PREMESSA
Quando Kiki mi ha detto che ero stata scelta per recensire "The Art of Us" di Hilaria Alexander non stavo più nella pelle, leggo pochi libri che riguardano gli artisti - forse perché ho sempre paura che non rendano bene la vita e le difficoltà di un'artista, sia esso scrittore o disegnatore. Secondo me questo romanzo piacerà a molti di voi, e io già da questo momento non posso far altro che consigliarvelo perché l'ho amato tantissimo.
TRAMA (DA GOODREADS)
Due anni prima, il suo bacio ha sconvolto il suo mondo, ma lui l'ha allontanato da sé e non gli ha mai più parlato.
Lena Andrews non è brava in amore, e non ha alcuna intenzione di diventarlo.
Gli uomini sono utili per una cosa soltanto, e l'amore non è tra queste.
A lei sta bene esser felice con il suo lavoro come disegnatrice di fumetti.
Eppure, non riesce ad allontanare il ricordo del bacio del suo collega di lavoro.
Amost St. Clair è stato più lontano che poteva da Lena Andrews negli ultimi due anni.
Il lavoro ha occupato gran parte del suo tempo, ed è diventato un nome noto nella casa editrice in cui lavora. Quando si presenta l'opportunità di portare al termine un progetto che è caro a Lena, Amos coglie l'opportunità - anche se ciò significa lavorare con la donna che l'ha evitato finora.
Attraverso la loro comune passione per l'arte e l'interesse che dimostrano l'uno per l'altra, il loro amore sboccia come un fiore di loto in una pozza oscura e viscida. Ma sarà il loro amore forte abbastanza da sopportare le sfide poste dal più importante lavoro delle loro carriere?
RECENSIONE
"The Art of Us" non è il tipico contemporary romance che leggerete, cioè ha una parte di romance, ma ha anche una grande componente che riguarda la vita, l'amore e la morte, che svolgono un ruolo importante nel romanzo. Ma prima che vi racconti la ragione per cui vi dico queste cose, iniziamo dal principio: i personaggi principali del romanzo sono Lena Andrews e Amos St. Clair, due disegnatori di comic book che hanno un passato comune: si sono scambiati un bacio appassionato durante 7 Minuti in Paradiso la prima sera che sono usciti per festeggiare la formazione del team di disegnatori della Paz Media. Lena Andrews è una bellissima ragazza, ma è terrorizzata dalle relazioni umane e allontana le persone da sé proprio a causa di ciò, preferisce allontanarle da sé per evitare che vengano ferite in qualche modo da lei. Non è una donna timida, è una donna di 33 anni sicura di sé e del suo corpo, ecco perché continua ad iniziare brevissime relazioni sessuali con dei perfetti conosciuti.
Non vi dirò qual è stato l'evento del passato che ha traumatizzato in modo così sconvolgente Lena, ma vi assicuro che vi spezzerà il cuore e lo scoprirete man a mano che la storia si sviluppa. Lena ha allontanato da sé Amos in questi due anni, continuando a usare la sua bitchy face come pretesto per tenerlo lontano quando bruciava dal desiderio di avere di nuovo un contatto travolgente con lui.
RECENSIONE
"The Art of Us" non è il tipico contemporary romance che leggerete, cioè ha una parte di romance, ma ha anche una grande componente che riguarda la vita, l'amore e la morte, che svolgono un ruolo importante nel romanzo. Ma prima che vi racconti la ragione per cui vi dico queste cose, iniziamo dal principio: i personaggi principali del romanzo sono Lena Andrews e Amos St. Clair, due disegnatori di comic book che hanno un passato comune: si sono scambiati un bacio appassionato durante 7 Minuti in Paradiso la prima sera che sono usciti per festeggiare la formazione del team di disegnatori della Paz Media. Lena Andrews è una bellissima ragazza, ma è terrorizzata dalle relazioni umane e allontana le persone da sé proprio a causa di ciò, preferisce allontanarle da sé per evitare che vengano ferite in qualche modo da lei. Non è una donna timida, è una donna di 33 anni sicura di sé e del suo corpo, ecco perché continua ad iniziare brevissime relazioni sessuali con dei perfetti conosciuti.
I had been reminded too many times in my life that making plans for the future is futile.You don’t hold the reins of your life.Fate does.(Lena Andrews)
Non vi dirò qual è stato l'evento del passato che ha traumatizzato in modo così sconvolgente Lena, ma vi assicuro che vi spezzerà il cuore e lo scoprirete man a mano che la storia si sviluppa. Lena ha allontanato da sé Amos in questi due anni, continuando a usare la sua bitchy face come pretesto per tenerlo lontano quando bruciava dal desiderio di avere di nuovo un contatto travolgente con lui.
