Synopsis

 

This is not a black or white story: Abused dogs, a mysterious broken guy in the middle of nowhere, a stubborn girl who is determined to figure him out and to help him chase away his daemons. It could easily turn out another story about “broken young souls” with a lot of clichés and sugar, but the author could give something really new with the lot of layers and shades of the story. There are bad people, there are good ones, there are the ones who make mistakes or lose someone, there are those who carry wounds or who break on the road what we call life, and there are those who show them new paths and bring light for the darkness. This book beautifully highlights the fact that not everything is black or white and the author once again gave to her readers a heartfelt story written with an excellent talent about decisions, consequences, human and animal destinies, darkness and light.

The story starts in medias res when Emma tries to hide from her creepy and aggressive landlord with a wounded dog in her hands, who was rescued from him. Mr. Hughes, her old neighbor helps her to escape from the building but she doesn’t know where she should take the dog, because she obviously can’t keep him while she lives there. Finally, she finds herself in a shelter but unfortunately at the time the rescue is already full. The women in the shelter looks at Emma in her bloody clothes with the shaking little dog with big ears, and she takes pity on them and gives an address to Emma outside the town, where she has to find a kennel and a boy named Wyatt who can help her. Emma hits the road and finally she arrives at the hidden kennel, where she finds a mysterious, silent guy with a lot of rescued dogs who all wait for a loving adopting family. The guy is not happy at all that Emma came to the kennel and he is not friendly with the girl, but Emma sees something in Wyatt. She sees the sadness and pain in his eyes and she wants to find out what happened with him and why he lives in the middle of nowhere, devoted his life for wounded dogs. Wyatt finally agrees that Charlie can stay, and when he sees how hard the goodbye is for Emma from Charlie, he accidently blurts out that she can come back to see her dog. He immediately regrets his invitation but he can’t take it back from the already stubborn and unstoppable Emma.

I really loved all of the characters and I loved that the relationship between Wyatt and Emma was slow-building and how Wyatt opened himself for Emma bit by bit from his firstly uncommunicative and raw demeanor. I already mentioned that I think the uniqueness of the story was given by the complexity. I think that the character of Emma and Wyatt was so layered and developed, and there were real deepness in the story. The author beautifully unfolded the emotions and pains of Wyatt and she described so authentically how he eats himself in his darkness, where he doesn’t allows anyone. Meanwhile we get his true heart to know piece by piece; that how big his heart is, that he reads aloud his books every single night for the dogs, that he would give anything to protect Emma and would do anything for her, and with Wyatt’s POV in the middle of the book, we can learn about his past. With every single revealed piece in exchange he stole one from my heart. I think the minor characters were also so great! I loved Blair, Emma’s little paranoid twin sister, Wyatt’s family and also Mr. Huge, Emma’s old neighbor.

There were so many emotions in this book and at the same time there were some surprising plot twists. Wyatt’s past was not what I expected, and the plotline was also a page turner. I think everyone’s heart jumps a little during reading this story, who loves animals. All due respect to the author for choosing this topic, it is so admirable that she could show us not just destiny of humans but destiny of animals are really important. S. D. Hendricson has a really engaging writing style ant this was a really amazing story about past, love, remorse and second chances.

My Favorites Quotes From the Book

“I don’t know what scared me more when you left,” I finally whispered. “That you wouldn’t come back. Or that you would.”

“My heart flipped a little, and I fell deeper for Wyatt Caulfield, the mysterious guy who said he was dangerous and bad.”

“He was haunting. He was beautiful, pulling me down into the pit of his broken heart. I felt something strong and powerful, holding onto my soul.”

“I was drawn to him like a Band-Aid to a cut. I wanted to touch him, fix him, and make him better.”

“I don’t want you.” His words came with a vulnerable catch in his throat as he whispered, “It’s like I . . . I crave you. And it scares me. Because I think you make all of this better.”

“But that was the thing about the darkness. Once you allowed the light inside, the shadows exploded into a million pieces.”

“I couldn’t find the words to say back to Wyatt. He was making plans and promises again. He made me feel like I was falling right through the sky as he held me tight, while on a simple blanket spread out across the ground.”

“But we didn’t let go. We held on for another five minutes until I was the first to break contact. I didn’t whisper goodbye. And neither did Wyatt. Sometimes saying goodbye was harder than saying nothing at all.”

“That girl had swallowed me with her big heart. She had wrapped that love around me until I felt her in my mind and my thoughts. She had consumed me, making the darkness disappear. She had made everything brighter, softer, and sweeter. She had made me feel alive again.”

“I wanted more than anything to figure out Wyatt Caulfield. Hot and cold. Withdrawn and angry, and then a flash of dimples and compassion for his dogs, followed by pain. The poor guy needed someone or something. I looked back over to where he stood in the shade. Slowly. I had to remind myself to approach him slowly.”