5++++ “I melted” “forever” “JT” “My new lifeline.” Kisses
I have so many things to say about this book and this series that I am completely and totally at a loss for what to actually write. How can I put into words what this book means to me...how deeply these characters are imbedded in my heart...how hard it is to say goodbye to a series that has been a part of my life for almost two years? The feels are overwhelming! Needless to say, Aflame blew any and all expectations I had for an epic way to end the Fall Away Series out of the universe. If the series had to end at all, I cannot think of a way that Penelope could have done these characters any better justice. So…as I said, Aflame is the fourth (and final) book in the Fall Away Series…if you haven’t read Bully & Until You , I would definitely recommend it (cause this book will not make any sense…) and if you don’t want any spoilers, I would read Rival and Falling Away too. To really appreciate the build of the story in the series overall…it’s better to read in order.
Tatum Brandt…my love for Tate runs deep…this girl just speaks to a part of me and I simply adore her. From the moment I met Tate, I knew she was one of the strongest heroines I have ever read…but she has proved consistently how strong she truly is…emotionally and physically. I mean, it definitely takes a strong girl to put up with a guy like Jared, but the strongest thing about Tate is her heart. She is so loving…so giving…so kind…she’s just a naturally good, sweet girl…and four years after Until You, that hasn’t changed. She’s driven and dedicated…I love that she’s focused on fulfilling her dream of becoming a doctor and considering she got into Stanford medical school, she’s still insanely smart. I love that she’s still a tom boy to her core…wearing chucks and kicking @#$ on the race track…spending any free time she has under the hood of her car and playing her fav rock bands as loud as she can. Add that to another one of the things I love about Tate…she’s such a contradiction…on the outside she looks like a Barbie doll but she couldn’t be farther from a girlie girl…well, unless you look at Fallon. Tate really has grown a lot in the past few years…she’s still the same girl that captivated me in Bully…but she has changed a little bit…not in a bad way by any means, but something felt different about her, and that had a lot to do with the actions of the boy who stole her heart when she was 10 years old.
‘At ten years old, Jared was my friend. At fourteen, my enemy; at eighteen, my love; and at twenty, my heartbreak. I’d known him more than half my life, and although the roles had changed, his impact was always all consuming.
Always.’
Jared Trent…*le sigh*…where do I begin with this boy. I can’t not love him…it’s physically incapable for me to. Part of me wanted to, after reading the excerpt in the back of Falling Away…or at least get really mad at him…but I couldn’t even do that. It’s like once I truly understood him in Bully, a switch was flicked and my brain will not allow me to do anything but love and adore him unconditionally…and so I do. In all of his tatt’d up, bad boy glory…I so completely do. Because the thing is…you don’t love Jared Trent because he’s romantic in the typical book boyfriend kind of way (cause he’s not)…you love him for his filthy mouth…his ability to command respect in any room that he walks into…the fact that he can drive anything with a motor (sorry, there is just something infinitely sexy about that!)…and you love him for his dedication to those he cares about…because when Jared Trent loves, he loves for life. I could go on for days about all the things I love about Jared...all the ways he is absolutely unfathomably amazing...he's totally one of a kind...but I will say that if I thought I loved him before...his actions in Aflame sent my feelings to another universe. I knew to expect greatness from Jared and I got so much more than I bargained for.
‘Tate was different.
I shook my head and turned my gaze back to the track, seeing her hop out of her car and talk with the other drivers. So confident. So strong.
But the way I wanted her was still the same.
Jax was right. I could go around about it for days or weeks or another two years, but I’d still come to the same conclusion as he did this afternoon. I loved Tate, and I would always love her.’
The fact that Jared and Tate aren’t together in Aflame was never kept a secret…I’m not going to sit here and lie and say that I wasn’t upset at first…but it was definitely short lived. I never doubted Penelope’s creative genius when it came to what she would do with the story line for Aflame…that’s not to say that the moment I read the excerpt in the back of Falling Away that I wasn’t filled with a myriad of emotions…but one of those emotions was excitement. I know that might make me sound a little crazy but…it’s true. I have to think back on Bully…she took this practically impossible situation and worked some voo-doo magic on me, made me fall head over heals in love with this complete @#$ who was so horrible to Tate…and yet turned him around into this amazing creature who I couldn’t love more if I tried…I fell so hard for Jared and Tate the first time…and going through all of that was one of the best reading experiences I can remember. So…getting to experience that again, on another level – umm, yes please! Considering I’m more invested with Jared and Tate now then I was two years ago…they’ve grown up considerably…there are just a lot of factors going on and every single one of them adds up to this amazing cocktail of reading bliss. I cannot imagine the plot being any more brilliant than it was…and this is coming from someone who would have rather poked her eyes out then have Jared and Tate be separated from one another but the way it all worked was genius.
“I’m never letting you go again, Tate,” I whispered, almost desperate. “I’m your friend forever, and if that’s all I get, then that’s what I’m taking, because only when you’re here” – I took her hand and placed it on my heart – “do I feel like my life is worth a d@#%.”
Penelope Douglas is one of my favorite writers ever…for so many reasons. First of all…as if I haven’t said it enough, her characters are perfection…and it’s not only who they are individually, but how they interact as a group. Each of them have their strengths and they play off each other so effortlessly…the combination of all of their personalities is priceless…it’s impossible to force. The emotions that are entwined in this book are as crucial as the characters are…no matter whose POV she writes in, I feel every ounce of what they’re experiencing…I always look forward to having that connection with those characters because it’s everything I crave when I read and she never leaves me wanting more. Her combination of angst and tension…sexy and swoon…comedy and fun…friendship and family…it’s equal parts of everything that blends flawlessly into this brilliant story. It’s funny because I couldn’t ask for more from any of her books…but I always want more because I love them so much, I never want it to stop – it’s a very satisfying and conflicting feeling.
