AUTHOR: Kelly Riad
RATING: 4 Stars
PAGES: eBook
PUBLISHER: Independent
SERIES: Standalone
SOURCE: Author - Supa Girls Tour
By the summer, Tatiana “Nicky” Roman must learn to trust
Xander Day if she’s ever going to discover the origin of her violent
hallucinations. But centuries of being repeatedly murdered by him on July 17th
are a little hard to forgive.
Over four hundred years ago, Xander thought the holy man’s
prophetic words were as crazy as his eyes—that Alexander and Tatiana were
destined to be together forever. But Xander misunderstood the mystic. He knows
now forever meant forever taking the other’s life. If they never break the
bloody curse holding them prisoners of fate, there will be only one outcome:
death.
(synopsis taken from Goodreads)
Always Me draws us into a world unlike any other. We’re
immediately introduced to most of the important characters in the novel, thank
goodness! Nicky is a seventeen year old girl, born into a wealthy family with
stern albeit loving parents. She attends a boarding school, Damascus Academy,
and as perfect of a life as that might all seem, it’s not.
Nicky (or Tatiana if you prefer to use her first name) isn’t
one of my favorite characters in the beginning. Honestly, I kind of wanted to
smack her and tell her to knock it off. But! She does have redeeming qualities
(whew!). She actually feels bad after being rude, so at least she acknowledges
her ridiculous behavior. She actually grew on me towards the end of the book,
her personality drastically changing due to a series of events and she grows up
(yes folks, there is hope for her!)
Xander I fell in love with off the bat. So I have a thing for
rude guys, they’re hot! Haha! Really he’s very mysterious, always an attractive
attribute, and he genuinely cares for Nicky. He’s deadly honest and serious at
points, and wise beyond his years. My favorite line of his is, “Destiny gets
what Destiny wants.” He’s obviously not your typical high-school/boarding
school senior.
The twists and turns in this book are semi-predictable, but
delightful to follow anyways. The biggest downside in this book is that there’s
not much humor (for a good reason of course) but at times it’s nice to take off
a bit of the darkness, right? I also wasn’t expecting it to be involved with
religion in anyway. I haven’t read many YA books lately that mention religion
and beliefs and church-going activities like this one. I find it actually
rather interesting, and refreshing.
I love Tatiana and Alexander. I love their story, their
interactions, I love how they both learn and grow. And most of all, I love the
journey they take to get there. Deception is so easy, lies so convincing, and
love so enchanting when it’s been there all along, for many, many years. In the
book Lord Byron is quoted, and because I absolutely love the poem, I’ve decided
to share a bit to give everyone a taste for the ride of Always Me.
“In secret we met, in silence I grieve, that thy heart could
forget, thy spirit deceive. If I should meet thee, after long years, how should
I greet thee-with silence and tears.”
Author Bio:
Kelly Riad is an American writer who graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas with a degree in journalism. Because's she's always been a lucky little brat, her life has taken her all over the world from the hot, humid streets of Hong Kong and the crowded markets of Cairo, to the cobbles of Vienna and the ruins of Rome from where she has shamelessly stolen ideas and material for her stories.
She self-published her first young adult novel, Always Me, in September 2011. Other Novels include Return to Arèthane and Prince of Arèthane.
For more information on Kelly's young adult fiction, visit http://kellyriad. blogspot.com/
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Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the book :)
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