Saturday, March 3, 2012

Review of Far From Here by Nicole Baart


Far From Here by Nicole Baart
Howard Books - February 7, 2012
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Source: Libby Reed from Howard Books for review


Read what this book is about here.

                This is not the style of writing that I am used to. It is slow and eloquent. It is as if I am about to step into a body of freezing water but first I have to stop and admire the beauty that encompasses me. It is beautiful in an aching kind of way. At a quarter of the way through it feels as if I have spent half a lifetime with Dani and El. This is a beautifully written story about a heartbreak so deep and haunting you don’t know whether to prepare yourself for a sad ending that was predicted from page one or to hold onto the irrational hope for a happy ending. I have made it through the entire and for a moment I was left speechless. It is all about how to go on when you don’t know how to go on. Dani and El was entwind with each other’s life that it seems that there wasn’t life before they found each other. How do you make it through a loss so bitter and so bone-crushing deep? This is a story about heartache and loss, but mostly it’s a story about surviving.
                I wasn’t sure if I was holding out for the sad news that he’s never coming back or for the good news that there was life after. I found myself holding my breath, holding out hope for Dani. Far From Here has everything in it: heart stopping action (though maybe it was just me being caught in the story. And it is a totally different type of action than most people would imagine), a love that transcends, betrayal, hope and a new beginning.   It was beautiful. It was sad. It was uplifting. It was funny. It was so much more than I thought it would.  The characters are well developed, I was able to imagine them in my head as I read along. More than that, they came to life. I know this is a work of fiction but I feel as if I know the characters and they have opened a window revealing their stumbling, dysfunctional, awkward and funny attempts at connecting to each other. The emotions were raw, real and almost tangible.
                To be honest, if I was in a bookstore and came across this book I would have picked it up and read the back cover. I would have opened it and read the first page. Then I would have set it back on its shelf and kept moving.  Maybe I would have thought about it again if I read about it on a blog or something, if not this book would be totally forgotten. But that would have been a tremendous loss for me. I read everything, but this book would have sounded too fluffy to me, at least in the beginning.  But I am glad that I have it, I am glad for the opportunity to step out of my norm to find out fluffy  isn’t the best description, rhythmic and soothing are a better fit.  What a beautiful, beautiful book. 


Definitely worth reading


A copy of this book was provided free of charge, in exchange for my honest review. 

Always Shine, 
Starr K

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