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nicolemhewitt's review
4.0
This review and many others can be found on my blog - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
This book tells Julia's story (switching back and forth between her past and the present) - as it says in the synopsis, Julia is a Sary, the soul of a child who died before she was born. One of a Sary's jobs is to help people who are considering suicide - to help them realize that life is worth living. Julia has been assigned to a teenage girl named Marcy who has been teetering on the edge of suicide since her mother died and her father turned to alcohol to nurse his emotional wounds. Julia is also trying to help Marcy rid herself of her caustic ex-boyfriend (who doesn't want to be an ex).
The problem is that Julia is suffering from her own loss - she feels responsible for the death of her companion Derek (something like a boyfriend, but that word doesn't really cover a relationship that's spanned hundreds of years!). Julia has to face her own demons before she can truly help Marcy, but getting past the death of the love of her life seems like an impossible goal.
The negatives:
A few vague details.
It seemed to me like there were a few holes in Julia's backstory. The synopsis implies that a Sary's sole job is to help people who are considering suicide (and that's implied a few times in the story as well), but when we flash back to Julia's past assignments, they seem to be centered on war - she was a nurse, helping to care for those who were injured in one. So, I think that their job was basically to help people, not necessarily just to help in suicide situations. But I wish it had been spelled out a little more clearly because I found myself confused a couple of times. Also, since it had been over a hundred years since Derek had died, I was a little unclear as to why Julia was just worried now about not being to help people because of her inability to get over his death. Had she completed past assignments just fine? It may have been the proximity to where Derek had died that was really causing her so much pain - again, I wished that would have been spelled out more if that was the case. But these were really details - they didn't mar the overall story for me much.
What I LOVED:
The unfolding of Julia and Derek's story.
I was completely engaged in the mystery of what had happened to Derek. Because the story unfolds throughout the book, I found myself constantly eager to keep reading and to learn more! Julia and Derek were wonderful together, which was bittersweet since you knew from the beginning how their story ended. I had all sorts of guesses about how Derek may have died (it's stated at the beginning that the Sary are immortal!), but I was really surprised when I found out what really happened. Derek's parts of the story were definitely my favorite!
Marcy's storyline.
I thought that this book did a great job of dealing with the issue of suicide and how someone's life can spin out of control. I really felt for her - how she had to deal with the loss of her mother and then the essential loss of her father too when he turned to alcohol to drown his sorrow. And then there was her crazy ex-boyfriend. I thought that Houston did a great job of realistically portraying that relationship - Marcy's ex was bad news, but he would try to turn on the charm in order to get her back. And, since he blamed Julia for the fact that Marcy dumped him, he showed his true colors to her pretty much all the time. I loved that Julia didn't just view Marcy as an assignment - she really cared about her and wanted so much to help her. You could tell that Julia truly ached for Marcy and just wanted to help ease her pain. Isn't that what friendship is all about?
Julia's demons (and Edison).
It's Edison (who mysteriously appears in Julia's life) who really makes Julia face her guilt and her anguish over what happened to Derek. I loved the emotional arc of this book and thought that Houston did a wonderful job with drawing us in to Julia's pain. My one complaint here is that it would be almost impossible for the relationship between Julia and Edison to live up to what she'd had with Derek, but the romance between these two isn't really central to the story, so that's okay.
I would definitely recommend Colors Like Memories to fans of paranormal books. This story is so unique and intriguing - I can't wait to read the companion novel to learn more about the Sary! 4/5 stars.
This book tells Julia's story (switching back and forth between her past and the present) - as it says in the synopsis, Julia is a Sary, the soul of a child who died before she was born. One of a Sary's jobs is to help people who are considering suicide - to help them realize that life is worth living. Julia has been assigned to a teenage girl named Marcy who has been teetering on the edge of suicide since her mother died and her father turned to alcohol to nurse his emotional wounds. Julia is also trying to help Marcy rid herself of her caustic ex-boyfriend (who doesn't want to be an ex).
The problem is that Julia is suffering from her own loss - she feels responsible for the death of her companion Derek (something like a boyfriend, but that word doesn't really cover a relationship that's spanned hundreds of years!). Julia has to face her own demons before she can truly help Marcy, but getting past the death of the love of her life seems like an impossible goal.
