Hello
happy readers! So a little bit of an apology. So I have been struggling with some time management
and ability to focus the last couple of weeks.
Which makes it really hard to keep on track/schedule. Part of that is my party planning, see I was
wanting to do a birthday party for myself this year but it's hard with so many
of my friends having kids birthdays the same week, and it sucked and I do get a
bit depressed on my birthday every year.
But this year I decided screw it I'd rather have a Halloween party
anyways so yeah I decided I am going to have one of these instead and wow the
amount of time spent on Pintrest looking at stuff is insane and makes you lose
track of time. But now that I have a
better grip on the party and what needs to happen I am getting back to myself
and I hope to get things on here back to normal too! Anywho sorry but thanks for sticking with
me!
Now
today I am so excited to share my thoughts on not only a new release last month
but a debut author as well. Brave Enough by Kati Gardner. The cover was so beautiful it made me click
and then the summary just touched my heart and that was it for me I knew I had
to get my hands on it. I was lucky
enough to snag myself an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review so
here goes.
Rating: 4 Stars
Cason
Martin is a prima ballerina at the Atlanta Ballet Conservatory. The best.
She has spent her life at dancing t was never a choice with her mother
being the artistic director making all of her decisions. Cason is dedicated and willing to do whatever
it takes….even pushing past pain and injury.
Though it is much worse than she imagined. On the flip side Davis Channing is struggling
in his own way, having beat cancer and living with his drug addiction that
nearly killed him. Staying clean isn't
always easy when your past is always there in front of you. Cason and Davis hardly know of the other but
their worlds collide that all changes.
I
really enjoyed this book. It wasn't
super plot / action driven but more a journey story and I can enjoy those. I could tell as I read, even before reading
the authors note, that this is a very personal story for the author wanting to
see people like herself represented in books.
They way she writes it shows this depth of understanding and authenticity
which is pretty great. There were some
things happening which I thought were awesome as the story moved along quickly
for me but it felt more like a misplaced.
Not bad just felt a bit odd story wise after, like a too soon
climax. This also happened a few times
when a chapter would end and we'd time jump.
Sometimes we didn't immediately know and it was from things mentioned or
things happening around them that made you think you missed something then
"it's been "x" amount of weeks since my audition" so you
realize they jumped. This was okay and
again the story went by quickly just at times it was a smidge jarring. It also took away some of the moments between
Cason and Davis and while I totally loved them together it was a bit sudden.
Cason
and Davis are both struggling with major things. Things I don't see as much in my YA reading
and I was happen to have it front and center.
I loved the idea that just because of cancer or drug addiction the
struggle of being more than that label.
How you might have described yourself one way, now the first thing
someone sees is something else, something you can't control. Understanding from both of their heads what
it is like in their struggles from small things that are their new every day to
the larger more complex issues really came through. However, while I enjoyed them as characters I
thought they could have been a bit more developed. Like they did that to themselves as well,
confining themselves to one thing. With
Cason it makes sense before she was a dancer, that was her sole focus in life, making
things that much more real for her. But
with Davis we don't learn much about him aside from cancer and drugs. I would have liked to know more about him as
a whole before the drugs. I got enough
of him and his character to adore him and want things to be better for him but
still a bit more would have rounded him out more.
I
found the story pretty uplifting overall and again I really flew through
it. I enjoyed it and was smiling for a
vast majority of the time reading it and yes I admit to tearing up as well at
times. Things can get dark but that is
the nature of life. I really enjoyed
this story and while there were a couple small things I think could have made
it even better nothing I "disliked" as it were turned me away from
the story just made me want more and that is a huge yay because who doesn't
want more of what they like! I would
recommend this for sure! This journey
was one I am glad I was along for the ride.
Until
next time…
