Published February 18th, 2018
Kindle Edition, 376 pages
Contemporary, New adult, sociology, abuse
5/5*
# childhood sweetheart, coming-of-age
Gods & Monsters is not like other books
Saffron A. Kent wrote.
Even though her writing style is unique, in this book she outruns herself writing more about hearts and souls and less about bodies. This book is more like a coming-of-age novel, full of beautiful thoughts and about two alone children who despite the odds, find each other and learn to rely on one another.If you want to read a book with a lot of angst, drama, and actions, this one is not for you. This one is sad and even though the end is a happy one, it leaves the reader with a lot of melancholia. The book has three parts :
-The Sin spans the ages of 12-18 (for the heroine) and 14-20 (for the hero). It is sad and makes me revolt against humans who lost their humanity.
-The Fall where the sexy part begins, 18 (for the heroine) and 20 (for the hero). A little slow but intriguing.
-The Legend comes as an epilogue, three months after the events from the Fall, when the heroine understand finally that she has to let go, to move on, and they both understand that they are not Gods nor Monsters, they are only humans.
THE SIN: Evie Hart is a 12-year-old girl who loves to be outside, to play in the mud, and to look at the sky. She has a treehouse in the woods nears her house where she spends almost all her time reading. Her mother is religious and a town gossipper and she is hurting Evie every time Evie misbehave. Her father loves his family but he is not present as a father should be. He says nothing when Evie is beaten or punished by her mother, and Evie understands from a young age that he doesn't say anything because he loves her mother and he doesn't want to hurt her saying he doesn't approve of her behavior.
*Yeah, a very healthy marriage *
Evie meets Abel Adams * I couldn't not observe the names the writer chose for the heroes, as in Adam and Eve, and the original sin*, and she is intrigued by him because all the town believes that the 14 yo boy is a monster because their parents were first cousins. The boy is lonely because at school all the children make fun of him and he is always taking photos or watching Evie. Because her mother forbade her to spend time with Abel or to speak with him, Evie is sad because she is seeing the anger in the boy's eyes and she wants that anger gone.
"I don't think that monsters are bad or evil actually. I think what they have is a story and I like stories more than I like anything else in the world."
Evie and Abel decide to be secret friends and the author beautifully wrote how they spend their time together, how they grow from friend to something else, to lovers. At 13, Evie knows that she is too young to love, but she understands that what she is feeling for Abel can not be something else. They keep their friendship secret for 6 years until Evie's prom night when she meets Abel at his house and they want to have sex because they already decided that in 4 weeks when Evie is 18, they are going to marry. As Abel is taking Evie's photos, her parents are at Abel's house and they are dragging her to the door, cursing her and Abel and telling her that she is a disgrace and he is a monster.
"It makes me think that monsters aren't born, they are made...We make them with our own hands and then, point finger at them"
Because they know that they are not gonna survive with all that love and without each other, they both leave the small town and settle in NY, Abel's childhood city.
THE FALL -this part is a little slow and I really can't say much about it because that would mean I'm gonna spoil it so I'm just telling this: this is the time when they are angry, they are alone against the world and they make mistakes that in the end made them fall apart.
"You see, when two people fall in love, the other seven billion don't matter. It's not the world that tears them apart, it's them. Only they have the power"
" It isn't funny how the brain works? It protects. It blocks things. It rejects the possibility that something must be wrong. That the person you love the most might also be the person whos hurting you"
No cheating, no OW or OM, and no abuse. Just them. They carry the burden of their parents and they can't move on happy because of it.
"I wonder how many sons and daughters carry the burden of their fathers. I wonder if we pass on the same burdens to the children we have."
As time pass, Evies is sadder and sadder and Abel is more and more angry and dependent on her.
"Don't you get it, Pixie? There's no place for a boundary between us. I won't allow it"
She understands that he doesn't love himself and she knows that they should make peace with their past to have a future, especially when Abel is talking about having a baby together.
"A child should be brought into this world for the right reason."
As Evie moves on, with or without Abel, she hopes that he will follow.
"Proximity has nothing to do with belongingness"
THE LEGEND is the last part when Abel tries to right the wrong and they try to grow individually and in the and, as a couple This is when the coming of age actually happens when they finally find happiness in letting go, and in accepting what they cannot change.
"That's the biggest miracle to ask for; strength. So I can be my own miracle."
Lovely review, Rox! <3 I love Saffron A. Kent's books and Gods & Monsters was so intense.
ReplyDeleteAnd you started your own blog!! I've been meaning to start mine and with blogger too. Congrats, Roxana. :)
@Catherine, nice to see you here ! thank you for your support! Yeah, I thought about it for some time but I must confess I did not have the guts to do it :))
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