Review: "The Destiny of Violet and Luke" by Jessica Sorensen

Luke Price's life has always been about order, control, and acting tough on the outside. For Luke, meaningless relationships are a distraction-a way to tune out the twisted memories of his childhood. He desperately wishes he could forget his past, but it haunts him no matter what he does. Violet Hayes has had a rough life. When she was young, she was left with no family and the memory of her parents' unsolved murders. She grew up in foster homes, living with irresponsible parents, drugs, and neglect, and trying to fight the painful memories of the night her parents were taken from her. But it's hard to forget when she never got closure-and she can't stop dreaming about what happened that tragic night. To make it through life, she keeps her distance from everyone and never allows herself to feel anything. Then Violet meets Luke. The two clash instantly, yet they can't seem to stay away from each other. Although they fight it, they both start to open up and feel things they've never felt before. They discover just how similar they are. But they also discover something else: The past always catches up with you . . .

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review an ARC of this book.

So, I have conflicting emotions surrounding this book.  I think it's because I have an emotional attachment to the characters (well, at least Luke) from the first two books in the series.  I really loved Luke, and was hoping that he would get his own story, so I am happy that this book was written simply for that reason.  I liked the slow build up of a relationship between Violet and Luke.  It was amazing how they were able to relate to each other and keep each other grounded.  They obviously really cared about each other.

I found the idea of thrill seeking for the adrenaline rush and consequent calm that Violet used to deal with her issues really interesting.  I've never heard of this before.  I mean, I have heard of adrenaline junkies, but this seems a bit different.  Seeking out dangerous situations like that, it's incredible that Violet was not ever hurt more seriously.  I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, and I thought the author did a good job at making me understand Violet's dysfunctional relationship with her foster father.  Now that was twisted!  I'm no expert on the foster care system, especially in the States, but I'm hoping that no child would be placed in a home like the one Violet was placed in.  And the fact that Violet considered this last foster father to be the only real family she had was really sad - I totally sympathized with her.

Now Luke, on the other hand, is basically a functioning alcoholic.  How he can still play on a college football team and maintain decent enough grades not to get kicked out is beyond me!  I knew people that seemed to have a drinking problem in university, but they weren't varsity athletes and ended up on academic probation and eventually leaving school.  I guess that's why you would say Luke is "functioning".  His background story is different from Violet's in that he's always had at least his mother around.  The thing is, his mother's a real piece of work.  Maybe he would have been better off without her.  Who knows?

All of this I really enjoyed.  The part I didn't love was the repetitiveness of the writing.  I'm hoping that because I was reading an Advanced Reader's Copy that some of this was caught before the book went to print.

In short, if you, like me, have an interest in reading about Kayden's friend Luke, then you will definitely want to check out "The Destiny of Violet and Luke".  I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next to these two broken individuals!

My rating: