self-discovery – Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

A serious car accident leaves bad boy Nate Williams seriously injured and lucky to be alive. Upon his journey to learn to walk again he meets Claire, a physiotherapist in the last year of University. He’s instantly attracted to her, but Claire is no ordinary girl. She’s resistant to his charms and good looks which only intrigues him more.

Claire is reluctant, to say the least, when Nate comes back into her life again as one of her patients for her clinical placement. A self-absorbed, tattooed, womaniser, he is the last person on earth she wanted, or expected to see again. Nate may not remember her, or the kiss they once shared, but she certainly does. The next five weeks was going to be anything but easy.

Blackbird is a story of self-discovery and the formation of an unexpected friendship between two people who learn that life and love is anything but planned.

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My Review

After being involved in a serious car accident which leaves Nate Williams badly injured and lucky to be alive, he meets Claire, a physiotherapist in her last few weeks on university who will be with him through his journey to walk again. He’s attracted to her but she resists him charms. It only makes him more interested in her.

Nate has been in Claire’s life before but it’s obvious he can’t remember. She’s reluctant to be his physiotherapist but in the end agrees to be professional about it. The next 5 weeks aren’t going to be easy for her. But when a budding friendship develops between them both, it’s getting easier to decide what she wants out of life, even if she finds it hard to begin with.

Blackbird is a story about self-discovery, as the synopsis entitles. It’s about finding yourself in the world and being the person who YOU want to be, not what people want you to be or do. When I read the synopsis the other day, I instantly knew I had to download this book and read it immediately. I was not disappointed at all and Nicole Salmond takes you through a journey about yourself too and what you want in life, as well as going through Nate and Claire’s journey with them. I found this book to be refreshing and it really did have me indulged for the few hours I was reading it, finding it hard to put down even for a split second. I just had to finish it and see what happened!

Oh Nate Williams! He had gone through some tough times in his life. With his father’s death being the main reason he’s gone off the rails a bit. He blames himself for it and that’s why his life doesn’t seem important to him. He puts on a cocky, sexualised front, as to hide his true colours and he never stays with one girl, always jumping from one, one night stand, to the next. But when we see him with Claire at first, he’s, as I said, cocky and flirty and playful with her, trying to wind her up, but the more time they spend together, and become friends, the more Nate changes – for the best. His attitude changes. He’s never really had a girlfriend, let alone been interested enough to have one, but when he’s around Claire, and even when he’s not, shes all he thinks about and all he wants. But with her having a boyfriend, he’s going to have to stay being her friend. But he’s also determined to show her that they should be more. I liked that he didn’t give up on her.

Nate was Claire’s last patient before graduating and when she sees him, she’s angry. They have history but he doesn’t seem to remember. She pushes that aside and is determined to help him walk again. She is a strong character, shes a determined character but she’s also frustrating to read. She had a boyfriend of 6 months (Who was a total douchebag to her) but she has feelings for Nate. When she and Nate become friends, she began to annoy me over her thought process with Dave (her boyfriend) and Nate. It was blatantly obvious that Dave was not the guy for her, as he was still living in the ice ages and that Nate – who gave her time and space to sort her feelings out, hence being friends, was totally the guy for her. He was always there for her, he didn’t push her, he treated her as an equal, but I’m just glad she realized what she had to do to be happy in the end.

I did love their friendship. They had the perfect chemistry and although it was obvious to the reader that they both had feelings for each other, I respected Nate’s decision to not do anything, as she had a boyfriend and to just be her friend and be there for her through the tough times with Dave. They respected each other, had fun, flirted and seemed to spend so much time together, getting to know one another. They really did bring out the best in each other and I loved how they changed one another – to the person they were truly meant to be. They both taught one another how to be free.

The scene that got my gears turning was the dancing in the nightclub. Holy Hell was that steamy! The dirty dancing and the rhythm they both have together and the sexual chemistry just literally poured from the kindle. I want my own Nate to dirty dance with!

I love the book cover. It symbolises the point of this book. To be free to be yourself and to do whatever you want in life, not to be caged up and forced to live your life by what others want of you. You will see why this is, when you read Blackbird. The cover will make sense to you then.

There are a few grammatical issues and at one point Nicole write ‘Nick’ instead of Nate, but other than that, it didn’t particularly bother me. I’m not one to moan about these kinds of issues as the book really caught my attention and had me hooked from the start to finish.