His kiss was the cure.His kiss was poison from Romeo’s lips.His kiss was a dangerous weapon. It could be my salvation very well could be my destruction.(Lena Andrews)
Amost St. Clair non è il tipico ragazzo nerd: è un gran figo, ma ha anche un gran cuore. Non ha mai smesso di pensare al suo bacio con Lena, sebbene abbia passato un anno a uscire insieme alla sua nuova fiamma, Olivia. Ma Amos non si trova bene con lei, e dire che sono molto in disaccordo su gran parte delle cose di cui discutono normalmente una coppia, sarebbe un vero e proprio eufemismo. Continua a negare i suoi sentimenti per Lena, e allo stesso tempo Lena fa lo stesso. Due personaggi secondari, Violet e Marty "McFly", direttore editoriale della Paz Media, si sposeranno e inviteranno la coppietta felice al loro matrimonio. Ma ciò che succederà al matrimonio cambierà le carte in tavola per tutti i personaggi, e avrà un effetto domino in tutto il romanzo. Sarà da questo momento in avanti che Amos e Lena inizieranno a comunicare tramite il quaderno degli sketch di Lena, e continueranno una fanfiction su Aiko, un manga a cui Lena è molto legata. Quello che inizia come un gioco, diventerà il loro lavoro principale e dovranno andare in Giappone per parlare con la creatrice del manga, la distante e algida Rika Ishikawa. Cosa succederà in Giappone? Amos e Lena continueranno a rifiutare i sentimenti che provano l'uno per l'altra o finalmente li confesseranno? Come sarà per Lena incontrare il suo idolo adolescenziale? Come si troverà a lavorare con una best-seller come Rika Ishikawa?
I personaggi del romanzo erano ben sviluppati e realistici, così vividi che potevi sentire sulla tua pelle le loro stesse emozioni. La struttura del romanzo di per sé ha aiutato molto i lettori a empatizzare con i personaggi: il fatto che sia stato scritto con un doppio POV, uno di Lena Andrews e uno di Amost St. Clair è stato un grandissimo punto a favore di questo libro, e lo ha reso bellissimo e profondo. Il lettore può sentire sulla propria pelle le emozioni e i sentimenti dei personaggi, in questo modo, è portato a considerare Amos e Lena come degli amici librosi e lasciarli, terminando di leggere il libro, è stata dura per me.
Questo romanzo non era solo scritto benissimo, ha toccato molti temi che riguardano qualsiasi artista da vicino: il desiderio di rendere la propria passione un lavoro, il desiderio di entrare in contatto con i lettori - sia a livello nazionale che internazionale - e l'intrecciarsi continuo tra vita, amore e morte. Quest'intreccio è interessante e svolge un ruolo importantissimo nel romanzo, ma non vi dirò perché, dato che sto rischiando di farvi spoiler. Vi dirò solo che questo romanzo vi lascerà con il cuore a pezzi, ma allo stesso tempo vi riempirà di gioia. Vi lascerà con un sacco di emozioni che vi spingeranno a chiedervi se riuscirete mai a trovare un romanzo così bello e ben scritto ancora. Sì, me lo sto chiedendo, perché se ve lo dico è perché lo sto provando davvero. Questo è davvero uno dei migliori contemporary romance che ho letto finora.
Vi saluto con una citazione tratta da questo bellissimo romanzo, che vi consiglio e che, se leggete in inglese, dovete assolutamente dirmi se vi è piaciuto o no commentando questo post.
“For once, I didn’t want to look back. I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to go forward.
Only forward.”
xoxo,
Giada
PREMISE
When Kiki said that I was accepted to review this book I was over the moon. This book drawn me from the first time because of its beautiful cover – which reflects the characters very well – and the synopsis. “The Art of Us” will break your heart in thousand pieces and then it will make it a whole again. It will done and undone you, and it will remain forever in your heart. This is not one of the usual romance books, it hides meanings about life, death and love and much more.
SYNOPSIS (FROM GOODREADS)
Two years ago, his kiss left her reeling, but she pushed him away and they never spoke of it again.
Lena Andrews is bad at love, and has no intention of getting better at it.
Men are good for one thing, and love isn’t it.
