Friday, January 16, 2015

Sweet Unrest

Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell


I knew I wanted to read this book from the moment I heard about it on Twitter, so much that I'd ordered the book shortly after it's release (only because I missed the pre-order) at the same time I pre-ordered Snow Like Ashes. However due to ARC's that I had to finish reading and my busy End of the Year schedule... I only got to read it just now. Oh, god if I'd known what was lurking on my shelf all this time I'd have picked it up sooner.


Synopsis:

Lucy Aimes has always been practical. But try as she might, she can’t come up with a logical explanation for the recurring dreams that have always haunted her. Dark dreams. Dreams of a long-ago place filled with people she shouldn’t know…but does.

When her family moves to a New Orleans plantation, Lucy’s dreams become more intense, and her search for answers draws her reluctantly into the old city’s world of Voodoo and mysticism. There, Lucy finds Alex, a mysterious boy who behaves as if they’ve known each other forever. Lucy knows Alex is hiding something, and her rational side doesn’t want to be drawn to him. But she is.

As she tries to uncover Alex’s secrets, a killer strikes close to home, and Lucy finds herself ensnared in a century-old vendetta. With the lives of everyone she loves in danger, Lucy will have to unravel the mystery of her dreams before it all comes to a deadly finish. (Source: Goodreads)


Personal Opinion:  

First, perhaps you should see my earlier post on opinions > HERE

Good, now that we got that out of my system... *ahem*

I adored Sweet Unrest. The entire book flowed like a gorgeous poem that I never wanted to end. If people are smart, I could see this book easily becoming a classic of our time.
At first, upon meeting our main character I wasn't sure what to think of her, until of course her adorable awkwardness won me over.
Seriously. It is about damn time that we get a heroine who doesn't always have a witty comeback for everything. I was like, "Is she me?" But then I realized that I often, due to years of self training, have a comeback for nearly everything. So no, Lucy is not me, Lucy is Lucy and has a life all of her own.
And the way Lucy blossoms throughout the story is nothing short of amazing. She goes from Sulking Teenager who isn't happy about the move and wants to go back to her home in Chicago to I don't want to go back to Chicago because I've become attached to things that are here in Louisiana. Character development is one of my favorite things ever.
I don't want to give away much because through the day and night that I spend reading this book I went on such a rollercoaster ride of emotions it even had me having to set the book down, mark my place with my Sweet Unrest bookmark (procured from requesting that my library grab a copy of Sweet Unrest(you're welcome local library patrons)) and take a deep breath before diving right back in and I don't want to spoil that for anyone because it was FANTASTIC.
Alex is like the book boyfriend of all the book boyfriends. First of all, he's French which is a huge plus, and then there is the fact that he is a true gentleman. You don't get that in book boys a lot these days and without spoiling too much, I need to stress that he is written so perfectly. As we delve deeper into the story we learn about him and that his character development happened long before the story actually started. I've never seen character development done that way before, it makes me laugh at people who throw words like 'unoriginal' out in their reviews. I'm like,

 "Bro, do you even READ?"

I want to also give a shout out to the other characters as well, which I don't do a lot.
Piers, Chloe, T.J, Mama Legba and Thisbe
I've never been so blown away by supporting characters before. So much detail went into them and I could see each face, I could hear each voice and that is a hard thing to do when it comes to a supporting cast, because usually the story is so centered on the two mains that the other characters blend into the woodwork.

Finally the story. I knew this story would be rich with culture and Voodoo the second I read that it was set in Louisiana. I got something so much more rich and cultured than I was expecting, which is saying something because I've talked with Ms. Maxwell and I already expected a lot. The accuracy blew me away. I don't know much about Voodoo, but I do know my fair share about Witchcraft and magic of both the White and Black Varieties as I mentioned in the review for Blood Magic and it is not something to be played with. 

Which leads me into a point I wish I could make about all books. If someone doesn't know even a little about the subject matter of a book, I really wish they wouldn't bother picking it up at all rather than not understanding and giving it a bad review. Just don't. 

Aside from the Voodoo and Magic, I have to say that this could very well be the most touching love story I have ever read.
I can't stress how much I mean this without spoilers, but I really don't want to do that because I want everyone to feel this for themselves. So just trust me okay. BEST. LOVE STORY. EVER.



Something I want to include but couldn't find a place for was the way Ms.Maxwell wrote about Deja vu. 

"'Most people wake,' she continued. 'and they don't remember a things. Other people, they forget they dreams and then, in sudden flashes--' She snapped her fingers. 'That's when they realize they've been somewhere before. Done something already.' 
That part struck me deep. It reminded me of a time when I was about 12 years old. Reading had just become an important part of my life and I spent most of my time either reading or writing because they were my only escapes from reality. Finding a place to escape so my escapes were peaceful was easy. The house I was living in at the time had a four seasons room which was perfect for reading and writing.
I'll never forget the sense of Deja vu I felt when I sat down at the table in that room for the first time. I still to this day believe that I had been there before, in that room with a small table covered in a white table cloth and in the middle a Mulberry scented candle, to the windows that over looked a pen full of goats.
"I've been here before." I remember thinking that. So when Mama Legba started relating it to the dreams, I felt a little thrill because it felt like Ms. Maxwell knew something about me, and we all know that saying:



I think I got everything I wanted to touch on, but I stayed up all night to read and I am exhausted because of the whirlwind of emotions I went through in such a short time, so chances are I'm forgetting something and missing a ton of typos, so I'll probably come back to fix this later and end up posting it all over again lol <3 



Favorite Quotes: 
"You got to understand that it don't matter what you think. It matters what is." 

"Enough to free her from you if I have to, Thisbe."


"You do know that this life is only one stopping place-- and one day, this time will seem to have been no longer than a blink?"

Overall Rating



5/5

(10/5 is what I really mean.)

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