Book Review: Facade by Nyrae Dawn

NOTE: I received the book via Netgalley.

Well, wow! I was speechless after finishing this one. And, just like every amazing story, it had me absolutely depressed. Why? Simple - because it was over!

This is the very first book I've read by Nyrae Dawn and I must say that I enjoyed every single word of it. The style was flawless, the story was well developed, the world building was amazing and the characters had the depth of real life individuals. What more could a reader ask for?

I think I've turned into a Nyrae Dawn fan already, seeing that Facade made such a deep impression on me because it was so full of emotion, it was basically overflowing. The pain was tangible, making me hurt along with the characters. The passion was all-consuming and the love... Wow! The love blew my mind! Tough love, painful love. Love that is worth any and all sacrifice. Love that should conquer all in the end. It's that kind of love that makes a character really come to life.

Here all the characters were alive, though none was actively living. They were just trying to pass the day, to get it over with. Each one had a different method of accomplishing that, but in the end, it seemed to work. Or not. Pulled together in an unlikely manner, they slowly get to know each other and change accordingly.

Fists fly, words hurt, love comes and then goes...

But the core secret that this book revolves around is breathtakingly painful. I cried because the tragedy felt too great and heavy in places. What the characters went through set in motion a wheel of events that totally changed the grand scheme of things.

Delaney bore no fault in any of it, but she took the blame and carried it for so long, it had taken a toll on her very soul. Her family was broken beyond repair, but she never gave up, even when her mom treated her like trash. Thank heavens that at least her brother stood by her side through it all.

Then Adrian came in the picture. Or actually Delaney walked into his world, uninvited and shy, but resolved to do the right thing. And while Adrian was clueless that he and Laney were connected in an awfully twisted way, he tried very hard to figure out a way to hook up with her. In his current mindset, that's all he sees Laney as - a hookup. But then he writes her poetry, in which he shares his shattered soul. Slowly he realizes that there's more to this girl that he thought. Somehow she had become the only real person in his life. The only person who really matters. Only thing is, would learning the truth about Laney change his feelings for her?


And would learning the real truth change Delaney? Would there ever be a happily ever after?

My rating: 5/5