Saturday, April 19, 2014

Tour Review & Giveaway Against All Odds by Angie McKeon


Release Date: April, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Our lives shattered... Our hearts broken... Our souls torn to pieces...

He was my world, my whole life. My reason for breathing. I had a perfect marriage, a baby on the way, and I felt fulfilled—almost invincible. 

Until the day life hit, leaving me broken, vulnerable, and alone.

She was my life. My ray of hope on the cloudiest day. With her, I thought I had the ultimate safety. A love that would never hurt or betray me. I gave her my heart, my body, and my soul. 

Until she broke me, destroying every dream and illusion I had about life, love, and marriage.

In our grief, we made a mistake. A mistake I'm not sure we can come back from.

REVIEW

Review started at 50% through

You know, I've read many books. And I do mean MANY. Some were good, some bad. Some were wonderful and will stay with me forever and other are not even worth mentioning. I've “lived” many lives and have “traveled” to many places/worlds. I've thought I've heard it all and read it all but I was wrong, and this book was the proof to that. It showed me once again how flawed, easily breakable, volatile, spiteful, vengeful and forgiving human nature is.

It showed me that the love for another human being, a spouse in this case, can indeed make us or break us.

Like I said, I'm only halfway through but I feel the need to take a break from the emotional rollercoaster that is this book. I can't think straight and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to feel.

Who to blame and who to pity? How to understand this f***ed up situation the characters have created for themselves?

This is a story about coping with the loss of a child and learning to deal with the pain that follows. That isn't something I haven't found before in a book. I dealt with the same thing myself. This whole novel is about how a young family deals with losing their daughter, their struggle with the pain and the changes it brings into their lives.

Right now, all I can say is that I'm not entirely certain what happened. I'm trying hard to understand and come up with an answer and I can't. This is such a mess.

A few hours and one finished book later...

I have no idea how to rate this. None.

Kylie and Cooper love each other beyond reason. They've been together since they were sixteen. A few years later, right after the “I do's” they decided to have children so, when Kylie announced she's pregnant, it was like a dream come true. But tragedy struck and Kayla, their daughter, was born dead.

Things only went downhill from there.

Kylie became catatonic for a few weeks and, when she finally managed to come to her senses, Cooper was already lost in his own pain.

I'll let you read and discover how and why but what I can tell you is that, to cope with the pain of losing her daughter and, in a way, losing her husband also, Kylie decides that they should open their marriage to others. Maybe this will help them get over everything.

And here's where I got confused.

I don't understand them. Like I said, I know what the loss of a child can do to a soul, but isn't pain supposed to bring people closer? Especially two parents! How can she allow other men to touch her when she's so in love with her husband?

Her reasoning sucks. Sorry for the language but it's true. She's selfish and impatient.

And how can HE agree with this idiotic idea?

I really think they have over dramatized the whole thing. They act like that child was everything and without her they don't know how to live. How will sleeping with other people help fix what's broken inside them and in their marriage?

How is that possible?

She blames him and he blames her. She watches him with other women and he watches her with other men. They enjoy hurting each other but they're still so much in love. Can it get more messed up? Yes, it can, because there's also Grayson, their best friend. He's been there to pick up the pieces and support Kylie when Cooper couldn't even stand the sight of her. He knows everything and he tries to bring them back together. Or so he claims. But if he really cared, why did he let them continue on that path of destruction? Why support Kylie?

And why complicate things further when she tries to put the pieces of her life back together?

I don't know … Maybe I'm judgmental but this is not what love is supposed to be. What they have is a sick and twisted bond. An addiction to each other that slowly consumes them and those around them.

Like I said in the first part of my review, I don't know who to blame and who to pity.

Blame her for being insensitive and selfish or him for not having the courage to fight for his family?

Pity him for the pain he endures at the hand of his wife or her for being alone at a time when she needed affection and support?

It is hard to take a side.

Just read the book and decide for yourselves.

For the way it was written I'd rate it with 3.5 or 4 stars. As for the story, I still don't know. It's too messed up. I'm very curious about Grayson's book. That should be interesting.

I don't know how coherent this review was or if you understood something from it. The book is not bad. The writing style is excellent for a beginner which shows how much potential Angie McKeon has. I'm sure she'll offer us many great novels. It's just that I had a hard time understanding these characters and their behavior. But you should definitely give Against All Odds a chance. I'm not sorry I've read it.

Happy reading! 




A multi-tasker from birth—and now proudly able to add 'writer' to my resume—I'm a mother, wife and blogger. I love to read, write and drink copious amounts of iced coffee. 

All three aforementioned addictions are detrimental to my sanity. 

I have a voracious appetite for dark, painful and twisted reads. I'm enamored with the concept of love and heart break. I believe life is a journey, a tale in its own for each of us. The road to happiness is sometimes paved with stones from hell, or glitters of satisfaction graced from the heavens above. 

In my upcoming debut novel, 'Against All Odds,' I strive to make you feel. I believe any emotion—whether painful or happy—is good. To me, the key to living is to go through life feeling its ups and downs. Love is dark and it can be painful but, at the end of the day, it can save the most lost of souls and the most broken of hearts

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7 comments:

Kendall said...

Thank you for the awesome giveaway!

Bube said...

Sounds interesting :)
Thanks!

Unknown said...

I'm not sure I would want to read it. Going by your review and just reading your review, I'm totally confused also. I agree with you on if two people love each other, why would they want to become involved with others. Human nature tells us to find comfort in a time of our life that deals with loss. But for me, it should coincide with your spouse. If not the spouse, then a friend. Not strangers, and not sexually. I'm just not sure if I do want to read.

Unknown said...

Melinda,hi! Yes, this is a situation hard to understand. This is why I had to point that the rating was for the writing style and not for the story itself. Still, give it a try. Maybe you'll like it.

nurmawati djuhawan said...

i want to read it because i like the cover and the blurbs
thx u ^^

Unknown said...

Great review! The books is so beautifully written, original and refreshing. I loved this book and I want to reread it to understand more.

Maria said...

I've never heard about this book but it's seems to be interesting.

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