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A Voice In The Distance (2008)

by Tabitha Suzuma(Favorite Author)

4.28 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

186230355X (ISBN13: 9781862303553)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Definitions

series

Flynn Laukonen

review 1: I finished up this series in just a couple of days so it is definitely a short, fast read. I really liked both books but there were some things that bothered me about the story and the writing and overall they were sad and I kept waiting for a little happiness to ooze in, but there were only fleeting moments of happy surrounded by a gulf of sadness and it just lacked balance. I really loved the storyline. I liked that it centered around a music school and musical prodigies, it was different and original, and created a nice backdrop for the story. I loved the characters, Flynn was eccentric and interesting even while he was battling his mental illness. I think a lot of very talented creative people teeter on the edge of madness, and the stress he was under and the pressure ... moreto be perfect can definitely drive someone to a breakdown. I liked the side characters although they didn't play as much of a role as I expected in this installment. The story began to get consumed by Flynn and his illness and everything else just became backdrop and that made it a little boring at times.I thought the Author did a great job of portraying an accurate picture of Bi-polar disorder and how it affects not only the sufferer but the people around them. I liked that there was no storybook quick fix and that it showed a true battle within Flynn. I thought that Flynn's reactions and thoughts were very realistic. He didn't want to take medication, he didn't think he needed it. He thought he could overcome it on his own and he didn't want the stigma that came with being mentally ill. He thought he needed the manic parts of him to make him feel alive and creative and to be able to let the music flow through him to compose, but he couldn't contain it and it would get out of control. He hated the depression and kept thinking he could just pretend it wasn't there and act normal and that it would just go away, but then he couldn't fight the feelings that came with it which left him feeling unworthy and untalented and self-loathing. I think this is how a lot of people with mental illness' really feel. They want to be normal and they fight within themselves to try and control it. Flynn wanted to find the balance without medication and therapy, but he just couldn't. The people around him were left todeal with all of his mood swings, his highs and lows and his anger, and he was oblivious to their suffering because he was so consumed with his own thoughts and feelings. I thought Jennah's reactions in this book were a bit off. She had been with him for two years at this point and she has known him for longer than that so she should have had a little more insight into how to deal with him by now. She knew that he was mentally ill, and what that meant. She had experienced both sides of him, on and off of medication, but yet she still would get angry and want to know why he did the things he did. She lacked communication with him and would never tell him what she was thinking or ask him what he felt like until it was too late, but since I have not dealt that personally with a person who was mentally ill, I don't know what the normal reaction or conversations would be. I just felt that it made a disconnect in her character and the chemistry between them so that I didn't feel the turmoil when things weren't going well. I didn't care so much for her. I liked the writing style of the first book better as it was in the third person and you got more of an insight into all the characters. In this book the Author switched to first person which I found odd in the middle of a series and it didn't flow as well between the books, also Flynn's personality didn't come through the same as in the first book because in this one it was obvious that it was female writing a male POV, his voice was too much like Jennah's. I liked when it was in her POV better this time because listening to her describe him and the circumstances felt more in line with the first book. I thought the ending, although appropriate, was sad and left a lot of loose ends that never got tied up. I didn't feel closure, it felt as though there should be another book coming, but these are not new books so I am guessing that this is the end for them, but it didn't feel complete. There are so many unanswered questions and although it wasn't a cliffhanger, it still feels like I am dangling on a thread waiting to hear what happened. Overall it was a good read and I enjoyed the story, maybe in the future the author will write a small e-book or a future sequel to bring their story to a more definite end, but I am glad I read it.
review 2: This should actually be a 4,5 but I'm still so angry with the way it ends that I can't possibly give it a 5. But it's weird, why do I feel that this book is so much more because it doesn't have a happy ending? The same thing happened to me with Forbidden, even if this ending is not as dramatic as that one, it still hurts so bad, both do in their own way. Suddenly I feel that these endings are more appealing in these type of books, it makes them real in some way. Can't believe I would ever say something like that, I, a sucker for happy endings :S Anyways, I really thought deep in my heart, well, actually I hoped, that this love could be possible, that both Flynn and Jennah together would overcome anything in their way. But I suppose that's just a fairy tale in my romantic world. Real world is so cruel, and that misunderstanding at the end of the book was so heartbreaking as any other in which any of the characters die. Maybe I got upset even more by it because I could see a happy ending so close and so far at the same time. And I feel bad for both, because even if I wished they could be together and their relationship to work, I know that Flynn made the right choice, even if my heart aches just by thinking that he would probably never find the future he deserves because he simply was unlucky enough to get one of those illnesses that could destroy your happiness.In my mind, I will always think that fate works its way, and that at some point of their lives, Flynn and Jenna would meet and try again, and this time, succeed. Cause as Flynn said, for me there is no doubt that they are and always will be soulmates. less

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