Book Review: Tristan: Finding Hope (Nova, #3.5) by Jessica Sorensen

Tristan: Finding Hope
(Nova, #3.5)

Jessica Sorensen

Published: June 3, 2014

Publisher: Forever Yours

Age Demographic: New Adult Contemporary

Pages: 72

Tristan has always felt like a ghost. After a painful loss, he became all but invisible to his grieving family. So he dove headfirst into a dangerous life, sinking deeper until he felt he could disappear-and almost did. Though Tristan survived, staying on track is a 24/7 battle he’s not sure he wants to fight.

Then Tristan meets Avery, the girl with purple streaks in her hair and tattoos like secrets, waiting to be uncovered. Her smile is warm and inviting, but her sad, hazel eyes tell a different story. And the strangest part is-she can really see him. A girl like that might just keep Tristan out of the darkness . . . or pull him right back in.

To Order Tristan: Finding Hope (Nova, #3.5) by Jessica Sorensen please visit: Amazon 

(Note: I received a copy of this book via the publisher, in exchange for an honest review which I have posted here on the blog and on Goodreads.)

It's become apparent that Jessica Sorensen has the power in the sheer brilliance of storytelling, to wreck my emotions so incredibly with every book she writes in this stunning and gripping New Adult series. I love Tristan almost as much as I love Quinton, which is saying A LOT because holy hell QUINTON! That's all I have to say about that. And, I find myself really enjoying Avery's character just a little bit more than Nova, because even as damaged as she is I don't find her always putting her own mental health at risk to save someone. Yes, she carries around her own guilt that eats away at her, and she has her own set of flaws and emotional issues like the rest of the characters in this amazing series do, but there's something about her that makes me really enjoy reading her story and learning about the battle scars she carries around with her.

Tristan: Finding Hope, gives us a small glimpse at just how damaged and fucked up Tristan really is. It goes one step further in showing readers the origins of when and why Tristan started doing drugs to not only numb the pain that he felt, but to also draw attention to himself - any attention - whether it was good or bad because he felt so invisible in his own home that it was the only way that he could resort to making himself seen or heard by his parents. Constantly being compared and expected to live up to his sister Ryder's abilities, only continued to break him further. I wanted to reach into the book and hug him so hard, when his mother told him that she wished it was him that had died instead of Ryder and I was so angry with his father for not stepping up and taking more control of the situation, stopping the verbal abuse and vile hatred that spewed from his mother onto Tristan's shoulders. Her ability to take Ryder's death and use it to try and emotionally manipulate Tristan and his feelings, really enraged me.

I found myself wanting to fling this tiny book across the room on so many occasions, that it was unreal due to the horrid ways that his parents had treated him. This is a good thing, because I love it when a book can take my emotions and drag them from one extreme to the next and make me feel completely at a loss one second and then so hopeful in the next. Jessica Sorensen is amazing at doing this.

And, eventually I was so proud of Tristan for not blaming Quinton for his sister's death, for actually seeing what had happened for what it was, an accident that nearly wrecked Quinton's life in more ways than imaginable. As messed up and complicated as his life is, as much as he's dealing with battling his sobriety on a day to day basis, he is so much stronger than he gives himself credit for and he proves it in so many ways when he meets Avery for the first time. It's easy to see how she could have this profound affect on him, just by giving him the choices that she does in the following novel Wreck Me, which is the continuation of their story. She's just as damaged and broken as Tristan is, maybe even a little bit more given what she's had to endure during her young life and with the mistakes that she's made. Both strong and beautiful, she is undoubtedly guarded in so many ways that it's hard to get to know the "real" person she is behind the one she presents to the world.

Avery's past is dark, haunted, and full of so much violence that when her and Tristan meet, they have this instant connection where they each just get the other one without having to say too much about it. Tristan doesn't know what love is and Avery has completely sworn it off, because all it ever gave her was pain and deep emotional and physical scars that she'll never be able to leave behind her completely. Yet, together they are both the makings of a beautiful sorrow filled love story that can and will spark a glimmer of hope in each of their souls, once they figure out exactly what they want and what they deserve in life.

If you enjoyed the first two books in this series, then you will also enjoy this little insight into Tristan and why he is so fucked up and complicated. I would definitely recommend this to you, if you are a fan of gritty, reality based New Adult novels that are unafraid to go there with the ugly, messy, and complicated lessons of life.

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Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author from the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

She has written several YA and New Adult series, among them the Nova series, The Coincidence, Shattered Promises, Fallen Star, The Secret, etc. 

Please stop by and visit her on her Goodreads page and don't forget to fan her as well!