25 May 2015

Review #226: Discovering April by Sheena Hutchinson




My rating: 5 of 5 stars



“Sometimes you have to kind of die inside in order to rise from your own ashes and believe in yourself and love yourself to become a new person.”


----Gerard Way



Sheena Hutchinson, an American author, pens her new contemporary romance novel, Discovering April that is all about taking the road to self-discovery, falling in love, and all the issues attached with it. Centered around a college junior, named April whose perfect life turns imperfect with just one stroke of a mistake.




Synopsis:

April Landau thinks she has everything she’s ever wanted. Her high school sweetheart, a house she can’t afford, her bipolar tabby cat, and she’s all set to begin her Junior year of college. Just when she least expects it, her life gets thrown for a loop. When things between her and her long time boyfriend unravel, she becomes stuck in a downward spiral of emotion. Finally, opening her eyes to the fact that she may have given up more than she ever could have imagined in this relationship. She finds herself struggling to keep her head above water.

Enter April’s next door neighbor— Jared Hoffman. He’s her complete opposite. A high school drop out who was forced to take over his parent’s business after their untimely death. It’s no surprise this tragedy affected him greatly, causing him to recede almost completely from society.

But he has one secret. A secret he’s been carrying around for years.

What happens when their worlds collide? Can an old friendship be the one thing that brings these two back to life?



It happens many a times that you lose your identity in order to keep yourself up in a high-maintenance relationship. April reminds me of myself when I was in my previous relationship, where I lost myself because of the my ex-boyfriend. Although, I had no one like Jared to help me find me, but still I managed to crawl out of that sticky situation and even managed to find myself.

April is a college junior, leaves in her parents' fancy house, but it is a real struggle to pay the bills off all by yourself and moreover, when you have a boyfriend who is a complete jerk. Hunter is a football player and an idiot when it comes to April, he has no respect for her. On the other hand, April stretches herself to keep herself with Hunter. But one day everything falls apart when she finds out that Hunter has been cheating on her. Jared, April's next door neighbor and her once-upon-a-time-best-friend, jumps into the scene to rescue April from the relationship puddle and in that process, he helps her to find herself.

The writing style of the author is fantastic and she have layered her plot with the right amount of emotions that are enough to make us feel every bit of story. The book begins with a slower pace, mainly because of April and Hunter drama and her annoying attitude. But mid-way through the book, especially, when Jared makes his presence felt to us, the story catches up pace and I felt engaged till the very last page.

The characters are all drawn with enough realism among their demeanor, like I said, April felt like an extremely real person, and I could relate to her every tantrum thrown by her. In the begining of the book, April is bound to annoy and irritate everyone, but once she embarks on to the road to self-discovery alongside Jared, she turns into an adorable person. Moreover, we get to see the story through her own voice.

Jared, on the other hand, is a closed book, and I wish the author could have developed him bit further, instead of featuring him as a closed book. He is the only mature character in the book who gets a hold of April to show her the correct way. Jared is the best thing in this story. He is caring, kind and patient. Not only that, Jared has his own personal grief to worry about His chemistry with April is portrayed with a lot of lust and passion.

This is quite a heart-touching story with an uplifting theme centered around finding one-self. I bet April's journey will help a lot of young women who give themselves up because of a relationship.

Verdict: This book will appeal to all the contemporary romance fans.

Courtesy: I received this book for a blog tour. 
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Author Info:
Sheena is a born and raised New Yorker, even her writing can't seem to hide her hard sarcasm. She claims destiny has lead her back to her true passion for writing.
She constantly strives to be a positive role model and writes stories that empower and inspire. Sheena always roots for the underdog, believes in love at first sight, and that everyone should have their happily ever after.
While God is currently still writing her love story, she continues to put all her effort into her writing as she is constantly getting new inspiration.  

Visit her here


Book Purchase Links:

1 comment:

  1. I absolutely and I mean, ABSOLUTELY love this cover! Also, thanks for supporting by following on my second instagram account as well! When I next get on there I will follow you back, of course :)

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