NEW ADULT
The Forever of Ella and Micha - Jessica Sorensen (2013)
After a childhood spent together, Ella and Micha have finally admitted the depth of their feelings for one another and have a love that others envy. But with Micha on the road with his band and Ella far away from him at college, they are both trying to deal with only seeing each other intermittently. However in doing so they only end up hurting themselves as they fail to communicate how much they need one another. Ella wants Micha to be happy and worries that she will stifle him, whilst Micha wants to be with Ella forever but knows that it's too much pressure for her. Everyone else can see that theirs is a unique love but Micha and Ella need to work out how to be with each other forever. Unfortunately, I found the plot of the novel - the sequel to The Secret of Ella and Micha - unconvincing and meandering. The challenges placed in front of Ella and Micha never really developed and whilst I appreciated that it was testament to their love for each other I did feel as if there were a lot of futile leads and easy resolutions. The one thing that held the story together was Micha. Indeed, whilst Ella can sometimes be a frustrating character, Micha is largely resolute and authentic throughout. The relationship between Ella and Micha is also one of the stronger elements of the novel, in particular their history and back story. The moments when they are together are much more believable and real than the moments when they are apart and for me I would have liked to have seen more of them together taking on the outside world, rather than dealing with unconvincing boundaries between them. (JC)
The Secret of Ella and Micha - Jessica Sorensen (2013)
Ella Daniels and Micha Scott have grown up together as best friends and they know each other inside out. But struggling with tragic family circumstances, one night Ella nearly risks it all. Although Micha is on hand to soothe her and their relationship seems to be developing, Ella feels that she needs to leave her home town in order to get away from difficult memories and she leaves to go to university without telling Micha. After eight months without contact, Ella returns home for the summer a different girl, purposely having tried to leave the past behind. But when she is thrust back into her old life, with Micha trying at every opportunity to coax out her old self, Ella has to reconcile her past and her present. The relationship between Ella and Micha is the strongest facet of this novel; intense, passionate and consuming, however I felt that the other elements of the story, in particular both Ella and Micha's family dramas, were a bit insipid and lost much of their potential drama. I felt that this deflated the climax and made the inevitable ending less fulfilling. Nonetheless the love story is edgy and engaging. (JC)
