Infinity+1

5 Stars! Brilliant!

Bonnie Rae Shelby is a superstar. She’s rich. She’s beautiful. She’s impossibly famous. And Bonnie Rae Shelby wants to die. Finn Clyde is a nobody. He’s broken. He’s brilliant. He’s impossibly cynical. And all he wants is a chance at life. One girl. One boy. An act of compassion. A bizarre set of circumstances. And a choice – turn your head and walk away, or reach out your hand and risk it all?

When Finn saves Bonnie one night, he has no idea who she is. He just sees girl standing on the edge of a bridge and it’s a situation he can’t turn away from. So he makes a choice. But now she is faced with a choice of her own… to go back to her old life or take a chance and follow her heart.

Clyde’s eyes met mine. “You comin’?”

Finn wasn’t looking for any trouble. He’d had more than his share already and the last thing he needed was more but he still couldn’t resist helping the girl he talked down from the bridge. But unfortunately, being an international celebrity came with attention — whether that attention was wanted or not — and while Bonnie was trying to escape her troubles, they still followed her wherever she went.

“I just need time –” “Time for what?” “Time heals all wounds, right?” “What wounds, Bonnie?” “You want to hear the poor pop star complain, Clyde?” “Yeah, I do.”

So one of them was running away from life and the other was trying to find it and these two strangers ended up on an impromptu road trip together. I loved that they were strangers because we got to learn about each of them as they were learning about each other. The little reveals and pieces of their past that we’d learn along the way all helped put together the pieces of the puzzle.

“The girl was trouble, but she was also IN trouble, and Finn knew he couldn’t walk away. Maybe it was Bonnie’s penchant for disaster. She’d apparently used up every bit of luck she was ever going to get in this life on the lottery of superstardom, because she was an accident waiting to happen. Everywhere they turned, everything she touched seemed to go south in a hurry. And yet here he was, beside her, trying to figure out what to do, what was best for her, and whether or not she’d be the death of him… or worse.”

I’ll let Finn describe Bonnie for you — “She was the most peculiar girl he’d ever met. Sad, sassy, temperamental, introspective, funny… and all of that in the space of ten minutes.” This girl just didn’t hold back. She was tired of her life being dictated and in her own words, her “give a damn” was busted.Now, in Bonnie’s word, Finn was “big, bad, long-haired, and tattooed” but he was also incredibly smart. He was a brilliant natural mathematician — numbers and advanced theories came naturally to him and he saw the world from a different perspective than so many others.The story was told in dual POV and I found it so interesting to see the contrast between how they both initially perceived each other and what they were each really thinking and feeling on the inside. And it was also wonderful to see how those perspectives evolved and changed as they began to know each other more.

“It wasn’t a soft kiss or a sweet kiss. It was a “you-scared-me-and-messed-with-me-and-I’m-mad-and-relieved-and-frustrated-as-hell” kind of kiss.”

This story had a little bit of everything. It’s slowly paced and overall had almost a quiet vibe with an undercurrent of something a lot stronger. It contrasted the thrill of adventure with the beauty of falling in love and wove it into a modern-day story of Bonnie and Clyde (but with a happier ending).

“We’re Bonnie and Clyde! Wanted and unwanted. Caged and cornered. We’re lost and we’re alone. We’re a big tangled mess. We’re a shot in the dark. We’re two people who have nowhere else, no one else, and yet, suddenly that feels like enough.”

The other reader reviews seem to be 5 stars or 1 star. I had no idea what I was walking into. I loved Making Faces (one of my favorite books), so I decided to give it a try. I will tell you I LOVED IT! The writing... the characters.... the pure intelectual writing... and YES.. the controversial religious undertones. It was angsty, smart and I felt everything.

To rate 5 stars from me, I have to feel the journey. I felt every moment, and missed them when I hit the end....

I immediately picked up another Amy Harmon book to read "Running Barefoot" and im digging in tonight!! Review coming ...