I loved the message this book portrayed and I loved the friendship/relationship Nate and Claire developed and had. It was great to see these two characters change throughout the book with the help and influence they both had on each other. They both eventually learnt that taking a chance will be worth the risk, especially with love and life. If you want to read a quick story about freeing yourself, finding love and discovering yourself, then Blackbird is definitely the book for you. It’s a great read and will leave you thinking about your own life and how you fit in after you finish it!

Synopsis

From the outside looking in, Lily Lockwood, popular star of the hit TV show St. Joe’s, has it all. Recently nominated for an Emmy, her star is definitely on the rise. She shares her gorgeous Malibu beachfront home with her even more gorgeous actor boyfriend. Perfect, right? Not so much! Within a matter of just a few days, it all falls apart. The wind is knocked out of her when she finds out that her boyfriend, on location shooting a western, is riding horses all day and his curvy co-star all night. Before Lily can catch her breath, she gets word that her mother, best-selling author Daisy Lockwood, is in intensive care after a near-fatal accident. Lily flies across the country to be by her side. The girl, who has a hard time deciding if her Chai Latte should be Grande or Venti, is now faced with making crucial life and death decisions. While rifling through Daisy’s papers, she comes across shocking information about her mother that threatens to shake her very foundation. Lily embarks on a journey of self-discovery and closure as she seeks to unlock the mysteries of her mother’s past.

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My Review

Lily Lockwood seems to have it all. She’s a famous actress on a TV show called St. Joes, she’s got the perfect boyfriend, her mother is her best friend and she’s just become nominated for an Emmy. All seems completely perfect to her. BUT within a few days everything turns upside down. Her boyfriend is cheating on her with his busty co-star and her mother, best-selling author Daisy Lockwood has been in a fatal car accident and is in a coma. Everything has fallen apart and now Lily has the crucial decision over what to do. While trying to sort out Daisy’s papers for the hospital, she discovers things about her mother’s past that she never knew of and it takes her on a journey of self-discovery and closure as she starts to unlock the secrets of her mother’s past.

The story starts off with Lily at her mother’s hospital bed, sobbing and asking her to wake up. As she waits for the doctors to tell her the news of her mother’s condition, Lily begins to reflect on her life and relationship with her mother, who brought her up single-handedly and supported and helped her into the Hollywood world – always being there for Lily throughout everything in her life. As the days pass by, and with tests and operations being done on her mother, Daisy’s close friends come to be with her and Lily to await the news of Daisy’s condition and to support Lily.

I really felt for Lily, because Daisy, although her mother is her best friend and the only person that she can lean on, and for her to be in a coma – it was so sad to read as she just wanted her to be okay and wake up. My mum is one of my best friends too and I would be completely lost without her if anything happened to her, which I’m sure everyone can relate to as well, so yes, I definitely felt for Lily having to go through this. As much as she’s a famous TV star, she’s still a scared, vulnerable little girl inside; scared about what is happening to her mum.

Although this book is focused on Lily and her self-discovery, it’s all centered on Daisy, You never get to read Daisy speaking in the present, but you do in the flashbacks and stories that Lily thinks about throughout the book. You do get a feel that you know Daisy as her voice is pretty strong and even if she is in a coma, I did fell like I knew her, regardless of her not speaking. You also get to know more about Daisy in her diary entries, which Lily finds and reads. They give Lily and the reader an insight into Daisy’s childhood – one that she has never told Lily. You find out many a secret about Daisy and there’s a huge shock of a secret which I was not expecting at all!

It was great to see the supporting characters coming to the hospital to visit Daisy and support Lily throughout the ordeal of the accident. The friends were completely special to read about and definitely felt like a small family to Lily and Daisy to me. Her Auntie D, who is childhood friends with Daisy, was such an amazing character to read. She was there for Lily when she was younger and is still there for Lily years later. Her and Daisy have been through a lot in their past and they are still best friends to this day. It was brilliant to see so much support and love coming from Donna, even when she was hurting because her best friend was in a coma. You can see that Donna will always be there for lily, no matter what happens.

Alison’s writing style comes to life. You can see she has really researched all the hospital scenes and the jargon used in this book. She writes about a colourful and lovely mother-daughter relationship that you just want for yourself and it’s the bond of the two that really gels this book together. It’s the heart of the book. It seems exceptionally realistic, especially the hospital scenes as you could really feel yourself acting the way Lily was with the Doctors (Who was a bit of an arsehole) and just wanting to know what was happening with her mother. I felt every single emotion she conveyed and this book actually got me thinking about if I was in Lily’s position. The story really did make Lily stronger, in a way, and really make her see life as being precious. It’s a great book to read and I would definitely recommend it as it was difficult to put down once I started it!