"Georgia Rae, when we made love you used to cry, you said... I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die."
~
Wow. In a good way? Bad way? I don’t know! I’m so confused and lost as to how to start this review. Anyone care to lend me a hand? Gosh. Okay… I won’t quote from the book for a change, I want you to go into it open minded and untouched as possible in terms of actual content. But…
To be honest with you, my first reaction when I finished this book wasn’t good. Like, at freaking all. I was like, “all this freaking trouble for THIS mother fudging ending?! Are you kidding me?!?!?!” Yeah. You can tell you’ll be displeased as fudge. But then again, the author doesn’t promise a HEA. Still, I was really, really mad. And I guess I still am, in a way. But I think that after sleeping on it, and analyzing things, it wasn’t that bad. I mean, I enjoyed the book – or at least the majority of it – and I was thoroughly entertained, so there’s that. Yet, for me, it somehow fell short. I don’t know. In theory, though, love triangles, second chance romances? Count. Me. In!!! Gimme more, please.
Let me just tell you, this book is definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. All those warnings you get beforehand and stuff are maybe what drew me to this book in the first place, more so than the actual blurb because I love a good adventurous, outside the box kind of read, but I suppose it just lacked… something? But let’s review a little bit of the actual story before I dive in some more. As always, not spoiler free. Sorry!
Georgia Rae and Sean McCarthy are meant to be. They have loved each other ever since Georgia was 11 and Sean hung out with her family – and even formed a band with her brothers! – that went on to become super successful. By now you must know the drill: fame shot up to his head; drugs, booze, girls and you are able to spell disaster with a capital D. If anything, this book is brutally honest and raw. I’m not used to reading books where the hero cheats (it’s a gazillion times harder for me than dealing with an asshole), so it made me uncomfortable right from the start. I really didn’t like Sean for the most part, maybe until he got his act together. But the thing is, right before he got his head on straight, in comes Cam. And, trust me, I hated wishing Gia would end up with Cam instead of Sean, because I knew that wasn’t going to happen, but gosh darn if I didn’t hope for it anyway! See, this book just wasn’t meant for me from the get-go. Sigh.
Despite my own leaning towards Cam thing, I started to warm up to Sean again when he reentered Georgia’s life, despite being gutted at how things between her and Cam happened. Truth is, the passion between “Maca” and George is undeniable and beautiful and I couldn’t frown at them being back together. Before I go on, let me tell you I was not the biggest fan of Georgia’s (read: at all!) either, so I only disliked her more by the end of the book, especially in THAT scene. I was THIS close to strangling the hell out of her. Ugh! But by then I was already so taken with Sean again that I didn't care about anything other than their preciousness together. Swoon!
GOD! I’m still so lost as to how to approach this review or this book. I’m doing it very differently than usual, so I’m just going to divide this into what worked for me and what didn’t. Yep, I’m that torn! Sheesh. Okay. What worked?
I loved Lesley’s idea and intention with the book. The very, very emotional, raw, passionate, thrilling feelings you get despite what you may or may not think of it in the end. The English slang, bringing back so many memories of my time being close friends with my Brit babes and their awesome lingo. Cam, Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome! The honesty in this book, while a punch to the gut at first, quickly became refreshing and a testament to Lesley’s ballsy approach to writing.
Now… what didn’t work?
Well, I’m not one to be deterred by faulty writing (and I know this is an unrevised copy), but it did take away from the experience a bit for me. I was distracted over the spelling and the formatting issues, even though I tried really hard not to (not an insult to you, Lesley, at all! Just an OCD issue for me I suppose). The juvenile, overly dramatic feel to the book, especially in the beginning. The slow pace at first, that almost lost me if I hadn’t forced myself to power through at the insistence of the recommendations I read. THE ENDING! I’ll never get over it. Ever. Being blindsided like that isn’t nice, you know? Yep, still angry.
In a nutshell, those are my considerations. I’m not pleased with this review, I feel like there’s so much more I wish I could articulate, but this book was literally the hardest I’ve had to review so far. I get the intention of the author, to show that life isn’t always rainbows and butterflies and books can’t always have a happy ending. But, thing is, I never knew there wouldn’t be one until I was past the point of no return, or else I would’ve avoided the book. My own fault, but still bitter? CHECK!
I didn’t exactly sob at the end (more like mouth formed in an “O” shape, disbelief etched on my face, sheets fisted on my palms, teary eyes, afterwards an ugly bitch baby ready to burst into loud wailing face…) but it was still one hell of a ride that you should definitely take, despite what you’ve read here. You’ll never really know until you experience it yourself, and maybe you’ll feel 100% differently than me. That’s the beauty of reading, isn’t it?
Will I read the sequel? I don’t know. Probably not. BUT, WAIT! DON’T SHOOT! I’m not saying this because I think Lesley isn’t fucking brilliant (pardon my French, I had to!), but because I’m not invested in the way the book ended. Not after that. Not after that ending. I can’t. Oh, what the hell, I probably will. Ugh. ANYWAYS. I will abso-freaking-lutely dive into “Saviour” by Lesley herself, because that one seems like such an amazeballs ride I’m itching to go on! I’ll keep y’all posted.
P.S. – Here’s something Lesley said about the ending of the book (yes, my bitterness had me Googling “WHY THAT ENDING ON CARNAGE BY LESLEY JONES?!” … or something like that, I was still seeing red LOL): “Then, just as I was reaching the conclusion, a number of awful events happened around me that just made me realise - you know what? Sometimes in life, we don't get what we want, things do fall apart, and bad things happen to good people.” Sigh. I hear you, Lesley, but still, fuckin' hell. Oh shit, now I'm getting all misty eyed over the book again. Oh, Sean... Damn it! Abort these feelings! Abort!
~
{ RATING :: 3.5/4 stars
SEX SCENES :: Steamy
GENRE :: Contemporary romance, music, new adult
AUDIENCES :: 18+
LENGTH :: 406 pages
HAPPY ENDING :: No
SEQUEL :: Yes }
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