Tijan

A young adult book about a girl grieving her twin sister's suicide.

Ryan's Bed

Sara Uribe

I have been dying to read something by Tijan and I am so happy that this was the one. And after reading this book in one sitting I was left with an open mouth and confused mind. This book was unbelievably heartbreaking and yet so beautiful. It was real and made me feel things that I was not expecting. We go through the coping process with both Mackenzie and Ryan. Two broken souls who need each other to grow, learn and heal. They are both incredibly strong and such a great pairing. I couldn’t imagine them with anyone else. THAT ENDING THOUGH!! I’m a little messed up and feel like I need to go back and re-evaluate what I just read. Overall this was a solid read. Beautiful, heartbreaking and emotional all in one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars

I received an eARC of Kiss Me Slow by Top Shelf Romance and this book was in this the collection.

Turtle lover

I really enjoyed this book. This book in one word: 

   GRIEF


It was so sad and quite disturbing that she is being a (view spoiler)[Schizophrenic  (hide spoiler)] and how she thinks she is being her sister. How she handles everything feels so real that I, as a reader, really feel all her struggles and how it feels like to lose a part of yourself along with the person. It also really felt sad when she (view spoiler)[felt like her parents didn't care for her  (hide spoiler)] and how they cannot look at her. Ryan, though, was someone who helped her and it was good to see how they helped each other and how he always understood her and how he stood by her side but then the main plot does not revolve around romance but grief itself. Her grief and how she overcomes it. 

(view spoiler)[and the ending...meheheheheehhe. I stared at nothing for a moment to realize what really happened.. So she decided to kill herself but her sister beat her to it. This is the main essence of the story. 
  To show the readers the whole process of mckenzie's realization of suicide. (did I say that right? lol)

1. How she wanted to be the one who died instead of her sister
2. How she realized the effect of death, all the things they leave behind
3. How she is taking up the personality of her sister 

But the twist placed in the ending was soo soo good. It was a great ending that made me think so much about it and made me realize that her experiences were much much heavier knowing the suicide note was from her not her sister. It made me realize the grief she holds how she always think it should have been her and it is just sad.  (hide spoiler)]

Megan Lowe

I voluntarily received an advanced review copy of this book and chose to review it.

6 stars, yes it's a thing.

Holy wow! This book... there are no words. I truly think this is Tijan at her best. I thought Mason and Fallen Crest couldn't be topped, they have been.
This book is heartbreakingly beautiful, and sad, and confronting, but it's incredible. Mackenzie is so real. She's strong and she's weak, she's angry and she wants to be loved and whole but she's not. It might sound sappy, but I think Mackenzie is an inspiration for girls, and guys, everywhere who are dealing with stuff they don't know how to deal with. And Ryan... he's everything. He's so loving, and strong, and supportive, and understanding. I thought Mason Kade was my ultimate book boyfriend but Ryan Jensen totally wiped him out. 
I absolutely loved this book. If you are sensitive to certain things, like suicide, I wouldn't recommend it, but otherwise, you need to read this book A.S.A.P.

Madelynn snobl

I cried. This book was a great way of showing how one grieves. The ending had me shocked, and had me cry more. Amazing story, Amazing writing.

Megan Williams

Ryan’s Bed by Tijan is a novel that tells the aftermath of a sister’s decision. A decision that destroys a family and that of Mackenzie. How does one deal with the loss of a family member, a loss of a twin sister? Well that’s the struggle that Mackenzie has to figure out and let’s just say her coping method is a little unusual. 

That first day after the “event”, Mackenzie slips into Ryan’s Bed and somehow she finally sleeps. 

This book was so chaotic in terms of emotions. There were moments of confusion, loss, happiness, and numbness. I never knew what to feel when, and found that I was crying at the weirdest moments because I felt all over the place. This book definitely broke my heart and mended it and broke it again over and over. Yet I couldn’t walk away because I was stuck in between the pages of this book which spoke to every dark feeling I’ve ever had and connected me to these characters. 

From the beginning of the book, I could tell that Mackenzie didn’t think much of herself. And to be honest, I didn’t think she was so impressive either. She described herself as someone who didn’t have much accomplished, who ate chips and didn’t really care about her health. She described her two siblings as extraordinary who were focused greatly on their accomplishments. 

Yet as the book progressed, it became very obvious that Mackenzie was so much more than she ever thought she was. And it is while recovering from her sister’s suicide that she discovered just how strong she was. 

