Fractions of seconds can do lots of damage. One decision can ruin lives. A blink can be tragic. And loving a Hollister…can hurt like hell.

I would know.

They say the average person can hold their breath under water for two full minutes when pushed to the extremes. Will Hollister has been holding his for years. The oldest of two elite swimming brothers, Will was always a dominant force in the water. But in life, he preferred to let his younger
brother Evan be the one to shine.

Evan got the girl, and Will…he got to bury all of the secrets. A brother’s burden, the weight of it all nearly left him to drown.

The daughter of two Olympians, my path was set the day my fingertips first touched water. My future was as crystal clear as the lane I dominated in the pool—swim hard, win big, love a Hollister.

My life with Evan burned bright. He gave me arms to come home to, and a smile that fooled the world into believing everything was perfect. But it was Will who pushed me. Will…who really knew me.

And when all of the pieces fell, it was Will who started to pick them up.

In the end, the only thing that matters are those few precious seconds—and what we decide to do while we still have them in our grasp.

*ARC kindly provided by the Author in exchange for an honest review*

Annyi érzelmet és annyi mélységet tartogatott ez történet, és annyiféle módon érintette meg a szívemet. A könyv néhány igencsak nehéz témát is érintett, úgy mint gyász, depresszió, betegségek, és annyira fájt a szívem a szereplőkért, ugyanakkor talán ennek is köszönhető, hogy Will Hollister az egyik legszebben és legmélyebben felépített karakter akivel eddig találkoztam.

Will egy férfi, aki folyamatos harcban áll a démonaival és akinek egy világ súlya nyomja a szívét. Ugyanakkor Will egy úszó, egy sportoló, aki bár nehéz, borzasztóan nehéz, de nem adja fel, aki nemcsak az aranyért úszik, de önmagárért is, és a lányért,akinek gondolata segített neki felállni a legnagyobb esés után is. Will néhány éve elveszítette a szüleit és az öccsét egy repülőgép szerencsétlenségben, amely során egyedül ő maradt életben. A baleset után Will elveszítette maga alól a talajt, és megszakított minden kapcsolatot az addigi életével, csupán a nagybátyja maradt számára. Will gyermekkorában a Woodsen családnál találta meg az úszás nyújtotta igazi örömet, és ekkor ismerkedett meg Maddy-vel és az édesapjával, aki őt, az öccsét és Maddy-t edzette. Will gyermeki szíve már akkor hevesebben kezdett verni, mikor először megpillantotta a kis Maddy-t, a lány azonban a végzős évükre valahogy mégis Easton mellett kötött ki. Will évekkel később most visszatér a Woodsen házba, ahol a gyász, emlékek szelleme és nagyon-nagy kihívások várnak rá, de utolsó lehetőségével úgy érzi, hogy meg kell próbálnia az olimpiai selejtezőt, és ebben csak a volt edzője és annak lánya, az egykori úszótársa segíthetnek.

Tényleg gyönyörű volt ez a történet, és sokszor nagyon-nagyon szomorú volt. Minden karakter, a fő-, és mellékszereplők is szépen kidolgozottak voltak, mégis ami igazán lenyűgözött, az Will küzdelme a múlttal, a kitartása és az önzetlensége volt . Egy picit talán túl sok tragédiát tartogattak az oldalak, és emiatt a könyv vége sem győzött meg teljesen arról, hogy a szereplők jövője rendeződött volna, mégis csodálatos volt. Ginger Scott írási stílusa kiemelkedő, és ismét egy szívet megérintő, gyönyörű kötetet hozott el nekünk. Ahogy már említettem, kicsit szívfájdalmam, hogy a borító nem tudja igazán megmutatni, hogy mennyi mélységet tartogat ez a könyv, és hogy sokkal-sokkal több van benne, mint amit a külső sugall. Ez egy igazán nehéz témákat feldolgozó történet, amit őszintén ajánlok.

My Review in English

There was so much emotion and depth in this story and it touch my heart in so many ways. The book dealt with some serious subject matters like grief, depression, illness and my heart ached so many times for the characters, but maybe this is the main reason why Will Hollister is one of the most layered characters I’ve ever met.

Will is a man who is constantly in battle with his daemons, and who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. But at the same time Will is also a swimmer, an athlete who despite it’s hard, so damn hard, doesn’t give up and who swims not just for the gold medal but for himself and for the girl who in a way helped him to get up after the biggest fall in his life. A few years back Will have lost his parents and his brother in a plane crash where he was the only survivor. After the accident he lost the solid ground for a long time, and he broke all the connections with his former life.

Will was just a child when he found the swimming offered joy though the Woodsen family. He met with Maggie when her father became Will’s and his brothers swimming coach. Will’s little child heart immediately started to beat faster when he saw Maddy at the first time, yet in the senior year of high school she ended up with Easton. Now, after long years Will returns to the Woodsen house where memories, grief, ghosts and big challenges wait for him, but he feels that this is the only place where he will find his only and final chance for preparing for the Olympic trials.

This book was truly beautiful and so many times really sad. All of the characters were well developed but what amazed me the most was Will’s fight with the past, his endurance and his selflessness. Maybe there was a little too much tragedy in the book and maybe this was the reason why it didn’t convince me entirely that the future of the characters has been completely resolved at the end, but it was absolutely amazing.

Ginger Scott’s writing style was outstanding and heart-touching as always. My only pain is that this cover cannot do justice to this amazing book, and can’t show how much depths are hidden in this amazing story. This is not an easy read and it touches some serious topics but it’s truly beautiful and I honestly recommend it.

My Favorite Quotes From the Book

“You’ve made everything clear. You’ve made me feel whole, like something was missing for the last four years, and now that it’s in place, I’m stronger,”

“We trained hard; we laughed harder. We were close, more than family maybe. The three of us wanted things—wanted to win, to push ourselves.
We pushed each other.”

“She is why I’m sitting here. She’s why I keep going. Maybe she’s why I picked myself up from the bottom in the first place.
She is the last person I should be swimming for, but she’s the only one I want to.”

“Tragedy brought me close to him again, but that special bond that only comes from blood found its familiar place and imprinted itself on both of us.”

“She is my joy.
She always has been.”

“But my love for you is deeper than that. It’s the real kind of love. It’s not about ideas or fantasies. It’s just something my heart can’t help.”

“Our worlds have been on this slow decent, but they’ve collided together here and now. Our truths have tangled, and it’s clear now as I look at him that there is no going back for us. We will always be everything we’ve always been for one another. We’ll always push; we’ll always compete—he’ll always be my fire—but not without everything else, we are beyond those things. Not without this.”

“He’s breaking himself trying to save so many people, but nobody has ever stepped up to save him.”

“The hurt is almost good. It reminds me that something real was in my heart once, and as much as I want to run away from it, in this moment, I also want to hold onto it. I want to remember what exceptional felt like so I make sure I never settle for less. I wonder if exceptional comes along twice in a lifetime?”

4.75- Fighting- Stars

 

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