Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Pages: 352
Series: None
Release Date: October 17, 2017
Publisher: Forever
Mia Sheridan is an author who has improved a lot since her first novel. But after Ramsay, I felt like she was moving in a direction that I, personally, didn’t like. And I’m very happy to say that we’re back on track.
Most of All You tells the story of two people who’ve had some truly shitty card dealt to them. Crystal, after living most of her life with her horrible father who never showed a shred of affection toward her, now works as a stripper with no hope for a better future. She’s guarded and close to her breaking point. Gabriel is trying to live a normal life after the trauma he faced during his six-year-long abduction as he was a kid. He still has trouble with physical intimacy and that’s why he approaches Crystal. To seek help. Neither of them expected the way they would connect, or that Crystal might need help a lot more than him.
It’s a very emotional journey for both of them. They’ve faced a lot of trauma and while Gabriel has had time to heal (and he’s fine for the most part), Crystal hasn’t even started.
This book is all about healing. It’s about not letting the bad things kill your spirit and continuing to fight. It’s also about vulnerability, how opening yourself to emotion, to pain, is the first step to happiness (Inside Out, anyone?), and that we shouldn’t be so guarded that we miss the good things, even if they’re few and far between. It’s about gratitude and hope.
Mia Sheridan handles the issues and the characters with a lot of care and tells a beautiful story. I was pleasantly surprised by the book. It’s as much of a character story as it is a romance.
There was one character who bothered me though. Gabriel’s brother. He was a grade-A prick and I couldn’t forgive his actions. Nor do I completely understand his reasons for the way he treated Crystal. We get a reason, but it didn’t explain everything. Also, I’m not entirely fond of the every-guy-who-enters-a-strip-club-is-a-disgusting-creep mentally. In an effort to be kind toward women (which I’m more than happy more), it got a little too biased against men.
Other than that, I’m really happy with the novel. I’m also glad that I’m not losing an author I really like. I’m eager to see what she’ll publish next.
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