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.

ARC BOOK REVIEW ~ BREAKING NOVA

Title: Breaking Nova (Nova, Book One)

Author: Jessica Sorensen

Expected Release Date: September 3, 2013

ARC provided by NetGalley

Nova Reed used to have dreams-of becoming a famous drummer, of marrying her true love. But all of that was taken away in an instant. Now she's getting by as best she can, though sometimes that means doing things the old Nova would never do. Things that are slowly eating away at her spirit. Every day blends into the next . . . until she meets Quinton Carter. His intense, honey brown eyes instantly draw her in, and he looks just about as broken as she feels inside.

Quinton once got a second chance at life-but he doesn't want it. The tattoos on his chest are a constant reminder of what he's done, what he's lost. He's sworn to never allow happiness into his life . . . but then beautiful, sweet Nova makes him smile. He knows he's too damaged to get close to her, yet she's the only one who can make him feel alive again. Quinton will have to decide: does he deserve to start over? Or should he pay for his past forever?

Book Review

There must be something wrong with me. It seems the more effed up a character is, the more I enjoy the read. What is it about these dark, tormented, and slightly unbalanced characters that attract me to their story? 

Nova Reed has met the love of her life at such a young age. Landon, her neighbor, started out as her friend. And that friendship bloomed into something more. Nova was attracted to Landon's artful soul and the sadness reflected in his eyes. She wanted to help heal his tortured soul, but never had the strength to reach out and demand the truth to all the hurt and angst he seemed to perpetually carry on his shoulders.

But now it's too late to help Landon. 

And over a year later, Nova is left feeling alone, abandoned, and her grief has left her lost. Lost in a world surrounded by counting and numbers; an obsessive compulsive disorder that brings her a bit of solace in her shattered world. 

But when she meets Quinton, she sees a similarity to the boy she once loved. Can she reach out to help him, when she had failed in the past? Or will the bitter pain that still resides inside her prevent her from helping Quinton, and in essence, impede the healing of her own heartbreak? 

Quinton and Nova are deeply troubled and reach out to drugs to numb their painful pasts. How can these two tortured beings help each other. Can they? 

This is a heart wrenching tale, one that had me in tears during some horrific back stories. It is not for those who think that all should be healed with a lick and promise and some flimsy band-aid. Their wounds are deep, their heartache is palpable on the written page. And how they deal with it is dark, twisted, and not for the faint of heart. 

I cannot wait to continue this painful journey with Nova in book two as she struggles to reach out to Quinton before it is ultimately too late. 

 

ARC BOOK REVIEW ~ THE REDEMPTION OF CALLIE AND KAYDEN BY JESSICA SORENSEN

Title: The Redemption of Callie and Kayden (The Coincidence, Book Two)

Author: Jessica Sorensen

Release Date: August 6, 2013

ARC provided by NetGalley

The dark secret Kayden has kept hidden for years is out. Worse, he's facing charges for battery. The only way he stands a chance against the charges is if Callie speaks up, something he'll never ask her to do.

Callie knows Kayden is going back to his dark place and desperately wants to save him. But saving him means admitting her secrets aloud. Callie and Kayden are stronger than they think, especially when they're together. Together they move forward, face their demons, and finally start to heal from their traumatic pasts.







Book Review

The Redemption is a book that MUST be read after you have completed The Coincidence. There simply is no way you can read one without the other.

I remember how Callie and Kayden touched me when I finished the first book. It had such an emotional pull for me.

Callie is harboring a terrible secret that basically leaves her unable to engage in life. She leaves for college determined to make some changes and meets up with Seth, who quickly becomes her BFF. Seth and Callie make a list of things that they must do before they die. It helps Callie step outside her comfort zone and engage a little with the outside world.

But it is Kayden who changes everything for Callie.

Kayden has his own dark secret. And the pain that flows through him can only be released with the sharp edge of a knife...or a razor...something to mark him, make him bleed out all that he cannot express verbally.

Callie and Kayden, although wounded beyond measure, come together and heal each other.
Their story is tragic, painful and hard to read at times. But I loved every freaking minute of it.

I loved the secondary characters--Seth and Luke--who both help out Callie and Kayden. These four  individuals lean on each other and their friendship throughout the book was amazing.

Sorensen writes a tragically beautiful tale that takes the reader to another plane where monsters exist and show how Callie and Kayden reclaim their life and find redemption with each other.