Novella Review: Delilah: The Making of Red (Nova, #2.5) by Jessica Sorensen

Delilah: The Making of Red
(Nova, #2.5)

Jessica Sorensen

Published: March 18, 2014

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Age Demographic: New Adult Contemporary

Pages: 96

DELILAH: The Making of Red

Delilah Peirce: the Invisible Girl. Men crane their necks around Delilah just to catch a glimpse of her bombshell mother. Delilah knows looks of indifference, of friendship-but never of desire.

Then she meets Dylan Sanderson, the impossibly gorgeous guy who thinks she's beautiful. When he looks at her, she feels needed. When he kisses her, her troubles disappear. And when he tells her he will never hurt her, she believes him . . .

To Order Delilah: The Making of Red (Nova, #2.5) 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.)

I'm discovering lately that my favorite kinds of characters, are those who are mostly unlikable because they seem the most real to me in a lot of ways that hold my interest. Red: The Making of Delilah is an incredibly, eye-opening, intense look at who Delilah was and how she became the broken and tormented person she is in the story. You could somewhat argue that she never really stood a chance in life, because of the way her mother raised her, her absentee father, and Dylan. It isn't any secret that I didn't particularly find any qualities that I liked about her while reading Breaking Nova and Saving Quinton, but I didn't dislike her either because I accepted that she was a product of her circumstances. I'm not saying that she's not responsible for her actions or that they don't have consequences, what I am saying is that what she endured between her mother's neglect and Dylan's abuse, is what sent her spiraling hard and as fast as she did.

Delilah's story, was an ugly, complicated, mess of a story and it was hard for me to read it and stomach all of the abuse that she took from Dylan and the way that he was able to stamp out any self-worth or confidence that she could possibly have in herself. She's dark, prickly, and pretty much every bit the bitch that life and her circumstances have made her. There is something inside of her that is very broken, so broken that as she's fading in and out of consciousness you can't help but feel for her. It makes you want to reach out and save her, as she comes to the realization that she should have made better choices. My heart ached for her, I wanted to pull her up from the darkness and save her myself. I wanted to tell her that she could still be better, that she was worthy of love and being loved without being abused and without having to abuse drugs to reach the state of numbness to lock out the pain of her own tragedies.

This story left me reeling and it left me in constant state of confusion, deep sadness, and crazy conflicted emotions flailing all over the place. I don't know about you or how you deal with all of the feels that a book can give you, but for me it sort of sends me spiraling a bit. I didn't go to a dark place, I went somewhere else. I went where I just wanted to see nothing, but goodness and hope and light for Delilah and yet I knew, that before I finished reading it wouldn't end up the way I wanted and that's okay with me because it left me with the thought of something Joss Whedon always said when it came to his fans and what they wanted. "I need to give the fans what they need, not necessarily what they want." That's a very true statement and one that's relatively accurate a good portion of the time. I can't help, but think that's what Jessica Sorensen was doing with Delilah and her story that she had to tell. That even if you wanted something good to come out of it, it was always going to be headed in the opposite direction instead.

I love Nova to a fault, but goodness this girl. I just want to shake her a little bit sometimes and say, "enough with the guilt okay!" You can't save everyone all of the time and especially at the risk of your own mental health. It's just not an accurate depiction of what life is like most the time, because it is hard, it is real, and it complicated in a lot of messy fucked up ways beyond your wildest imagination. I think Jessica Sorensen gets that full on and she's unafraid to tackle the realities of that part of life, the gritty, dark, and spiraling out of control aspect as brilliantly as she does and with such intensity and emotion that it will leave you breathless and reeling a greater portion of the time. You just get her books and these stories, they are very real and they are hard, but so necessarily. It can not always be a happily-ever-after, it can not always be positive, but even in the darkest of places and the coldest realities of weakness and suffering a light (just a glimmer, a flicker maybe) still remains and that's enough because her writing makes it enough.

I am amazed and surprised, I'm not almost always that.

Blog Twitter Facebook

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!

Release Week Blitz: Save Me (Lost Souls, #3) by Eliza Freed

Guys, I'm super excited to be a part of the Save Me Release Week Blitz, for the Lost Souls Trilogy by Eliza Freed. I'm already a little more than half way finished with the first book in this amazing New Adult contemporary series, Forgive Me, and I absolutely cannot put it down or read fast enough to see what happens next. It is literally that captivating and enthralling. So far, I think my favorite character is Noble Sinclaire! 

Oh my god! Can we say swoon-worthy times ten, because seriously this boy is brilliantly amazing. I am in love with him and I can't wait to get to the next book, Redeem Me, in this bold, edgy, and wonderfully written trilogy so that I can read more about him. I can't even words properly, I'm that excited. Charlotte, is absolutely something else. An angry mess, is the first thing that comes to mind, and then this crazy abusive obsessively intense relationship she's embroiled in with Jason Leer in the first book is just utterly...ugh! I mean, I don't like the guy let's just put it that way. I'm definitely a Noble Sinclaire girl, first and foremost. 

This is a messy, complicated, and intensely amazing New Adult trilogy that is definitely worth reading. I almost want to say that it's unlike in anything else I've ever read in New Adult and yet at the same time, I feel like I've read something similar. There are aspects about it so far, that have definitely tested my comfort zone and challenge me, but I'm totally fine with doing that. It's all about diversity this year and I'm embracing it as much as I can. So, I can't wait to continue my journey through this series and see what happens in the stunning and breath taking conclusion, Save Me. 

Enough of my rambling, let tell you what this book is about...

Save Me (Lost Souls, #3)
Eliza Freed

Published: July 4, 2014

Publisher: Forever Publishing
Age Demographic: New Adult Contemporary

Pages: 368

"You need to be careful with perfection. It's brilliant at hiding its flaws." 

