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bellebeauty's review against another edition
1.0
So boring.. I couldn’t it was so painful to even finish this book.
caseemiller's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very angsty. It was hard to read at times but so beautiful.
ndxrm10's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 75%
Sorry Ms. Jackson. Couldn't do it.
And then there's one more book. Noppe.
Might actually read Christopher's story.
But this one? I can't do it.
Everybody already knows the outcome.
Sorry Ms. Jackson. Couldn't do it.
And then there's one more book. Noppe.
Might actually read Christopher's story.
But this one? I can't do it.
Everybody already knows the outcome.
dpd's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing
AL Jackson is an amazing author. She has this uncanny knack of pulling you into the story, making you live and breathe everything from the characters point of view. It's as if you are on the periphery, watching events unfold, feeling like you are experiencing every emotion on behalf of the characters.
The internal battle Jared has with himself on a daily basis, is one of the most powerful parts of this story. He sees himself as unworthy of anything good. He has walked down a destructive path for so long on his own, he doesn't know how to deal with being shown the same unconditional love and affection, from his two childhood friends.
Aly has almost given up hope of seeing Jared again when he turns up. The first time she sees him after seven years, is one of my favourite moments in the book.
The heartache that surrounds Jared is a wall he has built around himself that now overshadows every part of his daily living. Aly chips away at this wall, letting in just fractures of light, trying to show Jared he is worthy of the happiness he has denied himself for so long.
Aly's brother and Jared's best friend, Christopher loves having his best friend back, but warns him Aly is off limits. This adds to Jared's internal battle with his self worth.
As feelings change, things become increasingly difficult, which only makes Jared feel justified in pressing his self destruct button.
All in all, this book is amazing and it is not the type of book you can just pick up when you have a spare half hour. Believe me when I say, if you cannot devote a significant amount of time, then you will either be late or reading all night! This book sucked me in right from the beginning, and did not let go until the end. However, the aftermath of the story still has it's claws in me, reminding me of the heartache.
AL Jackson is an amazing author. She has this uncanny knack of pulling you into the story, making you live and breathe everything from the characters point of view. It's as if you are on the periphery, watching events unfold, feeling like you are experiencing every emotion on behalf of the characters.
The internal battle Jared has with himself on a daily basis, is one of the most powerful parts of this story. He sees himself as unworthy of anything good. He has walked down a destructive path for so long on his own, he doesn't know how to deal with being shown the same unconditional love and affection, from his two childhood friends.
Aly has almost given up hope of seeing Jared again when he turns up. The first time she sees him after seven years, is one of my favourite moments in the book.
The heartache that surrounds Jared is a wall he has built around himself that now overshadows every part of his daily living. Aly chips away at this wall, letting in just fractures of light, trying to show Jared he is worthy of the happiness he has denied himself for so long.
Aly's brother and Jared's best friend, Christopher loves having his best friend back, but warns him Aly is off limits. This adds to Jared's internal battle with his self worth.
As feelings change, things become increasingly difficult, which only makes Jared feel justified in pressing his self destruct button.
All in all, this book is amazing and it is not the type of book you can just pick up when you have a spare half hour. Believe me when I say, if you cannot devote a significant amount of time, then you will either be late or reading all night! This book sucked me in right from the beginning, and did not let go until the end. However, the aftermath of the story still has it's claws in me, reminding me of the heartache.
ireadlikeaboss's review against another edition
4.0
Come to Me Quietly is an emotional, incredibly touching second-chance love story between a man fighting to forget his past and the girl who never forgot hers. I've heard from several people that A.L. Jackson is an author who writes emotional powerhouse novels. Going in with that expectation, I was not let down in the slightest. As a reader who seeks out those types of books, I was extremely excited to read this book.
Ever since she could remember, Aleena "Aly" Moore has secretly loved Jared Holt. After a terrible tragedy, sixteen-year old Jared left his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona to escape his guilt-ridden life. Now six years later, he finds himself back in town surrounded by his past — something he spent years trying to forget. Come to Me Quietly alternates between Aly and Jared's points-of-view.
