BUY LINK: Amazon
Jade’s Rating: 5 Stars
Jade’s Review:
“For being the first time either had kissed anyone like this, it was hot. Their lips and tongues danced together like they’d been kissing all along. It felt like they had always been like this, touching, kissing, writhing together. This place, where they’d played throughout their childhood saw their first steps into being men…being together…”
This is my first Rain Carrington book, and it has definitely left me wanting to read more of her work. This book made me feel so much…5 stars automatically, just for that.
Can I just take a moment to say how gorgeous that cover is? *happy sigh*
(I’ll just go ahead and warn everybody right now…I can’t seem to write a review without giving away spoilers so be ye warned: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!)
A couple of not so great things for me… first, it was difficult at the beginning of the story to keep the characters straight in my head. There are six boys, and they are introduced relatively quickly. They were teenagers at that point in the story, so the juvenile mannerisms and speech didn’t make it any easier to figure out who was who. But once I got farther along in the story, I got to know each of them a little better and didn’t have that trouble telling them apart anymore. The other thing was that, for me, the writing seemed a bit clunky in places, especially in the beginning, which didn’t help with trying to distinguish between the six boys.
That said, most of the writing was beautifully descriptive, and I’m still giving the book 5 stars because it made me feel. It was one of those books where I kept saying, “I’ll just finish this chapter” and then read several more because I couldn’t put it down. When I had to go do responsible adult things, I was wishing I could just run away and be a hermit so I could finish reading the book. Angel and Garcia and their friends and even Raf stayed with me long after I read the last word.
I love how both the story and the characters come full circle, with the story beginning and ending with weddings on the ridge (which sounds absolutely beautiful, by the way) and with characters leaving and then returning to the reservation. Raf’s death and Angel’s and his mom’s reactions to it nearly killed me, I swear. I wish like all hell that he didn’t have to die. I understand why, as a plot device, he had to go, but he was such a great influence in Angel’s life and I wish we could have seen how happy he would have been to know Angel and Garcia ended up together, like he predicted. Angel and Garcia both grew so much throughout the story, and Garcia especially surprised the hell out of me at the end. It was unexpected but perfect and satisfying in a way that made me cackle with glee.
This is a hard, emotional read at times, but if you stick it out, it has a beautiful happy ending. At the end of the day, justice is served and everybody ends up where they were meant to be. It has a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-back-to-lovers thing going, but if you enjoy angst and beautiful writing and a satisfying happy ending, you’ll love Turquoise.
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
