Review: Emerald City by Alicia K. Leppert

My Rating: 4 out of 5

THANK YOU TO NET GALLEY AND CEDAR FORT FOR ALLOWING ME TO REVIEW THIS BOOK AND GIVE MY HONEST OPINION

Synopsis:
Olivia Tate is a broken shell of a girl haunted by the tragic events that fill her past. She has closed herself off from the world, each day grasping at something—anything—to live for. Convinced there will never be a way out, she seeks solace in the depths of her medicine cabinet. When she wakes up days later in the hospital she is introduced to Jude, the quiet stranger responsible for saving her life. She never could have guessed then that her mysterious rescuer would end up saving her life a second time, while simultaneously turning her world upside down.

Review:
This is one of those books where you really don't know what to expect. The synopsis doesn't give much away. Presuming this was possibly a contemporary romance I entered into Olivia's world at the worst possible moment. For her there is nothing left. Her father left her, her mother left her. Now she's alone and trying to cope having pushed her best friend away in the process. In her darkest hour she's saved by the mysterious Jude. Handsome, patient but quiet, Olivia is drawn to her saviour but it isn't all good. How did he get into her apartment that night to save her? How did he know her name as he screamed it in her last moments? The truth is more complicated than Olivia could have imagined and now she's falling for him in a big way.


Let me first say that the cover does this book no justice. This is a Paranormal romance that doesn't shout about it. There's no magical element to the cover at all so in its unassuming sense the story took me by surprise.


The story is great, however you do get dropped in right at the bad part and while the first part of the book takes you through Olivia's healing process it is a very dark subject that some readers might not take to. The big reveal is one I expected. The clues had given it away so I was happy I was right! The romance is wonderful. I wish everyone could have a 'Jude' to stand by their side. His character was the reason I kept reading.


The only issue I had was with the story and the premise of it. Olivia is 20 years old. She suffers a loss that you can't compare until you've been through it. I have so I could relate. But Olivia dragged herself through a year of hell. In reality after two or three months you begin to heal and after a year you can start making new decisions based on rationality and not hurt or anger. In this respect I just felt that Olivia's pain was a little far fetched. 

However for Alicia to write about such despair and make it seem so real shows the true quality of her writing and I for one will gladly read anything else she publishes.
-CB

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