Book Review: The Pieces of You and Me by Rachel Burton

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The Pieces of You and Me

by Rachel Burton

Purchase Link: mybook.to/PiecesYouMe

 

They say time can heal all wounds…

When Jess and Rupert parted ways, it was the end of a great love story that might have been. Now ten years later, the very different paths they have taken in life will bring them back together for a chance meeting.

But with so much left unsaid about the breakup neither ever recovered from and with each keeping their own devastating secrets, will they finally be able to make the fractured pieces of their love for one another whole again?

 

 

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

Gem, I know you’re over the moon about getting married and I’m delighted for you, but it doesn’t mean that you get to matchmake. Even if I am the last one left on the shelf.

 

We were born twelve hours apart – you at six p.m. and me the following morning – in the same hospital, our mothers recovering in beds next to each other… You were early and I was late, which was the pattern that continued for the rest of our lives. You were always waiting for me to catch up with you.

 

Too young to be here, too old not to be. We’d always done terrifying things together. It felt like the first time we jumped into the deep end of the swimming pool, hand in hand, as children.

 

Looking back on it now with the advantage of age and hindsight I realised how foolish I’d been, how foolish we are when we’re young. Maybe that alone was reason enough for us to have gone our separate ways. I had been too young to understand nuanced grey areas of thought back then, too young to understand discretion and diplomacy and how sometimes we have to say things we don’t really mean just to keep the peace.

 

My Review:

 

One of my favorite tropes just so happens to be second-chances, and this couple was more than deserving of a rekindled relationship as they had each been living a rather miserable half-life while a decade apart. Serious health and family issues and tendencies to live too deeply inside their own heads further compounded their pressures and littered their path with landmines. This could easily have been a maudlin tale but Ms. Burton craftily shaped and paced her endearing flawed yet stubborn characters’ insights, memories, and encounters to circumvent the reader falling into the pit of despair.

While the narrative was often melancholy and angsty – which typically has me twitching and sighing in agony – I am absolutely astounded to report that I didn’t seem to mind. Ms. Burton may well have deployed some sort of magical word voodoo on her book file as, despite the angst, the tender quality and ingenious tempo of her superb storytelling kept me fully engaged, deeply invested, and intensely curious about their slowly unraveling and intriguing story. Contemplating this surprising and momentous phenomenon leaves me rather astonished and blinking in amazement. Such a sly and clever wordsmith deserves a five-star rating for that alone.

About the Author

Rachel Burton is the author of the international ebook bestseller The Many Colours of Us. 

Rachel spent most of her life between Cambridge and London but now lives in Yorkshire with her fiance and their three cats. The main loves of her life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes.

Find her on Twitter & Instagram as @bookish_yogi or follow her blog at rachelburtonwrites.com. She is always happy to talk books, writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly dreaming of her next holiday.

Social Media Links – Twitter: twitter.com/bookish_yogi

Instagram: Instagram.com/Bookish_yogi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rachel-Burton-353151308524664/

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9 Replies to “Book Review: The Pieces of You and Me by Rachel Burton”

  1. I loved second-chances as well! I have read good reviews of this book and yours just sealed the deal – I need to check this book out!

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