I think what I liked most about his book was that while the romance was definitely important, this book was more about recovery and rediscovering who Mackenzie is. And in her mourning I think Mackenzie discovers a strength she never knew she had. 

I have to say that out of all of Tijan’s books, I’ve never read one this raw. This book will fester in your heart and leave you questioning everything you just read. This book has been on my mind since the moment I finished it because it was so impactful and important.

These conversations are important and while it hurts to read and acknowledge, they are still relevant and reading about them reminds up of this. I loved this novel because it’s a reminder of just how real these issues are in today’s society. I hope to see more books by Tijan that share these impactful words and stories so that we can all remember just what role they play in our society. 

This book is impactful. It will take you on a journey of discovery and mourning that is so honest and raw that putting down the novel for even a second is not an option. So go get the book and read and digest and feel.

Sarah

A heartbreaking story about a girl who's twinsister killed herself. A story about acceptance, grief and most of all getting on with life. 

First read: 23-24/01/18

I crawled into Ryan Jensen's bed that first night by accident. I barely knew him. I thought it was his sister's bed-her room. It took seconds to realize my error, and I should've left... I didn't. I didn't jump out. I didn't get embarrassed. I relaxed. And that night, in that moment, it was the only thing I craved. I asked to stay. He let me, and I slept. The truth? I never wanted to leave his bed. If I could've stayed forever, I would have. He became my sanctuary. Because-four hours earlier-my twin sister killed herself.

Ryan's Bed (Hardcover)

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads.


It's been ages since I read one of Tijan's books, so when I was given the option to read and review Ryan's Bed, I jumped at the chance. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoy her writing and the edge her characters possess. Clearly I need to tackle her backlist and catch up soon. But, I digress. I'm not supposed to be talking about my inability to keep up with all the books I want to read. I'm supposed to be talking about Ryan's Bed. The problem is, I'm just not quite sure what to say, so bear with me.

I expected Ryan's Bed to be an emotional read and it was, at times. How could it not be with the subject matter? It was heavy and took a toll on my feels. If I'm being totally honest, there were times I kinda checked out of the book. The majority of it was very engaging and held my attention, but there were some scenes I thought dragged and maybe didn't even feel like they belonged. Some of it felt like drama for the sake of drama. I also struggled a bit with some of the scenes with Mackenzie and Willow. They were just a little odd to me. Don't get me wrong, I understood what the author was doing and the significance of them, but my often skeptical brain had a bit of a difficult time reading them.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can talk about the things I loved about the book — and there were plenty! First of all, the writing was beautiful and I loved the characters. My heart ached for both Ryan and Mackenzie and the loss they'd both experienced. On the surface they might've seemed like an odd pairing, but it just worked. They understood each other and what they were going through and I loved the bond that formed as a result of that. It gave me all kinds of feels. There was a certain amount of escapism, too, as Mackenzie used Ryan to dull her pain, but something beautiful grew as a result of it. It was really interesting to watch Mackenzie develop throughout this book as she dealt with the loss of her sister. She gutted me at times – her pain was so visceral, so real. 

Ryan was a pretty special character, too. I've become accustomed to a certain type of guy in Tijan's books and I'd already assumed he would be like them. (Not that I'd have complained hard because I did love the guys in her Fallen Crest series.) He was not that. He was popular and had a certain amount of power, but he was sweet and thoughtful and absolutely all in for Mackenzie. That's the kind of hero I can get behind so easily. He was absolutely crush-worthy. I wouldn't call him perfect, because who is really, but he was darn close. He protected and cared for Mackenzie in a way she needed, a way he understood because he'd lost someone close to him, too. 

I've gone on long enough, so I'm going to wrap this up by saying you should give this book a try. Expect angst and pain and more than a few feels, but know you'll also find something beautiful amongst all that heavier stuff. At the risk of saying too much, you should also expect a jaw-dropping ending. I DID NOT see that coming. Just to be clear, it's not a cliffhanger and this is a standalone book, but W O W. It was kinda perfect, but I still couldn't help but trying to flip further to find more story. I'll be adding this one to my "must reread at some point" list so I can get the full experience again, knowing the ending. 

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

FAVORITE QUOTES

He shielded me, protected me. My head was above water with him. Without him, I would sink.

"You make me feel things I thought were gone."

Ryan's Bed

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