She’s perfectly okay with finding happiness in her job as a comic book artist.
Yet, she can’t shake the memory of her coworker’s kiss.
Amos St. Clair has stayed the hell away from Lena Andrews for the last two years.
Work has filled his time and he’s on the cusp of making a name for himself. When an opportunity to complete a project that’s dear to Lena’s heart presents itself, Amos seizes the opportunity – even if it means being with the woman he's avoided all this time.
Through their mutual passion for art and each other, their love blooms like a lotus flower out of a dark, muddy pool. But, is their love strong enough to withstand the challenges posed by the most important job of their careers?
REVIEW
As I said before, “The Art of Us” isn’t the typical contemporary romance you may find, yes, it has romance, but it has also a greater component of love and death, and those things are poignant in the novel. But before I narrate you all why I say this, let’s start from the beginning: the novel’s main characters are Lena Andrews and Amos Saint Clair, two comic-book artists, two cartoonist, who have a little past: they share a passionate kiss in 7 Minutes in Heaven the first night they got out as a comic book team of the publishing house Paz Media. Lena Andrews is hot as hell, but also fears human relationships and the closeness of other people to her. Why? Because of a tragic accident regarding her past, Lena has decided to push away people to avoid getting close to them, in order to avoid them to being harmed by her in some ways. She isn’t a shy woman, with her 33-years-old, Lena is a bold woman who is confident about herself and her body, which is why she keep having sexual encounters with strangers.
I won’t say what was that accident in her past that changed her in this way, but I assure you it’s heartbreaking and you will discover it as the story develops. Lena has been pushing away Amos in those two years, plastering a bitchy face on her while inside, she was burning for him. That kiss between them changed everything, both her and him.
Amos St.Clair is not your typical nerdy guy: he’s smokin’ hot and has a hot body, as well as a beautiful soul. He never stopped thinking about that kiss with Lena, even though he found a girlfriend, Olivia, with whom he doesn’t feels right. Amos doesn’t want marriage or kids, while Olivia keeps insisting that’s the main point of their relationship, especially after one year of dating. But Amos doesn’t want it. He keeps denying to himself that he still has feeling for Lena, and Lena keeps doing the same. But this won’t last so long. Two secondary characters, Violet and Marty “McFly”, the found of Paz Media, are officially engaged and they invited all their co-workers to their wedding, including Amos and Olivia. What will happen at the wedding between the happy couple of Amos and Olivia, will have a domino effect on everything in the story. And from this point on, Amos and Olivia will start drawing a fanfiction of Akito, the manga Lena loves above everything. What started as a game, will become their main job and will make them travel to Japan. What will happen in Japan? Will Amos and Lena deny again their feelings for each other or will they finally admit them? How will it be for Lena to meet her idol? How will she find herself working with the best-seller comic author that’s Rika Ishikawa?
The characters of the novel were well developed, so realistic and vivid you could feel the same emotions they were feeling. The structure of the novel itself helped a lot the reader to emphasize with the characters: the fact that it was written with a double POV, one from Lena Andrews and one from Amos St. Clair was a major point of this novel, and it made it the beautiful and deep book it is. The reader can feel in his/her skin the emotions and the feelings of the characters, in this way, you can think of Amos and Lena as a kind of bookish friends and leaving them was hard for me. This book was not only beautifully written, it touches many themes to many younger artists: the desire to make a job out of their passion, the desire to get in touch with readers around the world and the intertwining between death, love and life. This intertwining it’s remarkable in the novel, and although I won’t say why because I’m on thin ice concerning spoilers, I will only tell you that this book will leave you heartbroken and at the same time full of joy. It will leave you with a mix of emotions that will make you wonder if you ever will find a book this good again. Yes, I’m wondering it, because I really meant it when I said this is one of the best contemporary romance novels I’ve read so far.
I greet you with a beautiful and deep quote from this book, and I hope you will read it and then tell me what you think about it:
“For once, I didn’t want to look back. I didn’t want to stop.
I wanted to go forward.
Only forward.”
xoxo,
Giada
When Kiki said that I was accepted to review this book I was over the moon. This book drawn me from the first time because of its beautiful cover – which reflects the characters very well – and the synopsis. “The Art of Us” will break your heart in thousand pieces and then it will make it a whole again. It will done and undone you, and it will remain forever in your heart. This is not one of the usual romance books, it hides meanings about life, death and love and much more.
SYNOPSIS (FROM GOODREADS)
Two years ago, his kiss left her reeling, but she pushed him away and they never spoke of it again.
