I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“It was always Josh and Ember. Then Paisley and Jagger. And Sam and Grayson. I had assumed it would be Will and me…until he was killed in Afghanistan.”
The Reality of Everything is a poignant novel about grief, heartbreak, recovery and learning to let yourself love again. It is the fifth book in Rebecca Yarros’ Flight and Glory series and is a marvellous edition that centres around Morgan Bartley.
Two years after the man she loved was killed in Afghanistan, Morgan is trying to put her life back together. Moving to the Outer Banks, the renovation on her dilapidated beach house might just be the distraction she needs to keep her anxiety attack at bay and begin to heal… If she can ignore her handsome neighbour.
At Twenty-eight, single- dad Jackson Montgomery’s life revolves around his five-year-old daughter and his job as a search and rescue pilot for the coast guard. He’s no stranger to saving a damsel in distress, and while his gorgeous new neighbour is clearly in distress, she’s no damsel. Morgan is stubborn as hell and has walls up a mile thick, the dog tags hanging from her review mirror gives hm a pretty good idea as to why.
Morgan swore she’d never fall for another pilot, let alone a military man and is intent on ignore their chemistry. There are some wounds time can’t heal, and some fears too consuming to conquer.
“Everyone else got their shot! Josh and Ember, Paisley and Jagger, Sam and Grayson, hell, even Paisley and Will got their shot, but the minute he decides that it’s finally time for us to get our chance to be happy together, he dies saving my best friend’s husband.”
When I hear that Rebecca Yarros is releasing a new book, the first thing I do is go and pre-order it, the second thing I do is stock up on tissues because she is one of the few authors that is guaranteed to write a book that will bring me to tears – in a good way, a way that makes you go to a friend and say “Here, this book ripped out my heart, played tennis with it and shoved it back into my chest, you have to read it” sort of way. I have loved her work since the I first read Full Measures back in 2014 and was so excited to find out Morgan was going to get her own book.
I loved getting to see Morgan’s perspective on the events of the other books and it was so good to see even a little bit more of William Carter, as well as a couple of tiny glimpses of their budding romance, as heart-breaking as that was.
I loved how much focus is put on Morgan’s recovery, dealing with her mental health and the grief she has experienced since losing Will. So often we see these things used as nothing more than a plot point that is soon discarded when the character has a magical recovery because someone loved them. It was so incredibly refreshing to see Morgan working to get to the point where she was ok, to see her struggle and stumble because that’s the unfortunate ugly reality of mental illness.
“But what does it say about me that two years later I’m still so fucked-up about it that I have to be treated for a grief disorder? Why? Because I still think it’s so fucking unfair that everyone else in our group of friends got their happy endings at the expense of mine?”
There is nothing sexier than a supportive love interest and Yarros is the master at writing sexy supportive boyfriends, and Jackson was no exception. I loved how supportive and understanding we was when it came to Morgan, that he went out of his way to support but not smother her, to help her overcome the terror of what his job represented for her, and stood by her while she processed her grief over losing Will.
‘“I’m not in a rush, Morgan. I can wait as long as you need me to.” I meant it, and not just about her falling asleep. I could wait for her to heal, to be ready for whatever we could be. There was no deadline when it came to us.’
I also loved how fiercely protective and supportive Sam was when it came to Morgan and helping her through her counselling and recovery.
“You can’t fix this, and she’s not asking you to. She’s just being honest for the first time in years and letting you know where she’s at. And I know you want to help her. I know you love her, and you’ve never intentionally hurt her. We both know that this is one giant mess made by some pretty all-around shitty circumstances, but that doesn’t change the fact that Morgan got lost and left behind.”
Yarros manages to perfectly balance the solemn themes of this book with humour and passion, which if you’ve read any of her other books will come as no surprise.
There is so much more I want to say about this book but I seem to get so overwhelmed by my love for it I’m seemingly incapable of forming more than a few coherent sentences. I also don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say this book (and the entire Flight and Glory series) is an absolute must read. I loved every minute of it and have been pining for more since the moment I finished it. I also really hope that there’s a coast guard spin off series because I need more of Jackson’s best friends, Garrett and Sawyer.
The Reality of Everything is out now and I cannot recommend it enough.
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About The Author:
Rebecca is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of over fifteen novels, and is always ready to bring on the emotions. She's also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward from her Flight and Glory series.
She loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for eighteen years. She’s the mother of six children, ranging from kindergarten to law school, and is currently surviving the teenage years with two of her four hockey-playing sons. When she’s not writing, you can find her at the hockey rink or sneaking in some guitar time. She lives in Colorado with her family, their stubborn English bulldog, and a feisty chinchilla. Having fostered then adopted their youngest daughter, Rebecca is passionate about helping children in the foster system through her nonprofit, One October.
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