Ultra Meital Reviews: Letting Go (Thatch #1) by Molly McAdams

This book is VERY hard for me to review, first because my opinion changed throughout the book and second because some things I want to "complain" about would be quite the spoiler..

It started as a solid 5 star read. 3 days before Ben and Grey's wedding at the age of 20 after being together from the age of 13, Ben dies of a heart attack leaving Grey broken hearted, totally shattered and not knowing how to continue her life. Her only constant is Jagger, her childhood best friend as well as Ben's best friend. Even before Ben's death Jagger is always there for her, taking care of her, demanding nothing, and after Ben's death - the only one willing to talk about Ben with her, encouraging her to keep on going and calling her strong and capable when everyone says she looks terrible and isn't improving. He sees the little changes, he's there and he is determined to help her get better.

Jagger has been secretly in love with Grey for years now. Even before she and Ben got together he was just scared of saying something that would destroy their friendship. When he finally got the courage he missed by a day as Ben already asked her out and well, the rest is history.. Now, 2 years after Ben's death, it might be his chance but he won't be taking it unless it's something she wants and when she finally finds out (by mistake) she freaks out. Everyone around her seems to want Grey and Jagger to be together, it's been long enough after Ben's death, it's time, it's the right person for her, she's the right person for him and it's obvious to everyone around them that they don't just belong to each other they are both in love, it's not just Jagger, it's Grey as well not wanting to admit her feelings for Jagger and the fact that somewhere in these two years her feelings for him changed.

I loved how sensitive the story was, with Jagger and Grey dealing with their best friend's death, trying to understand how he would react to them being together, is it a betrayal? are they allowed to be happy together when he is dead? It was all so screwed up in a way and perfect in the other.

Most of the story was about Jagger and Grey deal with their loss and trying to become a couple while also dealing with a crazy person trying to keep them apart in the most horrible way. When I got to the ending of the book I realized there are some things that were left out about it and also it felt like it was an interlude to what happened next (HUGE TWIST). I didn't like that.. Also I figured who the person is from the start but as no one even considered it I began to doubt myself only to realize I was right and as I said, the the circumstances were never explained..

My previous and first read by Molly taught me that with her you should expect a heart clenching twist and it did came at about 70 something percent when all felt quite and the person tormenting them gone. I felt it was OTT and not in a good way. Then came twist number two which made more sense to me but as we got there I was so damn tired of the emotional roller-coaster that all the crying and yelling was a bit too much for me. I enjoy emotional books, but when it's TOO emotional, I mean when the things that happened are too complex and don't really make sense, when it feels like a huge twist that was brought there to be that twist I get annoyed. Basically everything we thought we knew changed in the last 10% of the book and all the crazy staff Jagger's mother pulled was a bit too much to feel possible or real. I don't enjoy reading about "evil people" that have no reason for their evil plan, it's only based on them wanting to be, well, evil. Nothing made sense about that woman.

There are also minor characters that I guess should be mentioned, Graham - Grey's brother, wanting to be there for her but not really knowing how but at some point sort of becomes her confidant. There is Charlie - Jagger's sister who is taking Jagger and Grey's relationship a bit too hard even though she used to root for them in her heart before she and Ben decided to get married. I do wonder if the next book in the series would be on one of those two - Graham or Charlie.

There is also Jagger and Charlie's mom or as she should be called "the evil bitch from hell" which is enough of a description I guess. There are a few of Grey's friends trying to help her out, as are her parents who want Jagger and her to be together yet they are SO damn traditional they don't want her to stay the night (really? at 22 years old? after what she went through?!).

When the book came to an end I smiled. I felt like it was all worked out in the end in the best of ways possible. Then came the Epilogue. I actually considered reducing my rating after reading it.. After the OTT emotional roller-coaster I knew it won't be a 5 star review but rather round 4 stars but what was described in the Epilogue was (1) sappy beyond words (2) stupid. I can't explain why it was stupid without spoilering but I can only say that at their age I would think they have SOME common sense to what they do or rather did. I guess we had hints during the book to their stupid behavior but I wanted to believe I was missing something out there.. There was also a warning from one of the characters about it.

So yeah, I was pissed at the end, but I also thought it was kinda funny that the book ended on the 25th of December, the day I was reading this one (Even though it was 1 year into the future). I'm not sure when I'll get to read more of Molly's books but I think I won't read them bunched together as it's too much twisted emotionally for me. Even though the "Faith, Love and Devotion" series was also emotional, what went there felt more "logical" since there weren't real twists in the plot it was just about them finding themselves which was what I enjoyed so much, here the MC are twisted with other people's plots, plots that were somehow exaggerated and a bit unreal.

With this book I'm actually finishing what I had planned on reading this month (and year..) I have a few more books I added when I saw I'm reading more that I expected, this month and this year for my 2014 Challenge. I actually have only one book to reach my 2014 goal of 180 books which I find really exciting! :)