Blog Tour: To My Hero by Danielle Sibarium
Welcome to my stop on the To My Hero tour hosted by Crazy Girl Tours!
Today I have my review and a giveaway to share with you!
To My Hero: A Blog Of Our Journey Together
by: Danielle SibariumPublication Date: April 2013
Publisher: KFR Communications
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: received from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 258 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N| Kobo
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars
It would’ve been different if I had courage, even an ounce of it. But I was a coward from the day I met you, Ryan Crowley. I still am. In the end it doesn’t matter. The bottom line is the same. It’s my fault.
When the unthinkable happens Carly Cavanough is left beaten, betrayed, and devastated. Her best friend doesn’t understand. Her parents won’t listen. Everyone in her life turns against her. She’s alone. Completely alone, except for Ryan Crowley, the boy she’s been crushing on for years. She won’t admit to him what she can’t admit to herself. But he understands without words. He knows more about what she’s going through than she can possibly imagine and he knows what it will take to start the healing.
With Ryan’s help Carly begins to piece together the fragments of her once perfect life and embarks on a journey of love and healing, just long enough for the rug to be pulled out from under her again. Can she find the strength and will to pull herself together to save Ryan and herself when their lives are on the line?
When the unthinkable happens Carly Cavanough is left beaten, betrayed, and devastated. Her best friend doesn’t understand. Her parents won’t listen. Everyone in her life turns against her. She’s alone. Completely alone, except for Ryan Crowley, the boy she’s been crushing on for years. She won’t admit to him what she can’t admit to herself. But he understands without words. He knows more about what she’s going through than she can possibly imagine and he knows what it will take to start the healing.
With Ryan’s help Carly begins to piece together the fragments of her once perfect life and embarks on a journey of love and healing, just long enough for the rug to be pulled out from under her again. Can she find the strength and will to pull herself together to save Ryan and herself when their lives are on the line?
My Review:
As you can read from the synopsis, this is not a light-hearted book by any means. It deals with very real circumstances and your heart can't help but break for Carly, the main character. I applaud Danielle for tackling such a difficult topic because I think she's done so in a way that both enlightens and informs.
Carly as I said is our main character. The book begins in present day but does have a few chapters where we flashback to a previous point in time, usually a scene involving Ryan. Ryan Crowley is the one who got away. A series of misunderstandings and missed chances have led these two to just be friends. Luckily the back and forth didn't deter too much from the story at hand, and I felt it helped to get a better understanding of how things ended up the way they did currently. Carly is dating a guy named Will, and Ryan is dating the head cheerleader, Lanie. Yet, at one of Will's parties, the two stop and they definitely have a moment. The moment was filled with 'what ifs' and 'what could have beens', but is interrupted by an angry, jealous Will.
The one thing I liked about Carly in those beginning chapters is her spunk. When Will was talking down to her and betraying her trust, she stood up to him. She told him it was over and that she was done despite his hostility to her. After the incident you can't help but just feel blind fury because he didn't just break her physically, but broke her spirit as well. And I hated that for her. Ryan is not only the person who found her, but is the one who slowly brings her back to life.
Oh Ryan. What can I even say? He is absolutely the light in the dark for Carly. He has been in love with her since 9th grade and his feelings have not changed. Yet, he knows how fragile she is and pleads for her to seek help, which she refuses. Ryan is the epitome of a good guy. He wants nothing more than to help Carly and get through what happened to her, but knows he has to play every move just right. Carly misinterprets a lot of his actions because she is shell-shocked. By him not reciprocating a touch, she feels he doesn't want her. She has all of these insecurities that she is battling and there were times she pushed Ryan away instead of embracing him.
Carly also has to deal with her parents. When something horrible like this happens, you crave the comfort of your parents and Carly did not get that at all. She is accused of being the instigator, of messing around with Ryan and that she got what she deserved. (They of course do not know the whole story of what has happened, but that's a moot point) Carly is heartbroken that the two people she has trusted all her life and is supposed to always depend on to keep her safe have turned against her like they have. I am so thankful for Ryan's sister Caitlin and his mom for being the support she needed.
Trust is a huge issue in this book. Carly shows her distrust of Ryan on many occasions because of rumors she's heard or things she misinterprets. He is hurt by the fact that she would so easily buy into those things and not believe him directly. Even though Carly is coming out of a traumatic experience, Ryan has proved time and time again that he will not let her down and that he will always be there for her. He is beyond hurt that she doesn't trust him enough after everything he has done for her. As you know- relationships cannot be built without trust.
Ryan and Carly definitely have their obstacles to overcome and I feel that Danielle did a great job of showing us just how strong love can be between two people and that eventually it will win out if you let it.
I felt this was a very well written novel and I commend Danielle for handling and tackling such a difficult topic and I hope this book reaches out to those who have been affected by something like this before: whether it's just to serve as a reminder you are not alone or as a motivator to seek out help, this is not something to hide from like Carly does at first.
About the Author:
Danielle Sibarium author of For Always and the Heart Waves Series grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Throughout her childhood, she transported herself into a fantasy world full of magic and wonder. Books were the gateway between her play world and reality. On any given summer afternoon she became Snow White sweeping and cooking for the dwarfs, or Cinderella waiting for the prince.
In 2004 Danielle won Honorable Mention in the Southern Heat contest. In 2007 she collaborated with Charlotte Doreen Small to write songs for her CD More. Danielle wrote the lyrics for Take My Hand, and Goodbye, while Charlotte contributed the melody.
Danielle graduated from Farleigh Dickinson University with honors, and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children.
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6 comments
Great Review! This sounds like a good book and one I would definitely be interested in. You know how I like to emotionally cut myself :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Chelsea! Haha, yes I do know! Especially since you want me to read the saddest books ever!
DeleteThis sounds like it will hurt, but in a good way ya know. I love a book that really tugs at the emotions and I love the sound of this Ryan guy. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks Teresa! Yes, I definitely loved Ryan in this book. Such a great guy.
DeleteSounds like I might need to save this one for when I'm really hating myself and want to be cut open. Great review!
ReplyDeleteLol. Thanks CeCe! Yeah, it's definitely not a light, every day read.
DeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.