Soon after arriving into town, Jared runs into his old best friend, Christopher. He offers Jared a place to stay. It just so happens that Christopher shares his apartment with his sister, Aly. Christopher's one condition is that he stay away from his sister. Jared thought this was going to be easy, considering he knew he wasn't good enough for her. He wouldn't allow anything to happen between them. When Aly finds out that the one man she's always loved is back, her heart stops. And Aly's close proximity tests Jared's fragile self-control.
"...under the surface remained a tension that stretched us tight, pushed us apart at the same time as it worked to suck us together. I knew it. I saw it in her eyes and felt it in my bones. I knew how easy it'd be to sink my fingers into her sin and into her mind. I knew how willingly she'd let me take. And God, I wanted to."
What ensues between them is a beautiful slow-building romance that was filled with tension, heartache and regret. I could feel the emotions bubbling in the air between them. I LOVED it.
"Suddenly everything felt thick and slow, like honey—my mouth, her eyes, the tension that suddenly filled the air. For a minute, I wanted to pretend that nothing had ever happened, that the years had passed and I was still good and that maybe Aly would see me that way."
Jared Holt was a deeply troubled character. It broke my heart to see just how much he hated himself. It was evident that Jared spent years trying to forget his past and the pain, always staying busy. His self-loathing ran deep and no one, not even Aly, could convince him that he could be happy again.
"I'd glide along the banks of his sadness, dipping my toes to test the water but without ever diving into the torrent where I knew Jared continued to drown."
Despite being only fourteen when Jared left town, Aly knew how she felt about him. She loved him. Jared was her and her brother's best friend. She and him shared this special bond, this unique connection. His absence in her life left a painful, gaping hole. His sudden reappearance in her life was shocking to her and reignited all the feelings she had for him years ago. The longing between them was palpable and it only added to their intense connection. Even after all the years, it felt like he hadn't been gone and they picked up where they left off. But there was this distance between them filled with unanswered questions.
"Underneath all his armor, I did know him. Beneath the anger, I recognized the boy I'd known so long ago. I was pretty sure it was Jared who didn't know himself."
"If I believed in soul mates or any of that shit, I knew she was mine. I could feel it, this connection with her I couldn't possibly share with anyone else."
Underneath the love story in the present, is this unfolding mystery of what happened to Jared. In the beginning, you know that something really horrendous happened, but it isn't fully revealed until later on in the story. Throughout the novel, Jackson slowly reveals what events changed his life, why he hates himself, and why he thinks he doesn't deserve happiness. I had this intense feeling of foreboding and anxiety, wondering what was going to happen. This gradual reveal only added to the story's intensity and emotional impact.
While Come to Me Quietly may have been the first novel by A.L. Jackson that I have read, it most certainly will not be my last. Jackson's beautifully crafted storytelling combined with her flawless writing will keep me coming back for more. I cannot wait to read Close to Me Softly, the next installment in this series. I look forward to finding out what's next for Aly and Jared.
4 stars
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fictioncourt's review against another edition
4.0
4 beautiful stars!
I read this last night, it kept me up all night and it was beautiful.
Aly has been in love with Jared since she was a little girl. He was her brother's best friend and in a way her best friend too.
He was her protector, the one that made sure she was never left behind. And then something happened that made him leave it all behind.
I loved this story, I loved the writing that was so effortless and hooked me into the story. I loved Aly, she was a good heroine. Not even once did I found myself rolling my eyes or thinking she was too much. No drama on her part at all.
The one thing that kept me from rating it with 5 stars was the flaw in the plot. The story went on without revealing what had happened between the two in the past and yet it was mentioned constantly. It didn't make me understand them better and connect with them like I wanted to. I love it when a story doesn't reveal the element that connects the two characters immediately but this dragged on more than it should and I kept making all this scenarios in my head that when the truth got revealed I was kind of let down.
Overall, I'll be waiting for the next book!
I read this last night, it kept me up all night and it was beautiful.
Aly has been in love with Jared since she was a little girl. He was her brother's best friend and in a way her best friend too.
He was her protector, the one that made sure she was never left behind. And then something happened that made him leave it all behind.
