REVIEW: WHITNEY BARBETTI'S HE SAVED ME & TEN BELOW ZERO

Julian
I’ve come to understand that I’ll always find her. She’s my north star, my sense of direction. In her, I’ve found my home. She tells me I saved her. But the truth is, she saved me.

But nothing good can ever last. Andra’s keeping secrets. She’s holding something back. I’m trying, desperately, to anchor her. To let me in, to let me help.

But will all my efforts end up with a ghost of a girl I love?

Andra
I'm used to disappearing. Vanishing into thin air, without a trace of who I've been or where I've gone.

But it’s so much harder to do with a broken heart and no hope for a happy ending. Sometimes the only people who can put all the pieces of us back together are the ones we least expect to. That's what Julian did for me.

Julian found me. But now, all Six wants is to keep me locked up, away from the world, away from the Monster. I can't live like that. It's not living at all. Because I still have unfinished business.

And I'm going to make sure the Monster gets what’s coming to him.

Paperback

Published December 18th 2014 (first published 2014

OUR REVIEW: (ETA: These review got lost in our drafts folder and are finally seeing the light of day!)

Shel: First things FIRST. You have to read He Found Me before you read He Saved Me (which is probably evident because of

the way we posted it...but just wanted to warn you. This novel picks up not too shortly after book #1 and it actually starts with 

Julian's perspective. We don't get much of his POV but I was happy to have what we did.

As with book 1, book 2 also has that slow burn. Rather than move quickly from one plot point to the next, we live with Andra 

as she works through how she will get rid of the Monster and get her life back. We get to see her anger and love develop as 

we watch her seek vengeance and fall deeper in love with Julian...it's an interesting journey. Add in Six and Mira and things get 

infinitely more interesting and intriguing.

By the end of He Saved Me we definitely get more answers to the questions we had about Andra's life before Julian and yet

I still had questions..not in a bad way, in a curious one. I'm hopeful that when Six and Mira's book comes out I'll have more

intel about these interesting characters and who they are and how they ended up where they did. I'd love to know what

Andra and Julian are doing now...

In here,” he said, pushing on the skin above my heart, “you're ten below zero. And you’re closer to death than I am.”

My name is Parker. My body is marked with scars from an attack I don’t remember. I don’t want to remember. I choose to live my life by observation, not through experience. While people are laughing and kissing and connecting, I’m in the corner. Watching them live. I’m indifferent to everything, everyone. The only emotion I feel with any kind of depth is annoyance, and I feel it often.

A text message sent to the wrong number proves to be my undoing.

His name is Everett, but I call him rude. He’s pushy, he’s arrogant, he crowds my personal space, and worst of all: he makes me feel.

He chooses to wear all black, all the time, as if he’s waiting to attend a funeral. Probably because he is.

Everett is dying. And he’s spending his final days living, truly living. In doing so, he’s forcing me to feel, to heal. To come face to face with the demons I suppressed in my memory.

He hurts me, he fulfills me, he completes me. And still, he's dying.

Paperback

Published August 28th 2014 (first published July 25th 2014)

OUR REVIEW:

Shel: If you are a cryer in emotional reads..YOU WILL CRY WHEN YOU READ THIS. Unless you're me. I don't cry very often when I read..it's a flaw I'm working on?

Gosh. This is a hard review to write because I don't want to spoil anything and yet I don't want to re-write what the synopsis says. Hmm. I guess I'll just do this: 

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS ABOUT THIS NOVEL:

• Both Everett and Parker have issues. They are flawed. Parker has the most obvious flaws but Everett has them too..it just takes longer for them to be revealed.
• As with Whitney's other novels, this one is more focused on an emotional journey of the characters, the action of the plot takes a backseat to that. There IS action and there IS a plot, but the purpose is more less about that and more about what these characters learn about themselves and each other. 
• You get a little Mira/Six/Andra crossover. YAY!
• This novel feels different than He Found Me and He Saved Me. As I said before there is a plot and action but instead of wondering about a character like the Monster, you're wondering about the two characters you spend the most time with: Everett and Parker. You feel like you know how the story will end, so it's not so much a mystery to be solved but just figuring out the hows and the whys and the whats.

I think out of all three novels, this one really grabbed me the most. I felt for Parker and Everett and I wanted them to be happy and alive and content.

The one note I'd offer, if it's not too presumptuous, is that I'd love more background about her characters and more motive or answers about the subplots. I find them all so very interesting and often want them to be more developed rather than just a cursory part of the characters' stories. Without a doubt, though, I've found myself very curious about Whitney's characters and am eager to see what she does with Six and Mira's story. 

BUY BOTH: https://amzn.to/2QiYvhF