J. A. Redmerski

"I loved every last word! Beautiful, heartfelt, consuming--I couldn't put it down. There's pure magic in J. A. Redmerski's pen." --- KATY EVANS, New York Times bestselling author of the REAL series From the New York Times bestselling author of The Edge of Never and The Edge of Always THE TRUTH WILL SET THEM FREE Brayelle Bates has always been a force of nature. Even as a child, Bray's wild and carefree spirit intimidated everyone around her. The only person who's ever truly understood her is her best friend, Elias Kline. Though every fiber of her being wants to stay with Elias forever, Bray can't bear the thought of him discovering her agonizing history. She's done everything she can to keep him at arm's length, including moving away. But their undying bond was too strong a pull to deny, and Bray couldn't survive without him. Now she's back home with Elias, and things have never felt more right--until one night changes everything. Elias vowed never to be separated from Bray again. So when she decides to flee in a desperate attempt to escape her fate, Elias knows he must go with her. As the two try to make the most of their circumstance, taking up with a reckless group of new friends, Elias soon realizes there's a darkness driving Bray he can't ignore. Now in order to save her, he'll have to convince Bray to accept the consequences of their reality--even if it means losing her. (95,000 words) New Adult Romance

Song of the Fireflies

"I loved every last word! Beautiful, heartfelt, consuming -- I couldn't put it down. There's pure magic in J. A. Redmerski's pen." -- Katy Evans, New York Times bestselling author of the REAL series From the New York Times bestselling author of The Edge of Never and The Edge of Always The Truth Will Set Them Free Brayelle Bates has always been a force of nature. Even as a child, Bray's wild and carefree spirit intimidated everyone around her. The only person who's ever truly understood her is her best friend, Elias Kline. Though every fiber of her being wants to stay with Elias forever, Bray can't bear the thought of him discovering her agonizing history. She's done everything she can to keep him at arm's length, including moving away. But their undying bond was too strong a pull to deny, and Bray couldn't survive without him. Now she's back home with Elias, and things have never felt more right--until one night changes everything. Elias vowed never to be separated from Bray again. So when she decides to flee in a desperate attempt to escape her fate, Elias knows he must go with her. As the two try to make the most of their circumstance, taking up with a reckless group of new friends, Elias soon realizes there's a darkness driving Bray he can't ignore. Now in order to save her, he'll have to convince Bray to accept the consequences of their reality--even if it means losing her.

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads
.

I didn't get Brayelle and if I'm being honest, what I did understand about her, I didn't like. It was apparent that something was wrong with her from the start, and that was touched on later in the book, but not before the damage had been done. Elias was so very devoted to her, but I just couldn't understand what he saw in Brayelle and why he continually put her ahead of himself. She just wasn't a very nice person. He was obviously seeing something different in her than what I saw. Elias was still flawed, but not to the extent that Brayelle was. I actually liked his character, despite wanting sometimes to yell at him for some of the things going on.

This was was a heavy book and it was an emotional read. It was an interesting mix of the NA books I'm used to and some of the darker books I've come to really enjoy over the last few months. I liked that the author confronted issues head on, but I just had a really difficult time with this one. The writing was excellent, as I've come to expect from J.A. Redmerski and the book took me through a myriad of emotions, but overall just left me confused. It kept me interested, despite not really connecting to the main character. I kept waiting for Brayelle and Eli to do the right thing. I kept hoping Brayelle would find a way to redeem herself in my eyes. Unfortunately that redemption never really came, in my eyes. There was eventually hope in all the darkness, but it came almost too late for me.

I still love J.A. Redmerski and will continue to read her books. I've loved every one of them up until this standalone. It wasn't a bad book, and I didn't dislike it, but it's far from my favorite of her works. A secret about me and books? If I can't connect with the main character, I have a very difficult time enjoying the book. That was definitely the case here.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Song of the Fireflies

Reviews