Just Keep Swimming

If I could, then I would

I'll go wherever you will go

Way up high or down low

I'll go wherever you will go

And maybe, I'll find out

A way to make it back someday

To watch you, to guide you

Through the darkest of your days

If I could turn back time

I'll go wherever you will go

If I could make you mine

I'll go wherever you will go

Wherever You Will Go - The Calling

Some people say, the ones closest to you are the ones that hurt you the most, and Lily Bloom had to experience that for most of her life. Because of the life Lily had to live, she has worked hard to get where she is. She is a accomplished and educated young woman, living in Boston, with the dream of opening up her own flower shop. This goal of hers is achieved, but she encounters many obstacles after the grand opening, and none have to do with her shop at all.

This story starts off with a 23 year-old girl standing on the ledge of a 12 story building, just hours after attempting a eulogy at her father's funeral. Her thoughts get interrupted, when a man makes his way onto the roof, takes his anger out on a chair and minutes later, notices Lily and asks her to step down from the ledge. We come to find out this man, Ryle Kincaid, is an aspiring neurosurgeon who just saw a boy die, accidentally shot by his 6 year-old brother, whom had found his parent's gun. Lily responds by admitting to Ryle, that her father was abusive and the reason why she didn't speak during his eulogy was because there was nothing good to say about him. They then talk about Lily's name, how ironically she loves to garden and wants to open a flower shop. Ryle and Lily talk a bit more, realize they have undenieable chemistry, but different ideals of the "perfect" relationship. The two part ways shortly after.

About 6 months later, this story continues on with Lily opening up her flower shop. She ends up finding an employee named Alyssa, who pretty much wants to work for free and after some time, she ends up seeing Ryle again because low and behold, Alyssa is Ryle's sister. Ryle and Lily see each other a few more times and Ryle admits to Lily that she is all he can think about and wants to give the whole "dating" scene a try. While Lily is looking to herself for guidance and contemplating on whether or not Ryle is serious, Lily starts traveling down memory lane and re-reads the journals her 15 year-old self wrote when she was in highschool. During that time, Lily lived in her small hometown of Plethora, Maine with her mom and dad. As said before, Lily grew up watching her mother get consistently abused by her father and with witnessing this for most of her life, Lily realized very quickly it was a life she did not want for herself.

The journals go in depth about this 18 year-old senior Lily met when she was a sophomore in high school. This boy's name was Atlas Corrigan and he was a mystery to Lily. Not mysterious like bad boy mysterious, but actually mysterious in, Lily didn't know where he lived or if he even showered. Lily came to find that Atlas was homeless and living in the abandoned house right behind her own house. Lily wanted to help Atlas, well as much as she could, and she could only do so much because if her parents found out, she knew she would get in trouble. The journals continue with Lily approaching Atlas, gaining his trust and showing him he can have a safe place in this world again. It became almost a routine, Atlas would go to Lily's house after school, shower, eat and spend time with Lily. Lily and Atlas continue growing close to the point of they become fond of the same TV show --- the Ellen Degeneres Show. Through this friendship that the two now shared, Atlas often saw Lily struggle with the abuse she had to face in her own home. Atlas was very fond of Lily, so he did what any friend would have done, supported her and became a sort of caretaker. This created an unspoken bond between the two of them.

Back to present day, Lily and Ryle start to become a little serious and Ryle ends up meeting Lily's mother. Ryle, Lily and her mother have dinner at a restaurant named 'Bibs'. The waiter comes up to take their order and Lily notices something about him. She ends up realizing it was Atlas and was completely blind-sided since she hadn't seen him in nearly 9 years. Lily is happy to see him, but hurt because of a distance she feels between them, but she leaves feeling like it was the closure she needed to put her all into the relationship with Ryle. Which is exactly what she does.

Lily is practically living her dream life. Dream man, dream job, everything. Ryle is this smooth, charismatic, sometimes arrogant, sweet, sensitive and funny man that Lily is starting to fall in-love with. Her life is going great when one evening, Ryle lashes out and hurts Lily, resulting with an injured eye. After the incident, Ryle is extremely apologetic and tells Lily nothing like this will ever happen again and that he is nothing like Lily's father. In this moment, Lily doesn't know what to do. She is torn thinking Ryle won't do this again, this is not the man she loves, but she also is telling herself, she will not become just like her mother.

If you are a romance lover like me, as you continue to read this book, you will be trying to pick between Ryle, mister not so perfect, perfect and Atlas who stirs up a lot of memories for Lily. Of course this book has much more than romance. This book talks about heavier topics than you would think just by looking at the cover. That's when I will say this book puts a whole different meaning on 'don't judge a book by it's cover', both good and bad. There is assault, betrayal and fighting, but there is also love, acceptance and bravery. Lily makes some very hard decisions as she continues on throughout her life journey and Colleen Hoover does a great job at showing the readers everything Lily is feeling and going through. As you continue to read, there are certain topics in the book that are sensitive and are going to be tough for certain people to read. If you do pick up this book and decide to read it, it should be read with an open mind and and open heart.

I can appreciate a good critique when people read my work, so I am not shy when critiquing others work. I tend to rate books in a way that is truthful and honest. If I truly don't think a book deserves 5 stars, or just personally I didn't dive as deep as I normally do, with 5 stars in mind, I will not rate it high. This book however, I rated it a 5 for a reason. Of course there are sensitive topics and things I could go without reading about, but those are the hard topics we need to read. The character development was top tier. You witnessed Lily transform from a scared little girl to a grown woman who won't let anyone walk all over her. You rooted for the guy she shouldn't be with, while also rooting for her old school love. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotion that left me actually speechless.

Without giving too much away, the last line of this book really hit home. As soon as I read it, as I said, I was speechless. There were many times in this book that made me sad, and tear up, but nothing like how the last line made me feel. It was such a tear jerker and it brought the entire book back together.

All in all I will always recommend this book. It is a story of empowerment, beauty, and bravery. It is a coming of age story, living in a bad environment, but never giving up on your dreams. That is why I named this blog post 'Just Keep Swimming'. To anyone who follows my recommendation and decides to read this book, you will understand my reference.

Thank you to everyone who read this post, and I can't wait to post my next. Don't forget to go to the bottom of the 'Home' page and subscribe so you will get notified when I post my next blog. Thanks again!