Having lost everything she holds dear—and then some—Charlotte O'Brien had almost given up hope. Until an unepexted love opened her heart to the possibility of second chances. 

But now, will Charlotte be brave enough to take the risk that love be enough to save her wounded soul?

The stunning conclusion to Eliza Freed's provocative Lost Souls series.

To purchase a copy of Save Me (Lost Souls, #3) by Eliza Freed please visit: Amazon & Barnes&Noble.

Need a little more enticement?!
Check out this scorching excerpt from Save Me (Lost Souls, #3) by Eliza Freed.

Excerpt from Save Me (Lost Souls, #3)
Written by Eliza Freed

“This is going to end soon and I don’t want to be without you. I can’t be.” This cannot be happening. “You don’t love him.”

“Why is it so hard for you to believe that I do? I do love him,” I snap at him. I don’t know how I’m capable of loving anyone after a tour with you, but I love him.

“Because with every cell of my body I know you belong to me. Next to me, on top of me.” I swallow hard at the thought of him beneath me. “Inside of you.”

“I get the picture.”

“And because I know that. Because it’s true. You can’t be in love with him.”

“You didn’t want to pull me away from New York City? You so selflessly fucked Stephanie Harding to make sure I ended up where I belong, but now you’ll have me leave Noble? You are fucked up,” I spit at him.

“If you give us a chance, I will never let you go again. I promise. Annie, you’ve got to give us another chance. You’ve got to know it’s not a life unless we’re together.”

The waitress brings our food and Jason and I just stare at each other. I am baffled. I hate him. I love him. I want him…to leave.

“I want you to go away with me when this is over.”

“What will be left of me? You think it will be enough for you. If I hurt Noble like that, I won’t be the same person. You wouldn’t want me.”

“Impossible,” he scoffs. We sit in silence until he finally takes a bite of his sandwich. I eat a little and stare at my glass of tea. I wish I could be drunk, unconscious actually. I’m no longer capable of living my life. Not this one, at least.

“You’re always sure of everything. Even when you’re wrong you’re sure,” I say,watching him finish his meal, completely unaffected by his plot to ruin my life, and Noble’s, and probably my brother’s because why should he be exempt from this torture. “I’m never sure of anything. Do you know why?” 

Jason looks at me, bracing himself for what’s coming.

“Because the last person I was sure of, I was completely wrong about. I never thought you would be capable of doing what you did. How could you?” 

Jason just stares at me, taking every word he deserves.

“How could you put your hands on her? Put your dick in her?” I lower my voice. There’s no need to yell; it’s grotesque without the dramatics.

“I guess you were lying when you said you forgave me,” he says.

“This is what you’re asking me to turn Noble into. A person who no longer believes in anything he’s ever known.”

“What I’m asking has nothing to do with Sinclair. He put himself between us. That’s his problem. He knew I wanted you back the entire time,” Jason says, taking money out and putting it on the table for lunch. “I’m asking you to let yourself be happy. Let yourself believe in me again because I sure as hell know you want to.”

I stand up from the table and start walking. I don’t stop until I get to my car, but as usual Jason is there one step before me, blocking my door.

“You’re making every single day of this nightmare even harder,” I say.

“I think the exact same thing about you. Going home to that house every night.” The cruelty of today continues as Jason leans into me and places his lips on mine and some internal sob caves my chest in and steals my breath. He puts his hands above my head, leaning on the Volvo behind me, and separates my lips with his tongue. And I let him. I let him in, in every way. My blood courses through me and throbs everywhere as I give in to what my hands and my mouth and lips have wanted for months. I wrap my arms around his neck and he pulls me to him.

I pull his hair and my tongue takes over my thoughts.

I pull away from him. His eyes are ravenous. He will take me right here in this parking lot if I let him.

“It doesn’t change a thing,” I croak out. “You knew all of that before my body told you.”

“I did, but now you know it, too,” he says, and takes the keys from me to drive us home.

Home…

The ride is long and silent. Betrayal sits between us and contemplates how many lives Jason and Charlotte can ruin, their own apparently not enough for them. I lean my head on the cool window and focus on the sky as the almost full moon rises. It’s not even four o’clock yet. The supermoon will be here in a few days. What lunacy will it bestow upon us?

“I love you, Annie,” Jason says, and I never take my eyes off the moon. I never turn to him or acknowledge he spoke. Through with the talking, done with the truth. Let him know everything. Now I want to know nothing.

© 2015 Eliza Freed. From Save Me by Eliza Freed, published by Forever Yours.
All rights reserved.

Dear Charlotte, 
Please, please, please don't break Noble's heart because he doesn't deserve that. He deserves to be happy and so do you, I hope you both can find a way to be happy with each other. Jason Leer doesn't deserve any inch of you!
Love, Me!

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Website Twitter Facebook

Eliza Freed graduated from Rutgers University and returned to her hometown in rural South Jersey. Her mother encouraged her to take some time and find herself. After three months of searching, she began to bounce checks and her neighbors began to talk; her mother told her to find a job. 

She settled into Corporate America, learning systems and practices and the bureaucracy that slows them. Eliza quickly discovered her creativity and gift for story telling as a corporate trainer and spent years perfecting her presentation skills and studying diversity. It’s during this time she became an avid observer of the characters we meet and the heartaches we endure. Her years of study have taught her laughter is the key to survival, even when it’s completely inappropriate.

She currently lives in New Jersey with her family and a misbehaving beagle named Odin. An avid swimmer, if Eliza is not with her family and friends, she’d rather be underwater. While she enjoys many genres, she has always been a sucker for a love story...the more screwed up the better.

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