‘“It’s easier to be angry and pass judgment than it is to take a chance. It feels stronger.”
I felt his chest inflate with a breath. “Yeah, I know that feeling.”
I laid the side of my face on his back, hugging him close. “Nothing feels right without you. Not school or home,” I cried. “Everything is just giving me enough air to get to the next day without you. I never stopped being yours.”
He dropped his head back, letting out a sigh.
I swallowed, taking my chance. “I love you, Jared. I’ve always loved you, and I will always love you.”
There was no one but him, and even when he wasn’t around, he was. I would never be free of him – because I didn’t want to be.’
Of course the main focus of Aflame is Jared and Tate…we started with them, we end with them – but just like with all of the other books in the series, Madoc and Fallon and Jax and Juliet have their key parts of play and we get continuations of their stories as well. Madoc is one of the funniest characters I’ve read and he totally kept me laughing in Aflame…his timing was perfect, his liners were fantastic…he’s just this perfect little preppy boy class clown that I love to death. Jax…is like a ninja – he flies totally under the radar until he wants to make his presence known and then usually it’s something completely unexpected and totally freaking awesome. Fallon and Juliet…they’re the perfect besties for Tate…these three girls have this rare balance of just the right amount of things in common to keep them close but they’ve got their own uniqueness. And I don’t think there is every going to be a word to describe the feelings I have with seeing these three couples together…it fills a part of my heart that nothing else can touch, it makes me want to cry and yet I’m smiling so hard my face hurts.
‘I ignored truth and reason, because it was easier to believe that my power defined me rather than admitting I needed anyone. Rather than admitting the reality.
That I loved Tate.
That she loved me.
And that together we were invincible.
It has taken me years to learn, but I’d spend the rest of my life making up for it.’
I am not afraid to admit it…I hate goodbyes. Not that I think anyone particularly loves them but still…and I especially hate them with books. I’m a self-professed stage 5 clinger…and I think it’s even stronger with these characters because they’re some of my favorites. But as I said in the beginning, this was the best way for the Fall Away series to end…I truly cannot be happier after reading that epilogue. I love a good epilogue and holy f^@%!#$ hell…this is one for the record books. Per-freakin'-fection! There is no other word to describe it. At the end of Aflame, Penelope wrote a note to the reader…and she said ‘Jared, Tate, Madoc, Fallon, Jaxon, and Juliet represent a piece of who I am. I put so much of my heart into creating them, and they are not imaginary to me. It’s a difficult good-bye, but then I guess most good-byes are.’ Well…bravo Penelope, because from a readers perspective, you’ve made it equally as difficult to say goodbye. These characters have been in my head and heart for almost two years…I have loved every single second of every page that I have read and having to accept the fact that the series is over is hard…there’s no way around it. Alas…all good things come to an end…but my head is happy and my heart is overflowing with love…and all because Aflame was an absolutely flawless ending to this series.
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Popular Highlights in this book
“A man who stands in front of a woman does nothing more than block her view. She needs a man standing next to her, so grow up.”Highlighted by 790 Kindle readers- At ten years old, Jared was my friend. At fourteen, my enemy; at eighteen, my lover; and at twenty, my heartbreak.Highlighted by 480 Kindle readers
- I’m a better man, but there’s never been a better woman for me. There’s never been anyone like you, he texted.Highlighted by 302 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
JUST EPIC.......
This is my book of the year the one I was waiting for and needed and wanted and would have kicked someone for!!! I have read every single book in the Fall Away series and each and everyone I have loved. So when I heard Jared and Tate were getting another book I was stoked, after Falling Away I was so worried about these two. Back in Nov. 2013 when I read Bully the first in the series, Tate and Jared’s story, I feel in love with these two and their journey to find love after such hate.They have a type of story you just can’t forget and can’t seem to shake because it’s just that good! So again when Aflame was announced and that it was their continuing story after Falling Away I never thought it could get better, but I was SO VERY WRONG. Penelope Douglas I LOVE YOU… I have a HUGH author crush on you and am super jelly of your ability to write stories of epicness so THANK YOU!This will not be a huge review on the book it’s self, and that’s because I think anyone who has read Bully NEEDS TO READ this one. It’s better and more intense and so much more emotional. I love Madoc and Jax’s rolls as well, all they did for Tate when things changed for her when Jared left. These boys rocked it and only made me fall harder for them if you can fall harder! LOLAfter a hard breakup with the one boy she has loved her whole life Tate will have to try her hardest to live on. But it’s hard to move on from the one boy your whole life was made for, and now that he is back she will have to try to live around him. But the heart knows what it wants and Jared and Tate will try to fight that one feeling that they never seems to stop having LOVE! Can they find a way back to each other or will the past change their future?!! You will get both POV’s in this one and I LOVED that, it gave me the WHOLE story and in this type of book you need that!! It’s RAW, EMOTIONAL, AWESOMESAUSE, BREATHTAKING and a million other things!I loved Jared Trent and his side of the story, the way he feels and just the things he says…You get all mushy inside and smile and cry at some points! His is Tate’s connection is WOW, it’s on a whole other level and one we all hope to find one day in life!Oh and Tate, I have to say I so wish I had her problems but then again she dealt with a lot in this book and I so wanted to jump in and give that girl a huge hug, I love her she so rocks it!Listen if there is one book/series I think you should read it’s this one! Aflame is the BEST ending to an amazing series!! I am still sad it’s over but if this is how it ends then I am happy to walk away with a HUGE smile on my face!! Thank you Penelope again for each and every book, I don’t think I can say it enough!
