Dilek VT's Reviews > Five Years Gone

3,5 stars

The Plot:

Two broken people… broken in their own twisted way.
The guy by his fiancé, the woman by her boyfriend...

Both of them loved their exes so much that their ghosting upon them ruined them… they couldn’t move on for a long time. It took him, Eric, 8 months to move on because she was a cheater but it took her, Ava, 5 long years because she never had closure as her boyfriend John was a soldier and he went one day and she never heard of him again.

Grief is a feeling that is hard to deal with. Grieving over someone you lost all of a sudden and not knowing if he is dead or alive is like living in purgatory. You are in limbo, not being able to move on. Grief is the hardest when there is no closure. And among all those sh*tty books where the heroines needed therapy but writers cured them with hot sex, I want to thank the writer of this book for the therapy sessions the heroine went through. This was a realistic and professional approach to it.

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This book is a painful read. All along the book, Ava suffers from something related to her ex, John, while she is with Eric. The new boyfriend, Eric, is too good to be true – the most perfect of all boyfriends ever! Whatever she goes through, he is there with her, being patient and holding her hand.



And when the plot twist happens (I think you might guess), the book becomes more and more painful. It really is unbearable to see innocent people suffering from things that happened kinda out of their control. My heart ached for each of them. I couldn’t find any of them guilty because everything that happened in the book was so very realistic… something that would happen in real life. Only maybe, such a perfect guy like Eric wouldn’t exist in real life?
Or would he? Well, maybe 😊

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As in all love triangles, there cannot be a happy end for everyone. Whereas there is a happy couple, there is always someone left behind and heart-broken. And the happy couple is not totally happy because of the one left behind, it will take time for him to fade away totally from their lives.

Therefore, love triangles always leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Now I wish a happy end for the one left behind and he will have it in the next book. I don’t think I will read his book, though.

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Writing:

* Mostly dual point of view but here and there, there are chapters written by side characters and I don't know why, it was weird.
* Successful writing that makes you feel but a painful situation like this should have made me ugly cry but it didn't. I cried a bit towards the end, though.
* There is some unnecessary drama related to family members; I don't know why it was there, what was the purpose of it? Maybe it was there as a filler???
* Side characters have more than necessary scenes - again, a filler? I would have preferred to read more about the love blossoming between Eric and Ava than the problems of side characters or the new romance the side characters are experiencing. And don't let me talk about the law suit. Those parts were really boring. This book should have focused only on Ava, Eric and John; however, there were too many people parading in it!
* There is an Epilogue but it is not satisfying, if you ask me.
* At the end of the book, there is a sneak peek to the next book that belongs to the guy left behind. And the heroine of that book is a HORRIBLE choice. Awful / terrible / disgusting choice! Made me crazy!

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Safety:

- No cheating between the main couple but obviously, there is OM drama all over the book
- Both guys are good at heart, neither of them is an as*hole or a man-wh*re

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Here are some QUOTES from the book...

Five years ago today, we watched the horror unfold on live television. US-based cruise ship blown up by suicide bombers. Four thousand lives extinguished in a heartbeat. Our world permanently changed once again, our country declaring yet another war on terrorists.
“I have to go,” he said, grabbing the duffel that stood ready in the front hall closet. He called it his “go bag.” I’d thought nothing of it.
“Where’re you going?”
“I don’t know.”
"When will you be back?”
“I don’t know that either.”
He held my face in his hands and gazed at me, seemingly trying to memorize my every feature. “I love you. I’ll always love you.”
Then he kissed me as passionately as he ever had and was gone, out the door in a flash of camouflage.
I never saw him again.

***

My new life is falling into place. I have no reason to be anything other than thrilled by my new apartment, new job and new friends, all of which were the goals when I left San Diego. But I’m learning that even though I left our old life behind, I brought John with me. There’s no leaving him behind, as much as I wish I could.

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With Eric sitting so close to me and his touch setting off fireworks inside me, the woman in me is reawakening to things I haven’t wanted in years. While I’m not sure I’m ready for a new relationship and everything that goes with it, I can’t bring myself to stop something that feels so damned good.

***

“What do you want me to say? That I’m freaking out over the thought of you taking one look at him and forgetting about me?




If I stay focused on the details, I won’t go mad trying not to ask her a hundred questions she won’t want to answer. Instead, I do what I do best. I hold her and I love her and I take care of her. I’ve never been better at anything in my life than I am at loving Ava.

***

He turns to me and caresses my face. “I’d go to the ends of the earth with you.”