BOOK REVIEW ~ SAVING QUINTON (NOVA, BOOK TWO) BY JESSICA SORENSON

Title: Saving Quinton (Nova, Book Two)
Author: Jessica Sorensen
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Genre: New Adult
eBook, 384 pages


ARC provided by NetGalley

Book Blurb 

Nova Reed can't forget him-Quinton Carter, the boy with the honey-brown eyes who made her realize she deserved more than an empty life. His pain was so similar to her own. But Nova has been coming to terms with her past and healing, while Quinton is out there somewhere, sinking deeper. She's determined to find him and help him . . . before it's too late.

Nova has haunted his dreams for nearly a year-but Quinton never thought a sweet, kind person like her would care enough about a person like him. To Quinton, a dark, dangerous life is exactly what he deserves. And Nova has no place in it. But Nova has followed him to Las Vegas, and now he must do whatever it takes to keep her away, to maintain his self-imposed punishment for the unforgivable things he's done. But there's one flaw in his plan: Nova isn't going anywhere . . .

Book Review


Saving Quinton was a very disturbing and difficult read. Not something that gives one the warm fuzzies to be sure.

But Jessica Sorensen captures a compelling story -- one that sucks you into the dark world of hopelessness, guilt, and pain. I had to come up for air after beginning Quinton's fall into darkness. There were times when I felt like my head was barely above the surface and I was struggling against a tumultuous riptide, threatening to pull me under.

If you haven't read the first book, Breaking Nova, you will be missing a vital piece to this saga. Nova Reed has suffered great pain in her young life. She has watched her father die, feeling utterly helpless, as he suffered a fatal heart attack. Then, her boyfriend, Landon, commits suicide--with Nova finding his body after hanging himself.

The heartache and pain is palpable in Sorensen's tragic tale. And when Nova meets Quinton Carter, she spirals further down into hell. Nova turns to drugs to numb herself from the emotional pain and grief that overwhelms her. Theirs is a dysfunctional relationship--tainted with drugs. Both Quinton and Nova escaping emotions they cannot face. Despite everything, they connect. And when they are together, they provide a ray of light amid the darkness.

But in the end of Breaking Nova, Nova manages to realize that she is sliding down into a world that she doesn't want to be a part of. She discovers that she wants to live. She is better than what she has become.

At the beginning of Saving Quinton, Nova hasn't seen Quinton in almost a year, but he has never left her thoughts. She wants to help him--save him--like she was unable to save her boyfriend. She feels a connection to Quinton and understands that he his covering up his pain with drugs. When she finds out that he is in Las Vegas,she makes plans to go there and reach out to him--before it becomes too late.

What she finds is a hard pill to swallow. Not only is Quinton using meth--but he is involved with individuals that are dangerous. Living in filth and wasting away, Quinton is slowing trying to kill himself. He feels he deserves the direction his life has taken. He is a junkie. A loser. No one.

Since surviving the horrific car accident that kills his cousin and his girlfriend, Quinton's drug use has gotten worse. Moving from marijuana, to crystal meth, to being almost continuously high. Unable to face reality. Unable to face his emotions. Unable to deal with his guilt.

But when Nova shows up and reaches out to him, he starts to feel things. Things he has tried to suppress. He doesn't deserve what Nova is trying to offer him. He doesn't want to feel all the emotions that being with Nova make him feel.

Finally at the breaking point, Nova leaves Las Vegas, after her mother comes to retrieve her. And once again, Nova feels she has failed to help the ones she loves.

But how can you help someone who doesn't want to be helped? Who only wants to die and have the guilt he suffers from every day finally end?

Saving Quinton is a tragic tale filled with horrific images of drug use and is in no way a pleasant read. And Jessica Sorensen  doesn't try to paint it with pretty colors and beautify the life of a junkie. It's harsh, real, and painful. And despite its sharp edges and grisly descriptions, I could not stop reading. It made me appreciate the good in my life. It made my cry in empathy of what both Nova and Quinton had to endure. And although I felt spent after reading the last page, I felt better for reading it.

Book Three, No Regrets, is expected to release April 15. And I am hoping for a touching, yet satisfying conclusion to Nova and Quinton's tumultuous journey.