The negatives:
A few vague details.
It seemed to me like there were a few holes in Julia's backstory. The synopsis implies that a Sary's sole job is to help people who are considering suicide (and that's implied a few times in the story as well), but when we flash back to Julia's past assignments, they seem to be centered on war - she was a nurse, helping to care for those who were injured in one. So, I think that their job was basically to help people, not necessarily just to help in suicide situations. But I wish it had been spelled out a little more clearly because I found myself confused a couple of times. Also, since it had been over a hundred years since Derek had died, I was a little unclear as to why Julia was just worried now about not being to help people because of her inability to get over his death. Had she completed past assignments just fine? It may have been the proximity to where Derek had died that was really causing her so much pain - again, I wished that would have been spelled out more if that was the case. But these were really details - they didn't mar the overall story for me much.
What I LOVED:
The unfolding of Julia and Derek's story.
I was completely engaged in the mystery of what had happened to Derek. Because the story unfolds throughout the book, I found myself constantly eager to keep reading and to learn more! Julia and Derek were wonderful together, which was bittersweet since you knew from the beginning how their story ended. I had all sorts of guesses about how Derek may have died (it's stated at the beginning that the Sary are immortal!), but I was really surprised when I found out what really happened. Derek's parts of the story were definitely my favorite!
Marcy's storyline.
I thought that this book did a great job of dealing with the issue of suicide and how someone's life can spin out of control. I really felt for her - how she had to deal with the loss of her mother and then the essential loss of her father too when he turned to alcohol to drown his sorrow. And then there was her crazy ex-boyfriend. I thought that Houston did a great job of realistically portraying that relationship - Marcy's ex was bad news, but he would try to turn on the charm in order to get her back. And, since he blamed Julia for the fact that Marcy dumped him, he showed his true colors to her pretty much all the time. I loved that Julia didn't just view Marcy as an assignment - she really cared about her and wanted so much to help her. You could tell that Julia truly ached for Marcy and just wanted to help ease her pain. Isn't that what friendship is all about?
Julia's demons (and Edison).
It's Edison (who mysteriously appears in Julia's life) who really makes Julia face her guilt and her anguish over what happened to Derek. I loved the emotional arc of this book and thought that Houston did a wonderful job with drawing us in to Julia's pain. My one complaint here is that it would be almost impossible for the relationship between Julia and Edison to live up to what she'd had with Derek, but the romance between these two isn't really central to the story, so that's okay.
I would definitely recommend Colors Like Memories to fans of paranormal books. This story is so unique and intriguing - I can't wait to read the companion novel to learn more about the Sary! 4/5 stars.
jimenainovaro's review
5.0
I'll admit--I probably wouldn't have picked up this book on my own. But I was lucky enough to win a copy in a giveaway, and, well...
"I greeted his tombstone the way I always did—with a swift kick."
Who wouldn't want to read more after that opening sentence?
I loved the writing in this book. The descriptions popped out at me, the dialogue was natural and engaging, and it easily sucked me into the world and the characters. Meradeth Houston has created such a unique world that feels so real, from the ordinary world where Marcy lives to the complex world of the Sary. And she made me believe in the characters--in Julia's grief and longevity, in Marcy's fragility and strength, in Derek and Julia's love for each other, in Edison's steady sweetness.
A wonderful novel about grief, love, and life.
"I greeted his tombstone the way I always did—with a swift kick."
Who wouldn't want to read more after that opening sentence?
I loved the writing in this book. The descriptions popped out at me, the dialogue was natural and engaging, and it easily sucked me into the world and the characters. Meradeth Houston has created such a unique world that feels so real, from the ordinary world where Marcy lives to the complex world of the Sary. And she made me believe in the characters--in Julia's grief and longevity, in Marcy's fragility and strength, in Derek and Julia's love for each other, in Edison's steady sweetness.
A wonderful novel about grief, love, and life.
jeanz's review
4.0
MY REVIEW
I received this e-copy direct from the author, in exchange for my honest review and opinion.
