The Paper Swan
ARC provided by author to facilitate this review
They say it takes 21 days to form a habit.
They lie.
For 21 days she held on.
But on Day 22, she would have given anything for the sweet slumber of death.
Because on Day 22, she realizes that her only way out means certain death for one of the two men she loves.
It’s a 5 Alarm Read!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Let me preface this review by telling you up front that my simple words will not be able to do this book justice. They just won’t. So I’ll let you know what I thought about The Paper Swan, how it made me feel, and just know in the end that however good you think this book will be, it’s better. One blog commenter will win a Kindle copy of The Paper Swan, so make sure to let me know what you think down in the comments!
I went into this book blind, save for what I read in a few reviews. The blurb alone is perfect, drawing you in without really revealing what you can expect from the pages within. Brilliant in it’s simplicity, as The Paper Swan is more than can be summed up by a few scant paragraphs on the back of a book.
The Paper Swan really hits the ground running, dropping the reader right in the middle of the action, getting right to the “meat” of the story. Everything is perfectly laid out from there, the story developing in a unique and powerful way.
This book is going to take you on a journey you could never really prepare for. This book is tense, dangerous, heartbreaking, a story of rage and vengeance. At the same time, The Paper Swan is full of hope, overwhelming love, and a simple kind of joy. Leylah Attar manages to make us feel all of that and more, giving us a truly multi-faceted story, layered with the past and the present, showing the reader the huge effects one small action can have. A story about creating a new life out of the ashes of your old one.
With deep, explicit characterization, you can’t help but to love and/or loathe the cast of The Paper Swan. None of these people are who they seem at first, and watching them grow and develop, spilling secrets and sharing dreams, was a high point for me in this book. Leylah was able to get me to justify actions that I would normally consider abhorrent, and I loved that she was able to twist my mind in that way. These characters are going to become a part of your heart, and you’ll be thinking about them long after you finish this book.
The imagery in this this book truly brought this story to life. We’re not just reading this book, we are able to experience this story along with the characters, rather than just reading about a series of events. I could taste the food, hear the music, and feel the pain, the love, the longing, the devastation.
The Paper Swan is more than mere words strung together to form sentences which turn into paragraphs that cover a page. No, these words are laid together perfectly, end to end, like pearls on a string, twisting and turning in violently elegant ways. Trust me when I tell you that this is a story you won’t soon forget.
GIVEAWAY
Leylah Attar’s THE PAPER SWAN Release Week Giveaway
Leylah Attar’s THE PAPER SWAN Release Week Giveaway
Leylah Attar writes stories about love – shaken, stirred and served with a twist. When she’s not writing, she can be found pursuing her other passions: photography, food, family and travel. Sometimes she disappears into the black hole of the internet, but can usually be enticed out with chocolate. Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Pinterest
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