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A review by the_librarians_daughter
Breaking South by Aly Stiles
5.0
This book .... I don’t think I was even two chapters in before it had me by the throat.
Ms. Santos has an incredible talent in focusing in on her characters to bring them to life in your head. This book was a heart breaker, a gut twisting, make you cry and heal you story.
The very high level base of the plot is that Genevieve Fox is a pop star on the top of the world. She has the career that all artists crave, the attention, the fans, the wealth...but she doesn’t have HER. Genevieve is a 22 year old shell of a human. Each day she is struggling with what is really inside her. What PERSON is she? She knows how to be all the things she needs to be for different people..but she doesn’t know how to sit in a room, look herself in the eye and just be. It’s frightening and gut tearing to read her mounting anxiety, the panic attacks, the depth of despair and loss. Even by chapter three you want to grab her by the hand, tell her to scream and cry into the void, and then hold her.
Oliver Levesque is a young NHL goalie taken out in his rookie season by a desperate attempt at a save. Which didn’t work out for him OR his team. The puck slid past Ollie as a player landed on his leg and brutally tore apart his knee as well as his dreams. Ollie is a hard working, focused, driven, and determined young man. Granted, you don’t make it to professional level sports without those traits, but Ollie’s are all focused solely on playing to support his family back in Canada. Due to tragic losses in his life at young ages, he feels the burden of providing for his siblings. While he’s busy trying to be Superman to them, his younger sister Camille is begging him to just BE. To be Ollie, to be her brother, to be human. She forces him to realize that there is so much more to him than just his ability and worth to his team. As she tells him “I just need you to be my brother.”
Ollie and Gen meet at a publicity event for a children’s charity. Gen is wandering the practice facility prior to the event attempting to run from her latest anxiety spiral and catches Ollie arguing with his trainer while pushing too hard on his rehab. Gen watches the by play between the two men, soaking in the concern, the masks that Ollie used to get his trainer to let him be, and finally that unmasked moment of sheer pain and fear once the trainer leaves. Ollie has no idea that Gen sees all of this.
He’s drawn to her, when they are out on the ice, and Gen reaches over to help him when she notices him hiding his pain and struggling with balance. A short conversation post event and the two set up a date.
The date is, disastrous. Gen doesn’t know what part she’s supposed to be playing with Ollie. She knows that he brings color and safety to her when he’s near so she desperately wants to hold onto him. Ollie doesn’t want or need fake. He’s disappointed to find Gen isn’t the caring person who saw his pain, quietly helped him, and then later asked after the man and not the injured athlete.
The plot of the book winds around Ollie pushing Gen to be herself. Her true self. To feel. To share with him. In a world filled with people who depend on her being what they need her to be, Ollie pushes her to be the person she wants to be. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a push and pull or that Ollie is perfect. He goes through dark phases as well. Cutting Gen off only to help her as the breaks finally start to come. Ollie’s teammates are very much less than thrilled with the additional burden they feel she’s adding to Ollie’s life. He’s living with his captain who is fiercely over protective of his rookie. Sandy and his wife are the best momma bears ever. They are the first people to step up and take care of Ollie knowing he takes care of so many others. While momma bears have their places, they can also inadvertently become blinded and not see what their kids need. Their protective tendencies hinder the couple at times as well.
I honestly didn’t want this book to end.
The plot just kept digging deeper and deeper into Ollie and Gen. The utter lack of love and support in Gen’s life isn’t in your face, but it’s in the very minuscule things that continue throughout the story. Ms. Santos writes an extremely accurate depiction of panic attacks, anxiety, untreated depression and loss of self. It was heartbreaking to watch from the outside, but at the same time, soothes any reader who struggles with these illnesses. You will feel a connection to Gen. You are very definitely seen by this character. Ollie’s emotional journey as well as physical injuries are also perfectly and bluntly displayed. You can feel the physical pain he’s battling. His emotional needs and pain are softly layered in, however and again it’s in a way that makes you just want to cry. It’s rare that these characters throw their missing pieces at you. It’s all in the little yet poignant daily things. The things that chip at you. This type of writing drives these emotions deeper as you relate human to human with the characters.
Breaking South ends with a realistic and happy ending. Nothing is magically fixed. The characters don’t magically change into their perfect best selves. You get a real relationship with supportive partners who act as each other’s lode stones. They do have wins. You are able to see them start to piece their better life together. This is a realistic couple who overcome real issues - while living extraordinary lives. They ARE a pop princess and an NFL goalie after all.
