This is my first time to read a Janell Michaels or a Lisa Logan. I got this as an ARC. Thank you again, Janell Michaels for the copy.
This story was not what I have expected. It is surreal. A really good magical realism. It's a very good take on parallelism. If there is ever a parallel universe or an alternate reality, I would gladly take this one. This is way way too good to pass up. It's the perfect alternate universe, if ever there is one. It is a reality where it makes you whole and a totally different person. A better or the best version of yourself in this reality and I too would be just like Adam, I would be loathe to leave the place.
This story seemed like a modern fairytale because of the touch of magic in it. I don't know what a jacaranda tree is and I am not sure if one even grows in the Philippines. The name itself sounds magical. So, I can't blame the author when she saw one and came up with this magical story. It sounds very Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish when I read how the author came to write this. Yes, we all want to channel that Anne of Green Gables in each of us, if only to make this world a little less wearying that it is.
If there ever is Spring here in my country, it would be my favorite season. I love to see flowers everywhere and even more--trees overburden with very beautiful violet flowers. I googled what a jacaranda looks like and even in the pictures it looks so so beautiful and I imagine being surrounded by it. Just like in the story, I can't help but feel beautiful and bask in its presence and beauty. As it turned out, there are actually jacaranda trees here in the Philippines. I may not have actually seen one around here in my city but I think I have seen one in St. Louis when I was there for a training years ago. I thought it was a cherry blossom but now I think it may just be a jacaranda in full bloom in spring with pink flowers. Whether the tree I saw was a cherry blossom or a jacaranda it was still magical and beautiful. Jacaranda flowers do not just come in pretty pinks or vibrant violets but they also come in yummy yellows and in refreshing reds.
If this story ever happens to me just once in every spring, I would blissfully endure all the other awful seasons just knowing that I could have one season or a year in the alternate universe to live joyfully and carelessly--devoid of any worries. It would be the reason for having the strength to continue just like Adam. The one break in the monotonous and the uneventful story of my existence. I will trade anything for it. I will trade this life for that "once in every spring" phenomena.
It's not obvious that I can relate to the characters, especially Adam. Like him, I too felt that and have asked if there is anything more to this life. In some way, I may have an advantage over Adam because I still have full control over my body but that does not mean that I have full control of my life and the events that happened to me. I have felt like or I still sometimes feel like I am floating in a limbo. I am still unsure what I want to do. It feels like everything I want to put my energy into is not working out for me. And if I get the same kind of magical chance like Adam and Dana did, I would surely take it with without blinking. I think I would take anything, at this point just to get out of this place where I am in.
I give the book 5/5 jacaranda trees. This story made me want to look for a jacaranda tree right now and hope that it would also bestow its magic on me and take me to a better reality than what I have right now. Yes, a better place, a better me and a better life. This is not a sad story but a very hopeful one. A kind where when you think you have reached a dead end in your work or life in general, this will make you pause and look at your surroundings differently. Just like Anne of Green Gables, you can't stop seeing the magic in things just because you are beset with problems from all corners. The beauty of nature will always surprise you. I for one, feel better just looking at flowers and a stretch of green.
This story was not what I have expected. It is surreal. A really good magical realism. It's a very good take on parallelism. If there is ever a parallel universe or an alternate reality, I would gladly take this one. This is way way too good to pass up. It's the perfect alternate universe, if ever there is one. It is a reality where it makes you whole and a totally different person. A better or the best version of yourself in this reality and I too would be just like Adam, I would be loathe to leave the place.
This story seemed like a modern fairytale because of the touch of magic in it. I don't know what a jacaranda tree is and I am not sure if one even grows in the Philippines. The name itself sounds magical. So, I can't blame the author when she saw one and came up with this magical story. It sounds very Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish when I read how the author came to write this. Yes, we all want to channel that Anne of Green Gables in each of us, if only to make this world a little less wearying that it is.
If there ever is Spring here in my country, it would be my favorite season. I love to see flowers everywhere and even more--trees overburden with very beautiful violet flowers. I googled what a jacaranda looks like and even in the pictures it looks so so beautiful and I imagine being surrounded by it. Just like in the story, I can't help but feel beautiful and bask in its presence and beauty. As it turned out, there are actually jacaranda trees here in the Philippines. I may not have actually seen one around here in my city but I think I have seen one in St. Louis when I was there for a training years ago. I thought it was a cherry blossom but now I think it may just be a jacaranda in full bloom in spring with pink flowers. Whether the tree I saw was a cherry blossom or a jacaranda it was still magical and beautiful. Jacaranda flowers do not just come in pretty pinks or vibrant violets but they also come in yummy yellows and in refreshing reds.
If this story ever happens to me just once in every spring, I would blissfully endure all the other awful seasons just knowing that I could have one season or a year in the alternate universe to live joyfully and carelessly--devoid of any worries. It would be the reason for having the strength to continue just like Adam. The one break in the monotonous and the uneventful story of my existence. I will trade anything for it. I will trade this life for that "once in every spring" phenomena.
It's not obvious that I can relate to the characters, especially Adam. Like him, I too felt that and have asked if there is anything more to this life. In some way, I may have an advantage over Adam because I still have full control over my body but that does not mean that I have full control of my life and the events that happened to me. I have felt like or I still sometimes feel like I am floating in a limbo. I am still unsure what I want to do. It feels like everything I want to put my energy into is not working out for me. And if I get the same kind of magical chance like Adam and Dana did, I would surely take it with without blinking. I think I would take anything, at this point just to get out of this place where I am in.
I give the book 5/5 jacaranda trees. This story made me want to look for a jacaranda tree right now and hope that it would also bestow its magic on me and take me to a better reality than what I have right now. Yes, a better place, a better me and a better life. This is not a sad story but a very hopeful one. A kind where when you think you have reached a dead end in your work or life in general, this will make you pause and look at your surroundings differently. Just like Anne of Green Gables, you can't stop seeing the magic in things just because you are beset with problems from all corners. The beauty of nature will always surprise you. I for one, feel better just looking at flowers and a stretch of green.
Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head. The last thing I need is a delusion with delusions of grandeur.
- Janell Michaels, Once Every Spring -
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