Surviving Us by Erin Noelle

Surviving Us elevates author Erin Noelle from fabulous to just down right amazing, I have read everything she has out there and I have to say that after finishing Surviving Us, I have a new found admiration for the work that she does and the attention that she imparts on her characters.

Set apart from the world on a tropical retreat, we are introduced to David and Bristol and from the get-go, I fell in love with them both.

David was just so authentic, so charismatic but with a history that will touch your very soul. Bristol is a bit of a lad, all too happy to be treated the same as the guys and relishes the banter that goes with that territory, but she can hold her own and when it comes to sports, she can beat them at their own game.

The island is the ideal place for them both to come to terms with their pasts and to try to take their first tentative strides back to their futures, but what if you have no idea how to get there, what if the pain you carry with you is holding you hostage to your past?

And more to the point, what the hell are they supposed to do when they do the one thing that they were never considering, they fall in love.

I don’t want to give too much away because I think you will get so much more from reading it first hand, everyone will get something different from this book, because it is so true to life. You will reflect your own life onto the characters and see on more than one occasion in the dialect and actions, something or someone you recognise staring back at you from the page.

The characterisation was almost photographic, it was so poignant and accurate that it was like reading an autobiography in parts. I loved the character dynamics, the interactions and descriptive tone used throughout the book, the author drew me a picture with her words and I coloured it in with my imagination and for that I will be eternally grateful.