Ms. Santos has an incredible talent in focusing in on her characters to bring them to life in your head. This book was a heart breaker, a gut twisting, make you cry and heal you story.
The very high level base of the plot is that Genevieve Fox is a pop star on the top of the world. She has the career that all artists crave, the attention, the fans, the wealth...but she doesn’t have HER. Genevieve is a 22 year old shell of a human. Each day she is struggling with what is really inside her. What PERSON is she? She knows how to be all the things she needs to be for different people..but she doesn’t know how to sit in a room, look herself in the eye and just be. It’s frightening and gut tearing to read her mounting anxiety, the panic attacks, the depth of despair and loss. Even by chapter three you want to grab her by the hand, tell her to scream and cry into the void, and then hold her.
Oliver Levesque is a young NHL goalie taken out in his rookie season by a desperate attempt at a save. Which didn’t work out for him OR his team. The puck slid past Ollie as a player landed on his leg and brutally tore apart his knee as well as his dreams. Ollie is a hard working, focused, driven, and determined young man. Granted, you don’t make it to professional level sports without those traits, but Ollie’s are all focused solely on playing to support his family back in Canada. Due to tragic losses in his life at young ages, he feels the burden of providing for his siblings. While he’s busy trying to be Superman to them, his younger sister Camille is begging him to just BE. To be Ollie, to be her brother, to be human. She forces him to realize that there is so much more to him than just his ability and worth to his team. As she tells him “I just need you to be my brother.”
Ollie and Gen meet at a publicity event for a children’s charity. Gen is wandering the practice facility prior to the event attempting to run from her latest anxiety spiral and catches Ollie arguing with his trainer while pushing too hard on his rehab. Gen watches the by play between the two men, soaking in the concern, the masks that Ollie used to get his trainer to let him be, and finally that unmasked moment of sheer pain and fear once the trainer leaves. Ollie has no idea that Gen sees all of this.
He’s drawn to her, when they are out on the ice, and Gen reaches over to help him when she notices him hiding his pain and struggling with balance. A short conversation post event and the two set up a date.
The date is, disastrous. Gen doesn’t know what part she’s supposed to be playing with Ollie. She knows that he brings color and safety to her when he’s near so she desperately wants to hold onto him. Ollie doesn’t want or need fake. He’s disappointed to find Gen isn’t the caring person who saw his pain, quietly helped him, and then later asked after the man and not the injured athlete.
The plot of the book winds around Ollie pushing Gen to be herself. Her true self. To feel. To share with him. In a world filled with people who depend on her being what they need her to be, Ollie pushes her to be the person she wants to be. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a push and pull or that Ollie is perfect. He goes through dark phases as well. Cutting Gen off only to help her as the breaks finally start to come. Ollie’s teammates are very much less than thrilled with the additional burden they feel she’s adding to Ollie’s life. He’s living with his captain who is fiercely over protective of his rookie. Sandy and his wife are the best momma bears ever. They are the first people to step up and take care of Ollie knowing he takes care of so many others. While momma bears have their places, they can also inadvertently become blinded and not see what their kids need. Their protective tendencies hinder the couple at times as well.
I honestly didn’t want this book to end.
The plot just kept digging deeper and deeper into Ollie and Gen. The utter lack of love and support in Gen’s life isn’t in your face, but it’s in the very minuscule things that continue throughout the story. Ms. Santos writes an extremely accurate depiction of panic attacks, anxiety, untreated depression and loss of self. It was heartbreaking to watch from the outside, but at the same time, soothes any reader who struggles with these illnesses. You will feel a connection to Gen. You are very definitely seen by this character. Ollie’s emotional journey as well as physical injuries are also perfectly and bluntly displayed. You can feel the physical pain he’s battling. His emotional needs and pain are softly layered in, however and again it’s in a way that makes you just want to cry. It’s rare that these characters throw their missing pieces at you. It’s all in the little yet poignant daily things. The things that chip at you. This type of writing drives these emotions deeper as you relate human to human with the characters.
Breaking South ends with a realistic and happy ending. Nothing is magically fixed. The characters don’t magically change into their perfect best selves. You get a real relationship with supportive partners who act as each other’s lode stones. They do have wins. You are able to see them start to piece their better life together. This is a realistic couple who overcome real issues - while living extraordinary lives. They ARE a pop princess and an NFL goalie after all.