Review: Almost by Anne Eliot

Almost by Anne Eliot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Where to begin?

I have some pretty strong rape-triggers, strong to the point that there's a very popular and beloved series out there that fills me with rage if I even see the author's name. That said, I went into reading this with caution.

I worried for nothing. The subject was handled very well, respectfully, honestly, and without a trigger...well, triggered.

What this story is - besides a beautiful love story of hurt, healing, acceptance and redemption - is a full on case study of good intentions truly paving the road to hell. Jess' hell.

As much as I wanted to shake her parents for keeping her from remembering, for keeping vital things from her, as a parent, I know why they did it. Was it right? Probably not. But in the stress of the moment, it was the best they could do. That's all any parent *can* do until they develop the hindsight machine that lets us see all the consequences of each decision in advance of making it.

Jess and Gray. They broke my heart even as they warmed it. Jess was brilliantly written as the broken girl covering the cracks with ice and an epic bitchface. Gray was well portrayed with guilt, love, and the teenaged boy who can't stop staring at her lips, her legs, and thinking dirty thoughts about peach cobbler. They frustrated me, thrilled me, made me laugh, cry and sigh. I wanted to shake each of them...and then I wanted to give them a hug.

And I finished the book today, hiding my Kindle on my desk because there was *no* way I could wait until tonight to finish reading.

I also have a feeling I'll be reading this one again, too.


*sidenote - if I can get my thoughts together, there might be a separate post about the trigger thing later.