M's Sinful Reviews: 5 Star Review - Out of Reach by Missy Johnson

Title: Out of Reach

Author: Missy Johnson

Release Date: May 8, 2014

My best friend was dying and I was in love with his girl.

Andy and I had been best friends since we were eight-years old.

Watching him slowly fade away, ever closer to his final breath, made me so incredibly angry. I knew there was nothing I could do to change it--I had given in to despair, but Andy had not. He had one last hand to play.

He wasn't going to simply sit back and wait for Death to claim him--not Andy. He was going to live life until he couldn't hold his eyes open any longer.

Andy didn't want to die in some sterile hospital and asked me to take him and Emily to the beach. It would be our last road trip together.

Emily. Emily was a problem for me.

I harbored a secret that would have torn our friendship apart. I was in love with Andy's girl, and had been since she'd walked into our sixth grade class, so many years ago.

So what kind of person am I? My best friend is dying, and it's awful--but my heart still aches for his girl. I hate myself for thinking beyond Andy's death and whether there could ever be a future for Emily and I, but I can't help it.

I'm in love with her.

ADD TO GOODREADS

AMAZON UK

Crying, my eyes out while you read a book is not easy. But if you are just staring this book then you know why. Its one thing to read a book and not know that a character is going to be killed off, but to go into a book and know that it is based around someone dying is a whole different ball game. This book shook me to my core, opened the flood gates and put me back together. I knew that reading this was going to be hard and I was scared to read it.

You know what the story is about so let me just say that Andy dying was in no way easy once we were introduced to him. I wanted him to have this miraculous recovery, an act of god, something other than him dying. Well that was not the case. I loved Andy, he was selfless in wanting to be with his two best friends for his last weeks and trying to make them enjoy the time that they had left, make them something to remember.

Gosh, at this point I am 65% in and I just want to write a little bit about that I think before I finish the book. I love all three characters, Emily, Andy and Seth. They are really thick as thieves. The bucket list is a perfect way to learn that even in the midst of sadness there is happiness, you can find the good in the bad, hope when it seems hopeless and love when you feel lost. Andy was one strong person who accepted his fate and he really did live his last days to the fullest. Seth was such a rock for both Emily and Andy, the friend that loved both of them in very different ways.

"It's okay, man. I'm not angry." He sighed and shrugged his shoulders, a bitter laugh escaping his mouth. " I love you for being there for her. She's going to need you when I'm gone." His expression serious. "You know, I'm okay with dying. I've come to terms with that. It's the thought of leaving her that I can't stand."

Andy preparing Emily for his death was something that was so difficult to read. How does one do that? I can't even begin to think of how hard that would be. Emily was not the character that was putting on a brave front for Andy or Seth, she fell apart and let them know that she was not okay with Andy Dying.

"You need to stop this. You aren't dying, Em. You have to promise me that you wont stop living just because I'm gone."

"You'll never be alone, Em. Seth will always be there for you."

So you see, this was not easy. Then when it does happen, I feel apart just like Emily. At his funeral, Seth's speech was heartfelt, made me cry even more. I have no idea how Missy got through writing this book. I can't even begin to think how hard this would be for an author to write this story.

That is all I am going to leave you with. This book is worth the read, worth the cry and worth so much more.

Missy lives in a small town in Central Victoria with her husband, and her confused pets (a dog who think she's a cat, a cat who thinks he's a dog...you get the picture).

When she's not writing, she can usually be found looking for something to read.