Monday, April 21, 2014

Review: Against All Odds by Angie McKeon




Our lives shattered... Our hearts broken... Our souls torn to pieces... 

He was my world, my whole life. My reason for breathing. I had a perfect marriage, a baby on the way, and I felt fulfilled—almost invincible. 

Until the day life hit, leaving me broken, vulnerable, and alone. 

She was my life. My ray of hope on the cloudiest day. With her, I thought I had the ultimate safety. A love that would never hurt or betray me. I gave her my heart, my body, and my soul. 

Until she broke me, destroying every dream and illusion I had about life, love, and marriage. 

In our grief, we made a mistake. A mistake I'm not sure we can come back from. 

**Content warning: Please be advised that this novel is for ages 18+. It may contain themes and subjects upsetting to readers. This is NOT a light read.** 

Jennifer says…

I’ve known Angie the blogger for a while and when she announced she was announced she was writing a novel I was very intrigued.  Then when I was able to read it… OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!  Girl has skills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This book is so full of angst, heartbreak, sadness, you think it would be depressing… it is but I think there is so much more to the story then depression.  It’s a story of love that the heartbreak that goes with it.  It’s a story that shows if you love can really conquer all.  It’s a beautiful rollercoaster of a story that had me on the edge the entire time and never let go until the final words.  I could not get enough of this book and cannot wait to see what else Angie has in store for us!

We start off with Kylie and Cooper in a broken marriage.  They have an open marriage and have rules to their arrangement.  While reading I was like, how do you get to this point in your marriage??  If you love someone you don’t have an open marriage and have sex with others.  We get flashbacks that show just how they have suffered. 

“My entire world, already demolished by the loss of my precious baby, is being crushed by the weight of life.  It’s smothering me.” –Kylie

Having to lose a child has pushed Kylie to a deep and dark depression.  One that nobody can help her out of.  She spends many days just going through the motions of life. No feeling, not loving, not living.  Cooper rejects Kylie in every way.  Having already felt rejected by her own body and now her husband, she does the unthinkable.

“I know in this moment that we’re fucked.  Our lives are fucked.  We’re too tortured to face these problems.  our hearts aren’t just broken- they’re shattered, the splintered pieces never to be whole again.”- Kylie

There is one person that is there when even her husband cannot deal with her grief, their best friend Grayson.  Things start to get more than friendly with Kylie and Grayson but this propels Cooper to face the fact his she is slipping away.   They are forced to face the broken pieces of their hearts and find their way past all the shards that is the pieces of their broken hearts. 

“I know it’s illogical and stupid, but without Cooper, I can’t live.  We share a reckless, toxic love that feeds the brokenness in me, in us.  Our love is an addiction.  A love that I won’t ever consider living without. “- Kylie

Will their love be strong enough to survive?  Can love be salvaged when it’s been ripped to shreds?  It’s a masterful complex love story that had me thinking how can these two can work past all of this?  Can they have their happily ever after?  How do you come back from such heartbreak and sorrow?  Can you turn to the person who has pushed you away?  You will need to read to find out.  It’s a journey that you do not want to miss.  I devoured this novel and never wanted it to end.  If I could give this 10 stars I would… it’s just that DAMN GOOD!!!! 





“Look at me, Kylie,” he says.


If I look at him, I’ll die. My heart will crumble, and I won’t make it out of his office. I can’t do it. The pain is unbearable. When I leave here, he’s with her. The thought of him with her, while I’m pining away for him makes me sick.

It destroys me.           

 “Please, Ky. I need you to look at me. Don’t do this. Don’t play fucking games with me. I need you to look at me now.”

Just do it. Suck it up.

I turn around and look at him with tears in my eyes and distress smeared across my features like paint on a canvas. My body seeps anguish I can’t hide. I can never hide my heart. My feelings are always written on every seam of my face, every angle of my form. My distress penetrates the air around me, pulling him into my suffering, entangling and entrapping him within the storm that rages in me. I’m broken without him and I’ve been without him for so long that I’ve lost pieces of myself along the way. The jar that holds the last of my heart is about to shatter until nothing is left but shards of the woman I used to be.

“I can’t take this anymore,” I whisper, my voice broken. “We need to talk about us over dinner.”
I can’t give a voice to my thoughts. If nothing changes between now and then, our marriage can’t go on. He’s killing me, and I’m killing him. Together, we’re a car wreck heading straight for a cliff. A cliff that spans a mountain. We are on our way to certain emotional death and this ride’s something I don’t want to be a part of anymore. I want off.

His eyes pierce mine, and I know he knows what I’m thinking. He looks stunned, and for a split second, I see fear. Cold, fucking fear. He sees everything I need him to see and more. I hope he gets it. I hope he understands that this might be the end of our road. We need to have something to work for, or we have nothing. I love him, but this love hurts. It hurts in a way I would’ve never dreamed it could.




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A multi-tasker from birth—and now proudly able to add 'writer' to my resume—I'm a mother, wife and blogger. I love to read, write and drink copious amounts of iced coffee.


All three aforementioned addictions are detrimental to my sanity.

I have a voracious appetite for dark, painful and twisted reads. I'm enamored with the concept of love and heart break. I believe life is a journey, a tale in its own for each of us. The road to happiness is sometimes paved with stones from hell, or glitters of satisfaction graced from the heavens above.

In my upcoming debut novel, 'Against All Odds,' I strive to make you feel. I believe any emotion—whether painful or happy—is good. To me, the key to living is to go through life feeling its ups and downs. Love is dark and it can be painful but, at the end of the day, it can save the most lost of souls and the most broken of hearts.



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