Made for each other kind of love. Soul mates kind of love. There is no one else for Tammy than Jamie and Jamie only ever knew to love Tammy. That is the heart of this book.
Their story is a HARD story to read, because the road they have to travel is so riddled with pain and hurt. Evil things are done to these two people. As boys they are hurt. The unthinkable, the unforgivable, the WORST evil is done to them as children. At times it seems like it’s too much. It’s worth reading though. IT REALLY IS.
This was a WHOLE lot of book, so it’s difficult to describe it without either making it sound scary or being so vague it might make seem a lot less profound and moving than it was.
This book will touch you to the core, it will break your heart, it will make you question how it is that there is evil in this world that could break down lives…It will make you ask how is this possible? It will also make you look at yourself and say what do I do to make the world a better place? What do I do to propagate love and hope to those who need it? It will make you rejoice in the resilience of people and the healing power of love and forgiveness…In the end this book left me with the realization that pure Evil just like pure Goodness are things that cannot be explained they just ARE. Some can grow up in a loving home and still be able to harbor hatefulness in their heart, can still be capable of doing awful things. But others they can grow up in hell, be hurt and broken and walk away harried but with a heart still full of love and goodness, and live their life doing what’s right.
Tammy and Jamie were made for each other. As little children they met fleetingly and that one meeting was branded in their memories. So they tell us their story from high school until the present day. Alternatively Tammy and Jamie walk us through the road they have travelled and how they have gotten to the place that they are.
Jamie and Tammy are brought together again as teenagers. They live in small town in Northern California. Tammy is a local boy, a jock, a bit of a player. He’s a bit of an angry kid. Things have happened in his life that have made him closed off. All he cares about is chasing women, getting laid, and doing what he has to do to get out of Somerville. He has plans to be the next Walter Cronkite.
Jamie comes to Somerville after being adopted by a police officer who rescues Jamie from a horrific situation. Horrific does not even begin to describe what Jamie childhood was. So he’s a fragile boy with lots of dark memories and a trauma that makes him shy and vulnerable.
So they meet again at church and from the moment they touch it is clear that they is a special bond between them. But they are young and the hatefulness and prejudices that live in their town keep them apart. They are so in love with each other. SO IN LOVE, but it’s not possible then Tammy is not brave enough…So they lose a lot of time. Tammy goes away from Somerville to make a life and Jamie sticks around and makes his there with his adopted father and his best friend.
However life brings them back together, because they ARE meant to be together, their love is like an ABSOLUTE there is no alternative but to be each others. It’s a STRONG love , it's MIRACULOUS because the tests that these men are faced with, the pain, the horrible things that happen to them are not easy to live through. They survive though, and their love is only made stronger. In the end they win because they get the life that they always wanted. But even with that it is just amazing to read about them loving each other, with their words, with their bodies, with EVERYTHING.
Like I said at the beginning this is a hard book to read, evil like that it’s hard even to think that it can be possible for people to do such things, but it is also such wonderful a story of grace, resilience, hope, strength, faith, forgiveness, justice, patience…So many things.
God is a big theme in this book which surprised me, but also made thoughtful, because God really is a different God for each person depending of what is in their hearts. For some God is about hate and guilt and prejudice and for others he’s about grace and love about acceptance and kindness…Bottomline this is a story that is completely worth reading.
Tammy and Jamie you will get to know them so deeply, so intensely you will feel like you can read their minds and sense their hurt and feel their joy. They’ll get under your skin and you will LOVE them. You will cheer for their victories, and cry with them in their hurt. The people around them, the good ones and the bad ones you will see them clearly. You’ll love the ones that are good, you will learn to forgive their mistakes and you will even be able to move on from the hatefulness of the ones who hurt Tammy and Jamie.
I feel like I just ran an emotional marathon, but IT WAS COMPLETELY WORTH IT.
TOTALLY LOVED THIS BOOK. TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT.
Crush is for sale at Amazon.com
On other news!!! Very soon we will have a visit from JC Lillis and Brandon and Abel from How to Repair a Mechanical Heart one of the best things that has happened to us this year...We will keep you posted about THE INTERVIEW.
Have a great week everyone!
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