Bloom (Unspoken #5) by Marilyn Grey
Bloom (Unspoken Series Book 5)
Synopsis:
Have you ever wondered how many people would still love you if you were no longer beautiful? Have you ever thought of people who wake up and can't stand the idea of seeing their reflections? Have you ever considered that death may be easier than life?
I never did. Not once. Not until one moment, one mistake, changed my life forever.
I woke up to beeping machines, hovering faces, and pain like you wouldn't believe. I'm not just talking about my burns either. I'm talking about my heart.
My name is Sarah Jordan and this is my story. I'm tired of pretending to be perfect. Of painting on a smile when I'm struggling. My story isn't always pretty and easy to read, but it hasn't been easy to live either. I'm opening up. Letting you in. So maybe, just maybe, together we can peel away the masks and find true beauty. True life. Underneath it all.
Welcome to my heart ... bound within the pages of Bloom.
Book 5 in The Unspoken Series. This is a 10 book series, best when read in order.
A beautiful, successful, sweet personality with the world at her fingertips, Sarah Jordan falls in love with James, a charming man who adores her. But he comes with broken pieces and a daughter he adopted when his brother and sister-in-law died in an accident he feels he could've prevented. When she finally decides to say yes to his many proposals, they are both burned in a campfire accident. After a year of hospital beds and stark lights, Sarah is released to go home with everything but her former beauty. As she recovers, James struggles with regret and guilt as Sarah fights to overcome the depression that comes with a new life so different from the one she loved so much. Her joy and security are tested while budding relationships cleanse wounds they never knew they had.
Review:
So apparently I didn't read the full synopsis before starting Bloom as I didn't realize it was part of a series until I had finished it (and it says it is best when read in order). I don't really feel like I missed anything while I was reading, I was never confused as to what was going on or anything, but apparently you get to know Sarah in prior books. As it was Bloom was an interesting read for me. I loved parts of it, loved the sentiment at parts, but hated parts as well. Sarah was kind of all over the place for me. I cannot imagine what she went through, but even so she annoyed the heck out of me at times. So I loved parts, hated parts, and thought parts were just so so. An odd read.
Sarah and James are in love. When James proposes on a camping trip Sarah says yes and they are going to start their life together. Only things don't work out that way. They are both burned in a terrible accident, Sarah more so than James. Sarah has burns on half her body, including her face. The book picks up after she get released from the hospital and has been just wasting away her life hiding in her room. I get it. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to get back to a normal life after something like that. Not only the physical pain involved, but the way people would react to you now wherever you went. Sarah is used to people looking at her, desiring her. She goes on how she always hated that, but at the same time she just wants to be attractive again. She seems incredibly depressed and like she really needs a therapist or someone to talk to about her issues. She is horrible to everyone in her life, not wanting them to be there for her. James has stuck by her side for this entire time, even though she tries her hardest to push him away. She keeps thinking how she needs to find someone else for him as he deserved better. How could he possibly still want to be with her with the way she looks? Really that was some of what I loved/hated about this book. Sarah was all about her physical appearance. Nothing else mattered. She was ugly now so she would never be able to be happy again. Her poor me attitude got on my nerves quite a bit. I understand it would be hard, but she needs help. I just got tired of listening to it after a while. Her friends, though, had a lot of good thoughts.
"'We understand where you're coming from and I guess we can respect that, but try to see what we see.'
'What? That true beauty is within?' I mocked.
'No,' he said. 'That you are still the same old Sarah and if you're getting uglier it has nothing to do with your skin.'"
Exactly. She might not be perfect on the outside, but she sure is ugly on the inside now. I felt bad for her, feel for what she is going through, and couldn't understand why she wasn't seeing someone to talk about all of this. Of course Sarah meets her physical therapist and has a crush on him instantly. His fiancee is like the exact opposite of Sarah. Natalie, the fiancee, is all about makeup and clothing and such. She is beautiful, but also kind of shallow. When Vasili, the physical therapist, wants Sarah to meet his niece, Anastasia, Sarah doesn't want to. But wouldn't you know Anastasia has similar burns on her body and instantly makes Sarah feel better about herself. She pretty instantly wants to start living again thanks to little Anastasia. It was a miracle. That is a part I did not like. I can't imagine that seeing a little dying girl with similar burns who is so positive would fix how dark and depressed and horrible Sarah was. I just didn't buy it was that easy for her to want to start living again. Sure after that she slowly comes out of her shell and starts to move on, but it was too easy it seemed.
The other odd thing? James turns into this crazy bad guy suddenly. Sarah keeps trying to push him away and finally she overhears something and has had enough. So then James just says horrible things to her, but then apologized, then horrible things, and on and on. It was odd. So then Sarah has Vasili.V They both seem to like the other, but he has a fiancee. The whole ending, how everything works out perfect for everyone involved, just was too much at times. It was too easy to get from don't want to live Sarah to Sarah in love. I did like how slowly Sarah did take it at the end though. How she was kind of afraid to move forward. It was nice to see, but then eventually that too got to be a bit much for me. It got to be like come on! Do something already! So yeah, overall I had many ups and downs with this books. Lots of exactly! Yes! followed by parts of eye rolling or annoyance. An interesting read.
Rating: ★ ★ ★
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