Blurb:
A story about the purpose of
life, the healing power of fandom, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Tormented by the in-crowd at
school on a daily basis, there were two things that gave fifteen-year-old
Abigail Perkins the strength to keep going—her best friend, Danny Cobb; and her
favorite television show, Supernatural. But the night Danny’s mother calls to
say that his battle with cancer is nearing its end, and the doctors don’t
expect him to live through the night, even Supernatural can’t dull the ache in
her heart.
Devastated by her impending loss
and crushed that Danny’s mother won’t allow her to visit him one last time,
Abigail crawls into bed and cries herself to sleep that night; and she wakes to
find Supernatural’s most endearing angel standing at the foot of her bed.
Told from Abigail’s perspective
as she nears the end of her long life and revisits the moments that defined it,
this story was inspired by the deep connection that Supernatural fans feel with
the show’s beloved characters, and the show’s miraculous ability to help its
fans through troubled times.
Excerpt:
I flashed him a sympathetic
smile. “What are you thinking?”
“I have never understood why
humans are so moved by music,” he muttered as his eyes searched mine.
“Music is the closest thing that
we have to magic,” I confided in a reverent whisper, “because it has the power
to anchor us to a moment in time.”
His half-smile conveyed a
heartwarming mix of curiosity and affection. “How so?”
I felt my face flush a shade
darker as I grinned at him. “When we hear a song from our past, it conjures up
all the old sensations that we felt when we first heard it.”
He eyed me with a perplexed frown
as he took a step toward me. “How can a combination of man-made instruments and
human vocal chords wield that sort of power?”
“I can’t explain it with words,”
I whispered, “It’s something that you just have to feel.”
He stood there staring at me with
that puzzled expression on his face as I stepped closer and carefully inserted
the earpiece in my hand into his left ear, so the music connected the two of
us, just as surely as the cord connected the earbuds in our ears. “Maybe you’d
understand what I mean if you danced to the music.”
“I don’t dance,” he muttered as
he watched me begin to sway to the beat.
I smiled at him as I took his
hands in mine and moved his arms in time with the music, like a puppeteer
pulling a life-sized marionette’s strings. “Anyone can dance. You just have to
let go and let the music guide your movements.”
A skeptical frown spread across
his face as he watched me, but he let me direct his movements nonetheless. He
was stiff and awkward at first but as the music grew louder, he seemed to find
the rhythm. “These words are nonsense,” he muttered.
“Shhh,” I whispered, “Don’t
think. Just feel.”
He was a remarkably fast learner,
but I suppose being on earth since the dawn of time had given him plenty of
opportunities to watch humans dance. Once he started to feel the music, he
moved with all the grace that you’d imagine an angel would.
“Hey Jude” gradually faded away
until there was nothing but silence in our twin earpieces.
We stopped moving and stood there
staring at each other while we waited for the next song to guide our movements.
My Review:
4 stars
As a fan of Supernatural, I was
both excited and wary to read this book. As someone who has seen the power of the
Supernatural fandom, I was excited by yet I was also a little wary because a
book like this could go two ways; it could be an amazing read or a cringy, preachy
read. I’m happy to say, this book was worth the read.
This was a moving, heart
wrenching, thought-provoking read that took me to highs and lows along with Abigail.
Her journey through life and loss, told as a series of flashbacks showing how
fandom went beyond just being about the show and became so much more was unique
and fun to read. While having the entire novel be a series of flashbacks was an
interesting choice, it helped temper the emotional overload and worked with the
overall message of the story. Even the ending, which I knew was coming because
of the plot structure, had an unexpected, yet beautiful, twist that had me
bawling my eyes out.
The only complaints I had with the
book was that at times, it was a tad awkward (Abigail’s first reaction to
Castiel appearing for example) and that at times, I had trouble connecting with
Abigail’s mindset. For example, when I look back on being bullied, I look at it
differently than I did at the time, due to age and life experience. This
influences how I look back on those memories, and I imagine someone reliving their
life while on their deathbed would do something similar, offer both an introspective
of how they felt at the time while looking at it through the lens of age/time.
However, this wasn’t present at times, which struck me as odd and pulled me out
of the story.
Overall though, I greatly enjoyed
the read and highly recommend this book for any Supernatural fans, particularly
if you love Castiel. And while this book is heavily tied to the fandom, I think
anyone looking for a moving, thought-provoking read would enjoy reading it,
whether you’re a fan of the show or not.
*I received a copy of this book
in exchange for an honest review.*
Author Bio and Links:
Erin Jensen is the Amazon
International bestselling author of The Dream Waters Series. She was awarded
the Bronze Medal for fantasy fiction in the 2018 Readers' Favorite
international book awards. She also received Honorable Mention for fantasy
fiction in the 2018 Writer's Digest self-published e-book awards. A part-time
pharmacist and a full-time daydreamer, she resides in upstate New York with her
ridiculously supportive husband, two teenage sons--who are both taller than
her--and a Yorkshire terrier who thinks he's the family bodyguard.
Website: Erinajensen.com
Blog: blog.erinajensen.com
Twitter: twitter.com/erinajensen?lang=en
Facebook: facebook.com/erin.jensen.756
Buy Links:
