Out of Reach
Publication Date: May 8, 2014
Synopsis:
Andy and I had been best friends since we were eight-years old. Watching him slowly fade away, ever closer to his final breath, made me so incredibly angry. I knew there was nothing I could do to change it--I had given in to despair, but Andy had not. He had one last hand to play. He wasn't going to simply sit back and wait for Death to claim him--not Andy. He was going to live life until he couldn't hold his eyes open any longer. Andy didn't want to die in some sterile hospital and asked me to take him and Emily to the beach. It would be our last road trip together. Emily. Emily was a problem for me. I harbored a secret that would have torn our friendship apart. I was in love with Andy's girl, and had been since she'd walked into our sixth grade class, so many years ago. So what kind of person am I? My best friend is dying, and it's awful--but my heart still aches for his girl. I hate myself for thinking beyond Andy's death and whether there could ever be a future for Emily and I, but I can't help it. I love her.
Review:
5 Stars
Andy and I had been best friends since we were eight-years old. Watching him slowly fade away, ever closer to his final breath, made me so incredibly angry. I knew there was nothing I could do to change it--I had given in to despair, but Andy had not. He had one last hand to play. He wasn't going to simply sit back and wait for Death to claim him--not Andy. He was going to live life until he couldn't hold his eyes open any longer. Andy didn't want to die in some sterile hospital and asked me to take him and Emily to the beach. It would be our last road trip together. Emily. Emily was a problem for me. I harbored a secret that would have torn our friendship apart. I was in love with Andy's girl, and had been since she'd walked into our sixth grade class, so many years ago. So what kind of person am I? My best friend is dying, and it's awful--but my heart still aches for his girl. I hate myself for thinking beyond Andy's death and whether there could ever be a future for Emily and I, but I can't help it. I love her.
Review:
5 Stars
I'd give it more, if I could. This book was amazingly written. You have to add this to your TBRs & make sure you have a box of tissues handy. There was a section where I just couldn't hold it in & I tried really hard not to let on to my husband that I was crying over reading a book. He would have looked at me like I had lost my mind.
This is a story about Andy, who's 23 years old and dying of cancer and he's making sure that his girlfriend, Emily and his best friend, Seth are left with happy memories of their times together. These three have never been apart since Emily arrived at their school. And just how do you try to be OK when you're watching someone you love slip away before your eyes? Their strong bond is what works. These three pick each other up and try not to let sadness overtake what time they have left to spend together. My heart was breaking while reading this book. Don't get me wrong, it was breaking then ripped and shredded. But it was also learning that the heart would heal. I loved getting the different POVs & the flashbacks to their time growing up.
Andy, for as weak and sick as he is with the cancer eating away at him, was a young man with a deep love for his girlfriend and his best friend, who was more like a brother to him. And he shows them what they mean to him and does his best to leave them with more happy times to add to the years they've had together. You see, Andy, has a bucket list. And if he can't do the things that he has on his list, he's going to have Emily and Seth do them while he watches & captures these moments.
Out of Reach is a story full of trying to make new memories, remembering the past, and some happy times mixed with sadness. What a touching journey I had with these three wonderful, young adults who try the hardest to console each other and make this difficult, heart wrenching time a little easier to bear. I enjoyed meeting and getting to know them. I'm putting this book in my Top 2014 Books Read. More than likely, I'll pick it back up some time in the future. I cannot wait to get my hands on another book that this author has written. I'm a reader that loves an author who can write a story that fills me with different emotions while reading and a book that I have a hard time putting down.
Here's a sampling of what I enjoyed....
Emily & Seth talking ~
"You think there is only one person for each of us?" I asked softly. The thought made me sad. If that were true, then I'd never know love again. I'd never experience that rush of excitement of a new love.
Anger bubbled inside of me. Who cared whether or not it was true? I didn't "want" anyone else. I wanted Andy.
Seth shrugged. "I don't know. But I think we know when something is right And that's what we look for. The feeling that nobody else in the world can compare. That without this person, your life is worthless, it has not point. I think you can have that more than once in a lifetime."
~~~~~~~
He kissed my cheek, his soft voice soothing me as he held me. "I'll always be with you, Emily. No matter where you are, or what you're doing. I'll be right there with you." ~ Andy
"I don't want to do anything without you. " ~ Em
He chuckled softly. "Em, the world doesn't stop turning just because I'm not in it." ~ Andy
All the pain in the world was worth one day of knowing Andy.
"Just because a person has gone, it doesn't mean they won't live on in your heart forever." ~ Andy
Highly recommend this to read!!!
Reviewed by Jessie L.
About the Author:
Missy lives in a small town in Central Victoria with her husband, and her confused pets (a dog who think she’s a cat, a cat who thinks he’s a dog…you get the picture). When she’s not writing, she can usually be found looking for something to read.
Missy lives in a small town in Central Victoria with her husband, and her confused pets (a dog who think she’s a cat, a cat who thinks he’s a dog…you get the picture). When she’s not writing, she can usually be found looking for something to read.
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