I like the cover, the floating feather and how the scene is in a red hue does make the book cover look appealing. Does the cover go with the story? That's where the lone feather is relevant and after reading the book I imagine the scene being of Paradise Island.
The plot is quite different in that the "beings" are called The Sary. A Sary is the soul of a child that never took his or her first breath. The soul is given a choice to go "into the light" or become a Sary. So what's a Sary do? A Sary is assigned to a human who is suicidal. It is the Sary's job to try and help the human and prevent them from committing suicide.
So Julia is a Sary and is assigned to Marcy. Marcy has family and boyfriend issues. But then Julia also has problems too, se is depressed herself over the death of her companion Sary Derek. So can Julia overcome her sadness and depression enough to actually help Marcy.
I don't want to say a great deal more for the sake of revealing spoilers.
I really liked this book as I thought it's quite a different concept. I haven't read any others with "The Sary" in them so that appealed to me. There's quite a lot going on too, there's Marcy's story, then Julia's past, then a new guy arrives in town called Edison and it's a case of what or who is he. There's things going on with Marcy's violent ex-boyfriend. Marcy has no one else to turn to but Julia as her mother recently died and since then her father has taken to drinking excessively There is also the consequence of if Julia fails her assignment she may even lose her position of Sary, which would then break the last promise she ever made to her Sary companion Derek.
I really got into this book straight away and it kept my interest all the way through to the end. It didn't end as I had thought, but I did like the ending it had. All the questions raised were answered, which is always good. Could there be a Bk#2? I think so yes and it could have all three main characters, Marcy, Edison and Julia as well as introducing more of the Sary too.
So did I enjoy the book?Yes Would I read more in this series? Yes would love to, in my opinion it has plenty of scope for more stories etc. Would I read more by Meradeth Houston? Yes I really enjoyed her writing style, it flowed so easily and had just enough details to envisage what she was describing without becoming bogged down with too much information or words as some books I have previously read have had.
Would I recommend? Yes I think it would appeal to quite a wide market, YA, Romance, Historical.....
I received this e-copy direct from the author, in exchange for my honest review and opinion.
I like the cover, the floating feather and how the scene is in a red hue does make the book cover look appealing. Does the cover go with the story? That's where the lone feather is relevant and after reading the book I imagine the scene being of Paradise Island.
The plot is quite different in that the "beings" are called The Sary. A Sary is the soul of a child that never took his or her first breath. The soul is given a choice to go "into the light" or become a Sary. So what's a Sary do? A Sary is assigned to a human who is suicidal. It is the Sary's job to try and help the human and prevent them from committing suicide.
So Julia is a Sary and is assigned to Marcy. Marcy has family and boyfriend issues. But then Julia also has problems too, se is depressed herself over the death of her companion Sary Derek. So can Julia overcome her sadness and depression enough to actually help Marcy.
I don't want to say a great deal more for the sake of revealing spoilers.
I really liked this book as I thought it's quite a different concept. I haven't read any others with "The Sary" in them so that appealed to me. There's quite a lot going on too, there's Marcy's story, then Julia's past, then a new guy arrives in town called Edison and it's a case of what or who is he. There's things going on with Marcy's violent ex-boyfriend. Marcy has no one else to turn to but Julia as her mother recently died and since then her father has taken to drinking excessively There is also the consequence of if Julia fails her assignment she may even lose her position of Sary, which would then break the last promise she ever made to her Sary companion Derek.
I really got into this book straight away and it kept my interest all the way through to the end. It didn't end as I had thought, but I did like the ending it had. All the questions raised were answered, which is always good. Could there be a Bk#2? I think so yes and it could have all three main characters, Marcy, Edison and Julia as well as introducing more of the Sary too.
So did I enjoy the book?Yes Would I read more in this series? Yes would love to, in my opinion it has plenty of scope for more stories etc. Would I read more by Meradeth Houston? Yes I really enjoyed her writing style, it flowed so easily and had just enough details to envisage what she was describing without becoming bogged down with too much information or words as some books I have previously read have had.
Would I recommend? Yes I think it would appeal to quite a wide market, YA, Romance, Historical.....
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