Thursday, April 23, 2020

Sharing is Caring - Books: "Back to September" by Melissa Brayden

Back to September

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let's just start off with TL;DR of this whole review before getting into the nitty-gritty (I know, reverse and all, but bear with me):

Back to September is my new favorite by Melissa Brayden, hands down.

Case Closed

2019 was a bit of an interesting reading year for me. I made a New Year's resolution to read 52 books in 52 weeks. With two kids under the age of 10, working a job where my commute is 1.5 hours one way, and a loving family to devote to as much as possible - this actually turned out to be harder than I thought. But thanks to Audible and those long commutes, I still made it. With that being said though, I didn't read many that really hit me like a ton of bricks GOOD.

Ugh

Please don't misunderstand. I still read some amazing books over 2019. Some notable ones being The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling, and even Beautiful Dreamer by Melissa Brayden as well. But I wasn't able to find a book that threw me back against my seat by G-forces so strong I didn't know how to recover from it ending. I've had moments like these only a few times in my life with books such as the Harry Potter Series Box Set by J.K. Rowling, Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and the first book by Brayden that made me a devoted member of her fan club - Kiss the Girl by Melissa Brayden.

Disappointed

But I had not had this experience with a book recently and - frankly - I was desperate for one. I missed that feeling of wanting to race home to read, curl up for hours, and push myself through exhaustion to finish it. Then have the conflicting feeling of trying so desperately to slow down in order to enjoy each and every savory minute of reading its pages.

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But here comes Melissa Brayden in all of her glory and 
SHE GAVE ME MY READING JOY BACK.

Celebrate

Back to September brings back Brayden in all her beautiful brilliance. I was always a huge fan of the Soho Series, but the Seven Shores series didn't quite grab me the same way. Her standalones have been solid in the last few years, but not what I remember when reading Heart Block or How Sweet It Is . Brayden is a remarkable writer, and I can always count on her for amazing reads without question. But I will admit I was missing the exact feelings I spoke of above that I used to - very often - get from reading her books.

But she came blazing back with Back to September.

I finished Back to September after a binge reading session, something of which I hadn't done in - quite honestly - years. I couldn’t put it down. I loved it, cover to cover. I do believe I can announce that she's written a novel that is likely going to have to share the number one spot on my Brayden Favorites, sharing the pedestal with Kiss the Girl.

I am in awe. This new novel was full of all of the usual pieces of Brayden's novels that I adore and look forward to each time a new one is released, but it was filled with so much more. New things even. Some very real topics with very real outcomes; some very real ways to work through very real problems. Characters that made mistakes - real mistakes - and acted like real people, not fictionalized “perfect” people (though those aren’t necessarily bad!). It was so refreshing to see that kind of representation seen within these pages, within a novel by an author I trust implicitly. A novel that still had the same wit, dialogue, and descriptors that always make me fly to Brayden's novels the moment they’re released.

Now that I have had a proper chance to ruminate in its aftermath and proper time to recover from having to put it down, I only wish I had the chance to go back to the beginning and read it all over again with new eyes.

Melissa - I loved it. It was amazing. Please never stop doing what you’re doing. My literary world is always a happy place to come back to over and over again because of exceptional authors like you. Thank you for another fantastic and beautiful reading experience.

High Five




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