched my stomach through dry heaves.

I’d lost my soul mate, and now I’d lost my future.

Everything I’d worked for crumbled, and it all no longer mattered.

{ review } .

Fear will sometimes get you to say things you don't mean.

Never do you expect your words to be the ones that will drive someone away.

This is what happens to Aria -- except it is so much worse.

Growing up, Parker was her brother's best friend. After her brother passed, though, Parker and Aria became inseparable. Planning a Europe trip just seems like a pipe dream, but when the day comes for Aria to take that trip, she does. She's partially running away, partially hoping to find peace and feel close to her best friend again.

On her trip, though, she learns the art of letting go, of moving on, of simply breathing. She meets Chase and slowly, her days go from 'without Parker' to 'with Chase'.

This story is told mainly in present, but with many flashbacks -- flashbacks that will bring us right up to where we begin the story. What happened to Parker? Where did he go? What three words did Aria hear on the phone? And can she be happy with Chase, an American she finds over seas...?

So. Opinion? This was a tear-jerker. Parts moved too slowly for me, but I enjoyed the growth and the build. I liked the project that the title of the book takes on. I really liked it... And I liked watching Ari grow, even if it were in just a few short weeks. I would have liked to see a little more in the end, however, but was glad to see doors close that needed to once healing took place. 

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