Where do I begin with this book!? I loved every page of this book! I started to read this book, seeing it was going around Twitter and saying it was like Hellcheer. I read it because of that, but the story and the characters stand alone! It was a beautiful book that made me happy. I was crying at the happy ending these two love birds got!
This is where I'm going into the spoilers: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Now, there were three issues I had with the book:
The biggest one was when it came to light that Eric was gay. Don't get me wrong, the twist was. Tremendous and shocking. But it felt a little odd. During the entire time first 75 percent of the book, we are made to hate Eric and see him as a jerky jock. Like him trying to get Rebecca to do certain things. I love a good twist, but this one felt out of place. Like we were hating Eric the entire time, and then, oh, he's gay, by the way. I was hoping he would be just this massive jerk who wanted a perfect wife, and that was it. Maybe I would have liked the twist more if the character was given a bit more detail.
My second issue was that ballet was maybe mentioned in the book a handful of times. I thought we would get to explore that side of Rebecca. Yes, there are a few chapters where it goes into detail. We see how James’ entire personality is wrapped around him wanting to be a rockstar. But with Rebecca, it felt just like an added detail.
My third issue with the book was Dora’s back story. It was the last chapter that confused me. Dora was a drug user in the book. And then, at the end of the book, it says she died from aids. Which just confused me. The way the story is written is that she was sick from all the drug taking. It was just an odd detail that threw me off. Because it never mentioned it before. It wasn't obvious.
These are just my little critics of the book.
I wonder if the author would give a spin-off of Eric's story. And what happened to him? Because he does get a bit of a redemption arc, and I want to know what happened after graduation. Like, did he come out, or did he disappear?
All in all, the book was great! Besides a few confusing points, I thoroughly enjoyed the book! I can't wait to read the rest of this beautiful series!
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more
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Reviews with images
My favorite read of the year so far!
𝑨 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑶𝒇 𝑺𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 🎸 by L. H. BlakeMy favorite read of 2023 so far 🥰🥹Rebecca is a high school senior that has lived her life by the book (literally). Coming from a very strict religious family and promised to marry a boy from her church since she was young, there’s never been much room for Rebecca to question anything. But when a new bad boy with long hair and loud music moves into the house next door to hers, he suddenly makes her question everything. James might be the first person in Rebecca’s life to truly see her, and certainly the only person that’s ever cared. It’s too bad this small town is just a short stop on his journey. He’s just here to finish up his senior year, earn his diploma, and run straight to California to start his music career. He’s laid out a set of rules for himself so he won’t lose sight of his goals. But Becks…she might just make him break them all.I can’t even explain how much I loved this book. I died over the 80s vibes and playlist (obviously). Rebecca was a character I so personally related to a James was a book boyfriend that made my heart just explode. If you’ve ever been a person that felt like you didn’t belong or has just desperately felt (with much guilt) that you wanted nothing more than to break free, this book is for you.Also…if you were one of those people whose hearts broke over never getting to see Eddie and Chrissy’s story play out in Stranger Things…you absolutely need to pick this one up.I can’t wait to see what this author has in store next!
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2023
🚬🚬🚬🚬/5
First things first, I started reading this book and I was immediately like “wow this is very religious what the heck did I pick up?” But honest to God (😉), I am SO glad I gave it a chance because I absolutely loved it by the end! I hadn’t read anything by @lhblake.author before so I didn’t know what to expect. But I will definitely be keeping an eye out for what she has coming out next.
After James and Becca “meet” for that first time I was intrigued. And it only got hotter from there and had me dying to read more and get more in depth to their stories. Becca grew up in this super religious and strict family. And I hated her parents right off the bat. @lhblake.author did a fabulous job of incorporating these cult-ish like religions and their church community into this story and I actually loved it.
James is the bad boy to Becca’s good girl life and attitude. And I absolutely adored watching her break down piece by piece and come to the dark side.