Lena Andrews is bad at love, and has no intention of getting better at it.
Men are good for one thing, and love isn’t it.
She’s perfectly okay with finding happiness in her job as a comic book artist.
Yet, she can’t shake the memory of her coworker’s kiss.
Amos St. Clair has stayed the hell away from Lena Andrews for the last two years.
Work has filled his time and he’s on the cusp of making a name for himself. When an opportunity to complete a project that’s dear to Lena’s heart presents itself, Amos seizes the opportunity – even if it means being with the woman he's avoided all this time.
Through their mutual passion for art and each other, their love blooms like a lotus flower out of a dark, muddy pool. But, is their love strong enough to withstand the challenges posed by the most important job of their careers?
REVIEW
As I said before, “The Art of Us” isn’t the typical contemporary romance you may find, yes, it has romance, but it has also a greater component of love and death, and those things are poignant in the novel. But before I narrate you all why I say this, let’s start from the beginning: the novel’s main characters are Lena Andrews and Amos Saint Clair, two comic-book artists, two cartoonist, who have a little past: they share a passionate kiss in 7 Minutes in Heaven the first night they got out as a comic book team of the publishing house Paz Media. Lena Andrews is hot as hell, but also fears human relationships and the closeness of other people to her. Why? Because of a tragic accident regarding her past, Lena has decided to push away people to avoid getting close to them, in order to avoid them to being harmed by her in some ways. She isn’t a shy woman, with her 33-years-old, Lena is a bold woman who is confident about herself and her body, which is why she keep having sexual encounters with strangers.
I had been reminded too many times in my life that making plans for the future is futile.You don’t hold the reins of your life.Fate does.(Lena Andrews)
I won’t say what was that accident in her past that changed her in this way, but I assure you it’s heartbreaking and you will discover it as the story develops. Lena has been pushing away Amos in those two years, plastering a bitchy face on her while inside, she was burning for him. That kiss between them changed everything, both her and him.
His kiss was the cure.His kiss was poison from Romeo’s lips.His kiss was a dangerous weapon. It could be my salvation very well could be my destruction.(Lena Andrews)
Amos St.Clair is not your typical nerdy guy: he’s smokin’ hot and has a hot body, as well as a beautiful soul. He never stopped thinking about that kiss with Lena, even though he found a girlfriend, Olivia, with whom he doesn’t feels right. Amos doesn’t want marriage or kids, while Olivia keeps insisting that’s the main point of their relationship, especially after one year of dating. But Amos doesn’t want it. He keeps denying to himself that he still has feeling for Lena, and Lena keeps doing the same. But this won’t last so long. Two secondary characters, Violet and Marty “McFly”, the found of Paz Media, are officially engaged and they invited all their co-workers to their wedding, including Amos and Olivia. What will happen at the wedding between the happy couple of Amos and Olivia, will have a domino effect on everything in the story. And from this point on, Amos and Olivia will start drawing a fanfiction of Akito, the manga Lena loves above everything. What started as a game, will become their main job and will make them travel to Japan. What will happen in Japan? Will Amos and Lena deny again their feelings for each other or will they finally admit them? How will it be for Lena to meet her idol? How will she find herself working with the best-seller comic author that’s Rika Ishikawa?
The characters of the novel were well developed, so realistic and vivid you could feel the same emotions they were feeling. The structure of the novel itself helped a lot the reader to emphasize with the characters: the fact that it was written with a double POV, one from Lena Andrews and one from Amos St. Clair was a major point of this novel, and it made it the beautiful and deep book it is. The reader can feel in his/her skin the emotions and the feelings of the characters, in this way, you can think of Amos and Lena as a kind of bookish friends and leaving them was hard for me. This book was not only beautifully written, it touches many themes to many younger artists: the desire to make a job out of their passion, the desire to get in touch with readers around the world and the intertwining between death, love and life. This intertwining it’s remarkable in the novel, and although I won’t say why because I’m on thin ice concerning spoilers, I will only tell you that this book will leave you heartbroken and at the same time full of joy. It will leave you with a mix of emotions that will make you wonder if you ever will find a book this good again. Yes, I’m wondering it, because I really meant it when I said this is one of the best contemporary romance novels I’ve read so far.
I greet you with a beautiful and deep quote from this book, and I hope you will read it and then tell me what you think about it:
“For once, I didn’t want to look back. I didn’t want to stop.
I wanted to go forward.
Only forward.”
xoxo,
Giada
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