Wendy'sThoughts's Reviews > The Will

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5 Pulled an All-Nighter, Breaking the Facade, Letting Love in Stars
* * * * * Spoiler Free-But A Long Ass Review
This book knocked me to my mental knees...There were so many things to address, trying to come up with a way to present them all caused my head to spin.

First... the reader would either be able to connect with the main character Josie... or not. KA was fearless in her determination to stay true to what she felt this woman needed to be. This was a huge risk and for some readers, it may have been too much of a leap of faith for them... they had experienced recent books by her which for some reason or another were not totally true to the KA voice as they knew it...so to be hit from the first page by a fully formed character such as Josie could be a deal-breaker.

I get that... and to those who felt "Eh, WTH...", I understand and get that, too... no harm/no foul... and on to the next book...

But for me... I got something besides that...I sensed a whole undercurrent brewing and was hooked from the start... because...

From my life perspective, I have come to believe no matter where you live, what you believe politically or socially, whether you identify yourself as Blue or White Collar, Elite, Independent or Recluse... the driving force in life is to love and be loved. This statement may be very simplistic yet when we attempt to find it with others..... it can remain elusive.

Our lives are these lessons; whether we have them forced upon us brutally.... or learn them from more gentle teachers... we always remember them, and they can skew our understanding of this powerful force ... love... and learn to hide from it.

This brings me to Josie... Her developmental stages were riddled with lies, betrayal, fear, abandonment, and pain. These were the major lessons she learned from parents who were supposed to love her unconditionally. Instead, she saw with her young eyes the horrors of inflicted pain by her father; she survived to her teenage years by learning to hide anything which might give her happiness. She then paid the price of feeling happiness by physical pain at the hands of her father when he found out she had experienced anything without his approval. It was so severe she was hospitalized. This allowed her gran, Lydia to step in and remove her without any resistance from her father.

Her Gran was her only safe haven. What was critical for Josie was her understanding of Gran's own history of abuse and how she survived; this was a family steeped in it for generations. It had left its mark and her Gran had risen above it...so she was able to give the guidance Josie needed growing up. She enrolled Josie into a prestigious all-girls school which gave her education, literature, and friendship. It also was the type of place which exposed her to different types of life; cultured with the arts, fashion, and books as the central core.

She thrived and continued to college... and experienced life away from the safety net of the school she loved or her gran... thinking she deserved a little happiness now... only to have ugliness thrown back into her face again.

It was the final lesson that sealed the deal on her happiness/love lessons... it was not for her... the best case scenario, she might get to be content.

Now what does all of this have to do with the communication style of Josie... well my sense is she may have been sophisticated with all of the world travel, fashion hobnobbing, and celebrity... but as to real life and interpersonal relationships .... she really only had her Gran... who was proper, from another era and was the only real influence she trusted... which made her in many ways extremely bright, able to accomplish much ...which she did... but very naive, too... almost like she came from another planet on some things.

And this is the biggest key which I felt the most.... she had created a facade... a false persona of a calm, collected, sure of herself confidant woman who she presented 24/7 for all to know... but the real girl, the one which her Gran knew was still hiding all these years was deep down still there...needing to come out...

This brings me to Jake. Jake had his own facade... but it wasn't as clearly presented... he was this guy's guy; an accomplished professional fighter who had tasted fame and success. A man who also happened to have the capacity to love and love deeply. He had chosen poorly but still through all the hurt he had experienced... and it was deep... he had somehow left his heart open to love...but because of life... he wasn't clear he deserved it either. He not only was cut from the KA male template but he was a father too... and his love for all of his children was palpable through all of his actions. These kids were fully formed... and some of the best scenes in the book had to do with them.

But Gran knew... and she decided to intervene...

So here you have two people brought together through the love they had for the incredible force of Gran/Lydie... and by being respectful to her wishes... both Josie and Jake benefit.

There is too much to this love story for me to go into...KA structured this like all of her vintage KA books but without the side stories of explosions or fast-paced action. She held true to the vision she had about these two people and what it would be like for them to come together doing the KA mating dance. She did not disappoint at all.

She packed this book with so much sexual chemistry between these two, the combustion and power when they finally got together was epic.

I will briefly say the multiple characters in this book are all fantastic; humorous, smart, caring, and worthy of their own stories... whether combined with another or on their own... KA does not leave them out there floating around in our mind's eye wondering what is happening with them.

I will also say...as you all know, I can get a little long-winded about things I love... there are real, serious topics addressed in this book; teenage behavior, bullying, domestic abuse, parental abandonment, self-worth, and learning to believe in yourself and others. I could go into all types of details of how amazingly well done KA worked these topics into the story without us feeling overwhelmed.

Instead, I am just going to hope this review with my take on the main character, Josie might give those who couldn't connect another way to see her...or not.

Please read all of the terrific reviews out there... no matter the stars because I think all of them have something to say and take away...and then the best.....is you get to decide.

I must give a shout out to the Amazing Buddy Read by The Canaries... this was one of the most fun experiences I have had here on GR. This group of readers are accepting, passionate, hysterically funny, and downright terrific. Thank you so much... it was BEYOND :DDD


The Will (Magdalene, #1)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Soaring (Magdalene, #2)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Time in Between (Magdalene, #3)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

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