She had so much trauma to get over and my heart broke several times over for her and her situation. But that made the ending and her growth that much sweeter. James had some growing and healing to do on his own as well, and his path did not disappoint me either. And the one thing he did that he shouldn’t have, well, I’m glad he did because it was well deserved!
I loved that the heavy topics of this book were spaced out between fun banter and the chemistry between characters. It made it easier to get through the tough moments, and look forward to that perfect ending where you just breathed a big ole sigh of relief and happiness for them.
I highly recommend everyone read this book if you are intrigued by:
🎧80s rockstar vibes
🎧Bad boy / good girl
🎧Enemies to lovers
🎧Slow burn
🎧Forced proximity
🎧Forbidden love
🎧Emotional and complex reads
🎧Religious cults
🎧High school love
First things first, I started reading this book and I was immediately like “wow this is very religious what the heck did I pick up?” But honest to God (😉), I am SO glad I gave it a chance because I absolutely loved it by the end! I hadn’t read anything by @lhblake.author before so I didn’t know what to expect. But I will definitely be keeping an eye out for what she has coming out next.
After James and Becca “meet” for that first time I was intrigued. And it only got hotter from there and had me dying to read more and get more in depth to their stories. Becca grew up in this super religious and strict family. And I hated her parents right off the bat. @lhblake.author did a fabulous job of incorporating these cult-ish like religions and their church community into this story and I actually loved it.
James is the bad boy to Becca’s good girl life and attitude. And I absolutely adored watching her break down piece by piece and come to the dark side.
She had so much trauma to get over and my heart broke several times over for her and her situation. But that made the ending and her growth that much sweeter. James had some growing and healing to do on his own as well, and his path did not disappoint me either. And the one thing he did that he shouldn’t have, well, I’m glad he did because it was well deserved!
I loved that the heavy topics of this book were spaced out between fun banter and the chemistry between characters. It made it easier to get through the tough moments, and look forward to that perfect ending where you just breathed a big ole sigh of relief and happiness for them.
I highly recommend everyone read this book if you are intrigued by:
🎧80s rockstar vibes
🎧Bad boy / good girl
🎧Enemies to lovers
🎧Slow burn
🎧Forced proximity
🎧Forbidden love
🎧Emotional and complex reads
🎧Religious cults
🎧High school love
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
Top reviews from other countries
Melanie Stewart
Enemies to lovers, slow burn, good girl/band boy, open door steam, wanna be rockstar
Reviewed in Canada on July 21, 2023
Sandra
Such a fantastic read
Reviewed in Sweden on February 7, 2024
Sandra
Reviewed in Sweden on February 7, 2024
🌶️🌶️.5/5
🔥 Slow Burn
🩰 Ballerina x Rockstar
⭐️ Religious Trauma
💌 High School Romance
🌼 Forbidden Love
When I randomly signed up for an advanced reader's copy of L.H. Blake's novel "A Duet of Darkness and Dreams" (The sequel book to this one), I never thought I'd find my new favourite book ever. Or my new favourite author ever. I am in love with the L.H. Blake's writing style, some authors have such a way with words that make you feel absolutely everything the characters are feeling. If you are considering picking this book up, be ready to have your heart be shattered and put together again by an 80's rockstar named James. 💗
I was absolutely obsessed with Rebecca & James and their journey to their happily ever after. It was inspiring, funny and just absolutely amazing overall. I haven't read a book in a very long time that really had me hooked like this one. If I could give this book one million stars, I would. 🌟
Rebecca is a classic good girl, doing anything and everything to make her demanding parents and church proud. When a wannabe-rockstar who's just here for his diploma turns up in her close-knit town.. her world is about to be rocked. 🎀
James just wants to be a rockstar, that's it. But he wants to make his mom proud by getting his high school diploma, her final wish to him. It's just two months of school in an overly christian town, he'll survive. But when he sees the blonde girl next door dancing naked through his window, things might get a little interesting after all. 🎸
Images in this review
