Thursday, September 26, 2013

Review and Giveaway: The Darkest Part by Trisha Wolfe


Today I have the pleasure of reviewing The Darkest Part by Trisha Wolfe. Also, you get to participate in a great giveaway. I hope you enjoy and I wish you all good luck! x

Title: The Darkes Part (Living Heartwood #1)
Author: Trisha Wolfe
Published: August 6th 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Pressing the boundaries of both the psyche and the heart, Sam and Holden embark on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of love.
Sam Wintry’s life used to be almost perfect. She was engaged to her childhood best friend and high school sweetheart, Tyler Marks, planning an amazing cross-country honeymoon during her college break. But after a hit-and-run leaves her in ruin, she begins seeing Tyler’s fractured, ghostly presence, and her family believes she’s losing her mind. Not until she completes their journey, stopping along the way to scatter Tyler's remains, will Tyler be able cross over. Only...is Sam ready for him to leave her?
When the black sheep of the Marks' family, Holden Marks, returns to check on Tyler's case, Sam convinces him to give her his brother's ashes. Despite their shaky history, she needs him...plus, he owes it to Sam and his brother. What she doesn’t count on is Holden’s relentlessness to go on the trip.
On the road, Holden realizes just how unhinged Sam has become. Dealing with her psychosis forces him to confront his dark past, making it harder to keep secrets hidden that should remain buried. Especially from Sam, the only woman he’s ever loved. And as Sam starts to unravel the truth, she begins to question if the brother she's unwillingly falling for again is in an even darker place than her.

This spring, I got to review Of Silver and Beasts by Trisha Wolfe. Guess what? I loved it! It was a book that sealed the deal for me and I now want to make it my life’s mission to read all of Trisha’s books. LOL. I’m slightly kidding, but the truth is not far from it. I wondered what it’d be like if Trish ever wrote a contemporary novel and now I got the chance to explore it first hand.

As much as I'm doing this trip for Tyler, truth is, I'm doing it for me, too. I'm tired of being scared. Sick of living in fear. I'm doing this to set Tyler free, yes, to help him cross over--but deep down, I know it's about more.
I need to cross over, too.
To the living.

The story. Sam is depressed. Like.. really in a dark place and all that’s keeping her together is her dead boyfriend’s ghost Tyler. Who others say is a hallucination. Sam is sure he’s not and she is determined to bring his soul to peace by going on a road trip to take his ashes everywhere he wanted to travel. Only problem is, she has to go with Holden or not go at all. Why is this a problem? Let’s see.. Holden is Tyler’s brother and when they were younger, Sam was helplessly in love with him until he broke her hear. Now, spending even five minutes in a room with him seems insurmountable.

My thoughts. I found this to be really intriguing; hopeless; dark. I loved the last book I read that featured a road trip and that was The Edge of Never. While The Darkest Part didn’t exactly reach the level of awesomeness that was Camryn and Andrew’s story, I did truly enjoy it. When we met Sam, she was in a really dark place and I didn’t see any way possible for her to feel alive again. Everything she had dreamed about had vanished into thin air and now she has to cope with it all alone. I’m glad Holden was there to support her. Speaking of Holden..

Holden was the heart of the story for me. Even though Tyler is long gone, his presence still lingers and it was great to watch unfinished business between the brothers work itself out and Holden get relief from years of guilt and horrible memories. I believed his story and I felt connected to it. Sam was at times a bit hard to connect to since she didn’t know the  whole story and was catching up to it just as we were while Holden held the missing pieces. The chemistry Holden and Sam had was good and enjoyable. I loved how their story got a realistic ending with a touch of happiness rather than everything being over the top amazing.

At the end of the day I believe this is very suitable for a fall read since it’s dark, edgy and offers a few rays of sunshine with its hope and romantic plotline. I was happy to witness Sam’s victory over darkness and sorrow. She had the possibility to experience two very different loves and I enjoyed reading about both of them. I think this novel is worth a try and I’m happy to have enjoyed it as much as I did. By the way, I saw on Goodreads that it's marked as a part of a series, but I do believe it's a stand-alone. Perhaps there'll be some companion novels in the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Giveaway

19 comments:

  1. Thrisa Wolf is one of the authors I keep seeing around but still haven't read any of her books. I have already read a book with similar idea, where girl's boyfriend is dead and she ends up with his brother. Honestly it does sounds like a really good, interesting and dark story but I'm afraid it'd be too predictable for me. Still glad you enjoyed this one. Great review Siiri :)

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  2. I think I'm definitely going to have to be in the right mood for this one Siiri, stories like this where a love one is lost so tragically always rip my heart out and stomp on it, so I have to shore up my courage before diving in. I'm a little nervous about the "realistic" ending, you know I love my HEAs! It does sound like there's hope at the end though, so that might be enough:) Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one!

