Synopsis

My best friend was dying and I was in love with his girl.

Andy and I had been best friends since we were eight-years old. Watching him slowly fade away, ever closer to his final breath, made me so incredibly angry. I knew there was nothing I could do to change it--I had given in to despair, but Andy had not. He had one last hand to play.

He wasn't going to simply sit back and wait for Death to claim him--not Andy. He was going to live life until he couldn't hold his eyes open any longer.

Andy didn't want to die in some sterile hospital and asked me to take him and Emily to the beach. It would be our last road trip together.

Emily. Emily was a problem for me.

I harbored a secret that would have torn our friendship apart. I was in love with Andy's girl, and had been since she'd walked into our sixth grade class, so many years ago.

So what kind of person am I? My best friend is dying, and it's
awful--but my heart still aches for his girl. I hate myself for thinking beyond Andy's death and whether there could ever be a future for Emily and I, but I can't help it.

I'm in love with her.

 

My Thoughts

I don't know about everyone else, but whenever I'm down and feel the need to have a cry, I have a movie I watch - A Walk To Remember. I haven't read the book yet, only seen the movie, but it makes me cry like a baby EVERY SINGLE TIME I watch it!

I feel similar about Out of Reach by Missy Johnson. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mean it in a bad way. Out of Reach has become my go to book for when I want to experience the depth of emotion in a story. What I mean is, this book made me FEEL, and I LOVED it!

It started with compassion and empathy. I felt for Seth and Emily having to watch their best friend and boyfriend suffering with pain and slowly fading away. I empathised for Andy knowing he was going to depart from this world soon and would never get to experience all of life's joys as everyone should.

Then came some joy and happiness. It was delightful reading how Andy pushed both Seth and Emily to their limits by making them live out HIS bucket list. I was happy because Andy was happy, and because deep down Seth and Emily loved what he was making them do. Now call me heartless and inconsiderate if you must, but I also enjoyed finding out that Seth had been in love with Emily all along. And, I got flutters whenever little things were mentioned about Emily having feelings for Seth.

Next up was heartbreak and anger. I was heartbroken when the time finally came for Andy to depart from this world. And I was angry! I felt grief, cried uncontrollably and was so angry that it could happen to somebody so young! Yes, we all know that it was coming, but it didn't make it any easier!

And as the story progressed, and life after Andy went on, I got to experience the happiness again as Seth and Emily worked out how to live their lives without Andy in them.

The story was great, and one I'm sure is close to many people's hearts. Missy Johnson is an amazing author with a great writing style. She has the ability to engage you in her stories from the very beginning and hold you captivated until the very end.

I received an ARC as part of the Blog Tour in exchange for an honest review.