Review: "Count On Me" by Melyssa Winchester
- joeythebombreagan
- Apr 20, 2014
- 4 min read
Title: Count On Me
Author: Melyssa Winchester
Rating: ***** 5 Stars
Review:
It took like 8 hrs off an on but finally finished this. I had an advantage with this book because I got to see it before it became the final product it is now. I didn’t speak about it or review it then in the ARC stage or when I beta-read it because I knew in the end it would change and my opinion would change with it.
I was right.
This is not the same book I read in the beginning. It’s stronger, better and if you don’t listen to anything I say after this, remember these words before you read it.
This book was hard for me to read. The issues in here are a little to close to home for me. Two of them more than others. I wasn’t even sure I could review it because of this but I owe it to the author to try.
It will change your life.
I came into this reading it as a one time bully. I was Kayden. I was Dillon. I was all of them combined which made this appeal even more to be because it was like looking in a mirror. Or going back in time to the old me.
There are three real life issues put into this book and they’re given equal face time throughout. The biggest is bullying, but there is also Autism and Child Abuse, both of which the lead characters experience.
Right from page one this story is touching. It will rip your heart out with the emotion behind every scene and it gets to a point where you don’t want to put it down because you don’t want to miss what happens next.
I don’t do crying but I cried with this book. Repeatedly.
It will open your eyes to bullying and the effects that it has but also opens your eyes to special needs individuals and how even though they may experience things in life that are different from normal people it doesn’t make them bad, defected or wrong. They want the same things as us. Acceptance and love being the two displayed in these pages.
The author, Melyssa Winchester, has outdone herself with this story and I cant wait to see what she follows it up with.
Givin this story 5 stars doesn’t seem right. It’s at least owed 10+. This is about so much more than a love story, but the one that is there is life changing.
You NEED to read this book. NOW. So go. Get it. You will not be disappointed.
Eric and Amelia’s story is not an easy one to stomach. I stopped reading this book 3 times because the visual aspects were so real and so raw that it physically made me sick. It’s not a bad thing. It’s a very real portrayal of real issues and should be seen by everyone but I’m tellin u straight out, it’s gonna make u sick before it makes u better.
You are gonna wanna hurt someone for what these characters go through. I wanted to physically hurt Amelia’s father and Eric’s bullies at the same damn time. I was the bully before but knowin what I do now bout life and pain and the reality of what words and actions cause, I fucking hated what he went through and wanted to hurt them like they hurt him.
This story is less bout Eric and more about Amelia. This was her redemption but healing at the same time and by the end, I think that I got my moneys worth with both of those things. The author made me believe in the struggle and also the progression of change. What I mean is, that it can happen. It’s not unrealistic or forced and fake.
Considerin how personal this one was to me and my own struggles, the author made me believe that even I can change from the way I’m thinking if that makes sense. She took a real thing and made it count for more than just some character on the page. For the readers that might be living it too.
There’s a whole lot of sadness and pain in these pages, but hope too. Finding something in someone, even the most unexpected someone and learning your worth and how to heal until you can become a better person it was perfect.
Im so affected by the way this was written and turned out I don’t have a fuckin clue if this review is even gonna come out right but ignore the other two books before this one and im flat out tellin u this one will bring u to ur knees and make u feel and a lot of the time its shit u don’t wanna feel but needs to be felt.
If u want a book that’s sweet and lovely and all roses and fuckin sunshine choose another book but if u want one that’s filled with pain and then lifts u up with hope and faith and makes you feel and believe then this book is for u.
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