“It was always you, Jared. Always. I can’t remember a day in my life when I didn’t love you.”
I loved this story, I loved the writing that was so effortless and hooked me into the story. I loved Aly, she was a good heroine. Not even once did I found myself rolling my eyes or thinking she was too much. No drama on her part at all.
The one thing that kept me from rating it with 5 stars was the flaw in the plot. The story went on without revealing what had happened between the two in the past and yet it was mentioned constantly. It didn't make me understand them better and connect with them like I wanted to. I love it when a story doesn't reveal the element that connects the two characters immediately but this dragged on more than it should and I kept making all this scenarios in my head that when the truth got revealed I was kind of let down.
Overall, I'll be waiting for the next book!
missylynne's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed the story. Sort of a forbidden/sneaking around romance.
shaunnareads's review against another edition
5.0
"Hearts have a way of finding their own way home."
This is a cheesy way to start a review, but oh goodness, this book pulled on my heartstrings. Although I often enjoy a book, and I generally feel a connection with well-written characters in a novel, it's not so common that I feel genuinely emotional whilst reading a book. I went through pretty much every emotion on the spectrum during the course of A.L. Jackson's Come to Me Quietly, though. The novel is a beautifully written account of two broken people trying to repair what they once had. Jackson's novel has so much feeling throughout - love, passion, self-destruction, pain, longing, forgiveness - all of which come together and form an achingly captivating story that will stay in your mind long after you've read the last page.
Come to Me Quietly is a dual-perspective novel told, in alternating chapters, from the point of view of both Aly and Jared. Aly is a young woman who has simply gone through the motions - living life, but not really feeling it - after the sudden departure of her best friend Jared, when she was only 14 years old. Jared had his reasons for leaving. He needed to escape everyone. Everything. Six years on, and he's still struggling with his demons, convinced that he doesn't deserve anything good in his life. Things all change for both of these characters, however, when Jared finds himself on an old friend's sofa, and is awakened in the middle of the night by none other than the girl he left behind so many years ago.
Although startling at first, these two characters quickly fall back into the role of best friends but, far from being the young teenagers they were six years ago, they find themselves struggling with feelings for one another - both old and new. The relationship develops slowly between the two characters. Oh, how I love a fictional relationship with a slow burn. It simmers at first, and slowly becomes more and more passionate until it's something outwith their own control. I loved how realistic and emotional the whole thing felt, and I wish more novels had the same kind of captivating, fervent romance.
Aly was a wonderful heroine. Far from the Bella Swan archetype that is often found in YA and NA romance, Aly is passionate, strong and determined. She is determined to help Jared through his self-loathing and self-destructive tendencies, and prove to him that he is more than deserving of the love that she's held for him for so long.
Jared broke my heart many a time during the course of the novel. He was a fantastic character with many complexities, and the level of dedication and respect he held for Aly throughout the novel was very admirable. I often wished that he'd stop torturing himself but, when you find out the details of his past, it becomes clearer why he feels he is undeserving of love and kindness.
By the end of this novel, as I said earlier, I was a bit of an emotional wreck. I thought about the novel for days after, and found it difficult to read anything else for a week or two after I finished it, because nothing gripped me or evoked the same kind of emotional response as this novel did. I'm very excited to read the sequel to this novel, which is waiting on my Kindle as I type this!
If you're a fan of second chance love stories, and love a book that will make you feel as though you've been on an emotional rollercoaster by the time you're done, then Come to Me Quietly is the book for you. I absolutely loved it, and I would highly recommend it to fans of similar genres.
elysedc's review against another edition
1.0
Honestly? This is the first book in a very long time I’ve decided not to finish - AND! I don’t even feel bad about it. I found these characters overly dramatic, and that’s coming from someone who looooves an angsty teen romance. While one character having a “secret” can be an interesting plot device, I found that continuously referring to it (without divulging the secret to the reader) in order to show you just how bad this guy’s internal monologue is rushed way past “plot device” and careened into “beating me over the head.” Yes, yes, he’s very angsty... are we gonna get to the plot or what? Obviously, I didn’t finish this book, so take this review with the appropriate salt, etc. but it wasn’t for me.