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    1. It was a HEA, but in a realistic way that didn't make you feel like it was too good to be true. I think you'd be happy woth the way it ended :)

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  3. I was one of the few people who didn't really enjoy The Edge of Never. Is this book in the same sort of vein then? I'm not sure if it would work for me if it is, but I do like the sound of Holden and Sam's relationship. I'm glad you thought they had chemistry. Also, realistic endings that give you closure are my favourite types! I don't necessarily always need an over-the-top HEA, but I do need to feel satisfied about where the story ends and what might happen to the characters next. I'm really glad you enjoyed this, Siiri. Lovely review as always! :)

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    1. Well.. For starters, they both know each other from way back and yes, their relationship takes time to develop since there's a lot of hurt between them and then there's Holden's dead brother/Sam's dead fiancé. The main similarity is the road trip and letting go of the past to make room for the future. So.. I guess you could say that it's slightly similar, but at the end of the day, they're quite different in a lot of ways.

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  4. Ohhh Siiri The Darkest Part sounds like my sort of book, I love a good old contemporary, especially one which features a road trip and two characters who don't really want to be on the road together. Also I really have a things lately for edgy dark reads and this sounds perfect especially for the fall! Thanks so much for the lovely review and for putting another great book on my radar! :)

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  5. Okay blogger totally let me down and my comment disappeared! No worries! I was just saying that this book sounded perfect for me, you know how much I love my contemporaries especially ones which road trips where two characters clearly don't want to spend time around each other. Also I love edgy dark reads and like you said this sounds perfect for the fall! Thank you again for another lovely review and for adding another great book to my tbr!! :)

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    1. ha now the other comment appeared too!!! :(

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    2. LOL :D I didn't get an e-mail about your first comment so I think something went totally wrong with Blogger. Lately I've been having trouble with my comments disappearing into thin air, too :( Blogger needs to fix something with the comments soon.

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  6. I am a rabid Trisha fan as well. Loved all the emotions and darkness and romance in this one

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  7. I enjoyed this one so much too. I loved how much depth it had and how unique it was from other NA books because it deals with depression in such a realistic way. I agree that Holden was a great addition to the story and some of the scenes he was in were heart-breaking.
    I have to say that I fell pretty hard for him. Tyler, I had mixed feelings for.
    Lovely review, Siiri. So glad you enjoyed it too.

    P.S This is not a series. The other books are companions. I asked the author! ;) The next book will be about the biker girl! :D

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  8. I need some more dark and edgy books in my life so maybe these are a good place for me to go. I have been looking to read more NA but having been burned a few times already I am very wary when it comes to them now. Happy that you liked this one so much, Siiri!

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  9. Oooh, this looks so good! And I've heard such great things about it. I agree that Trish is such a gifted writer. Great review, Siiri!

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  10. So glad you liked this one! It does sound like a good dark fall read. And the cover suits the fall too (love the colors of the cover!) :DD

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  11. Wow this does sound really different and dark which is right up my alley. Books with ghosts always attract me (even if it's hallucinations- even better bc my fav reads are those going into psychological issues). And it's great that Tyler is still a big part of the story and things resolve with his brothers. I'm curious what this is all about. Great review, doll!

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  12. Pretty cover! I wasn't a huge fan of the cover of her other book, but this one is gooorgeous. I love how there's a TREE in the letters. And the colors! Okay, I will stop fangirling.

    Interesting premise. Reminds me a tad of Vampire Diaries (squee! Premiere coming soon. You said you'd give it a few episodes right? :D). Brothers loving the same girl. I'm glad you loved Of Silver and Beasts - it's the best feeling when you just love a book so much that you know the author's other works automatically are on your to buy list.

    Road trip!! Heheh, do you just really like the premise of road trips or were Edge of Never and Darkest Part just awesome? I love darker stories, though it sounds like Sam was at the very last brink o.O. It's good that she found a way to cope. A lot of people don't even get that.

    UNFINISHED BUSINESS. Definitely reminds me of TVD, though I think any brother relationship like that would. Sounds like the ending would be very appropriate to the story, especially given their shared grief for Tyler.

    Oooh suitable for fall? I'm curious to know what you consider suitable for each season :D :D.

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    1. Heh, I love this cover too :) LOL. TVD? NOOO!!! Not at all ;) It's better. I didn't really like the book and I dislike the love triangle. Plus, there isn't a love triangle in this one. Not that much at least. Haha. Road trips FTW! I just love 'em like nothing else. They're awesome and offer great self-discovery story lines and are a fun way to pass time. The Edge of Never definitely doesn't hurt either ;)

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  13. Trisha Wolfe is quite prolific these days! I'm glad you're liking her so much. Okay, I was not sure about this book at first because I'm kind of over the whole dead boyfriend/ghost thing. But the fact that there are real psych issues and depression within here, plus a road trip, plus a hot brother of the dead boyfriend. I'm definitely intrigued. It's one of those love triangles that's really not. Glad you liked this one overall! Thanks for telling me about it.

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  14. I hear really good things about Trisha Wolfe so I really must pick up something of hers. This sounds like a difficult romance thought with Sam loving both brothers. Glad Trisha wrote it in such a way to make it enjoyable. Lovely review, Siiri! :)

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