Title: Ten Below Zero
Author: Whitney Barbetti
Release Date: August 2014
Synopsis:
“In here,” he said, pushing on the skin above my heart, “you're ten below zero. And you’re closer to death than I am.”
My name is Parker. My body is marked with scars from an attack I don’t remember. I don’t want to remember. I choose to live my life by observation, not through experience. While people are laughing and kissing and connecting, I’m in the corner. Watching them live. I’m indifferent to everything, everyone. The only emotion I feel with any kind of depth is annoyance, and I feel it often.
A text message sent to the wrong number proves to be my undoing.
His name is Everett, but I call him rude. He’s pushy, he’s arrogant, he crowds my personal space, and worst of all: he makes me feel.
He chooses to wear all black, all the time, as if he’s waiting to attend a funeral. Probably because he is.
Everett is dying. And he’s spending his final days living, truly living. In doing so, he’s forcing me to feel, to heal. To come face to face with the demons I suppressed in my memory.
He hurts me, he fulfills me, he completes me. And still, he's dying.
My name is Parker. My body is marked with scars from an attack I don’t remember. I don’t want to remember. I choose to live my life by observation, not through experience. While people are laughing and kissing and connecting, I’m in the corner. Watching them live. I’m indifferent to everything, everyone. The only emotion I feel with any kind of depth is annoyance, and I feel it often.
A text message sent to the wrong number proves to be my undoing.
His name is Everett, but I call him rude. He’s pushy, he’s arrogant, he crowds my personal space, and worst of all: he makes me feel.
He chooses to wear all black, all the time, as if he’s waiting to attend a funeral. Probably because he is.
Everett is dying. And he’s spending his final days living, truly living. In doing so, he’s forcing me to feel, to heal. To come face to face with the demons I suppressed in my memory.
He hurts me, he fulfills me, he completes me. And still, he's dying.
My Review:
I'm actually an emotional wreck right now!
Such a roller coaster of emotions, yet such a poignant under lying message which Whitney herself sums up beautifully in the acknowledgements...
'The whole entire point of Ten Below Zero is to allow yourself to feel. In feeling, there's healing.' - Whitney Barbetti.
Yes, I'm starting with the acknowledgements. A little unorthodox, I know, but the whole story is summed up perfectly in just a few short paragraphs there.
It's supposed to be a roller coaster of a ride, it's supposed to make you 'feel', and it's supposed to make a huge impact within you. That's the point in this story.
I absolutely adored Parker and Everett. Two opposite people...One alive but not living, the other dying yet wanting to spend his final days living.
Fate intervenes, and they find themselves embarking on a less than ordinary road trip. One which would ultimately change the paths of both of their lives. Altering it, and opening it up to feelings neither wanted or expected along the way.
'I wanted him to want to live as much as he wanted me to live.'
I really don't want to give too much away, as that will spoil the story for you. But, it had everything in their for me...humour, emotion, awesome one-liners, and a underlying message of hope: That, love really is within the most unlikely of us. You've just got to dig a little deeper through all of the layers to get there. But, you'll find it. It just takes a little longer for some.
This story was beautifully written, and well executed. An exceptional read. One which will stay with me for a long time to come...making me an emotional wreck of a woman in the process, I may add! But, I truly loved and enjoyed every part of it, and I wholeheartedly and highly recommend reading to anyone and everyone.
