Golden

Jessi Kirby doesn’t play with words, she plays with emotions. Her stories don’t have complicate plots, but subtle ones. Her prose is so beautiful that it leaves you breathless, the edge of her words cuts deep into your soul.. You can never have enough of her stories and I can never put into words how much I love everything written by her.

Like with her other 2 books there is a bit of mystery born from a tragedy. If you don’t know what loss is, don’t worry, she will teach you slowly. She will make you love the characters, connect with them on many deep levels, she will break their hearts (and yours) and she will give you just a pinch of humour (maybe a bit more) and loveliness every now and then to heal the pain that starts to take over your heart.

The highs are so high and the lows are so low, the characters are complex – never too good, sometimes hitting the bottom only to then keep afloat… There are really not enough words left in this world for me to express all the feelings her books convey.

At this point I would read everything from this author, she is simply amazing and her words always leave me misty eyed. This is a book I wish I’ve read 10 years ago – definitely recommended!

Review originally posted at: http://www.readingaftermidnight.com/jessi-kirby/review-golden.html

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Parker is that one traveler who stood in a yellow wood trying to decide which road to take. The less traveled by or the more traveled by road. Two choices to make. It's a huge topic of Golden. Most likely the theme. (Actually it is the one of the main themes of Golden.) From this analogy, you should be able to guess which road she taken. If not, perhaps you didn't click on the link or didn't understand the poem. Or you never read the poem.

Golden was entertaining. It was all about the paths, the choices one can make. All these endless possibilities. One after another. Then there is always bandits on the path, taking away chance. Golden was an emotional roller coaster. It was well written, beautiful and surprising in the 'how' section. It was sad yet happy between the pages. In the journal entries of Julianna Farnetti.

The writing was amazing. It was good as Divergent by Veronica Roth. I love books like this. The description of the love interest could be much more descriptive. Then it would be much more interesting like Jace Lightwood. Then Golden would be a whole new book, so unlike the Golden already here.

The plot was goooood. I love Golden! All those twist and turns were exciting. It was nice to read this book right after Grave Mercy.

The ending! I love how Jessi Kirby wrote the ending. The ending allowed readers to discuss theories and ridiculous ideas. Golden's ending=More Discussion about Golden. Good job, Jessi Kirby. Wonderful ending.

Characters:

Parker Frost... Amazing girl. She's smart, beautiful in personality, and hilarious. I love her. She's torn between choices. She has to fight between two parts. Her heart and her mind. Her want and her mother's want. (What is it always the parents?) I don't blame her choices, they may not be good, but they are interesting. Parker is hopeful. She has a lot of hope, that fades with Hope's decision. But she gets up and went through it.

Julianna: Even though she doesn't appear very much, readers can feel her spirit. I can't believe her choices in her conflicts.

Rating: Five out of Five

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This is my first book by Jessi Kirby and I'm so glad I chose this one to start with. This incredible tale of love, fate, and hope was just what I needed right now. This books contains all the feels and I'm afraid I won't be able to explain them all in this review.
While reading this, I got some devastating news. My aunt who was also my godmother passed away. It further helped to drive home one of the main points in this novel, life is short so what do you plan on doing with yours. This made the story so much more real for me. Seeing that anything could happen, don't hesitate to make YOU happy. Even if it means that there is someone that will be unhappy with you about it.
That was the only reason I didn't like Parker. She tried making everyone else happy rather than herself. I was so happy when she decided to go on that journey and even though things didn't turn out as she thought they would, she should be happy that she even had the chance to find out. That's what a risk is. She went out on a limb to find out something, and for her character, that's saying a lot. But everything else about Parker I truly loved. Her character felt so real and all her relationships (with her mother, her best friend Kat) all felt real as well. The best thing about her character, was the fact where she finally took control of her life. This is truly one of the best coming of age novels I've ever read.
The romance was a little upsetting. I wanted all of the triangles to work out in the end, but at the same time I know that it doesn't always work like that. When things start to come together, it seems so much more believable and less like a fairy tale.
What I loved most about this story is the way it makes you think. So many different quotes I had to write down in my quote notebook because I had to sit back and think how I would answer that about my own life. Mr. Kinney's assignment alone was enough for me to sit back and break out my own journals from years and years ago and see if there was anything I'd wished I could do differently.
This poignant tale of choice left me reeling. As Parker said herself, you won't know whether your choice "is right or wrong until [you've] lived with it" and I'm hoping that whether my choices are right or wrong, I will have the courage to face them another day.