Candace Parker is starting
her senior year of college, hoping/planning for a career in ballet. She
spends most of her time working at an indie coffee shop, studying, or
practicing ballet. She does not have a good relationship with her
wealthy parents, who view her ballet dreams as a fanciful whim and
regularly ask when she's going to get married. They're constantly
comparing her to their friends' children and she doesn't feel like she
measures up. Candace decides maybe she's been too serious and
standoffish and decides to accept a date from Jack, a friend she knows
through her parents. Although she's not really `feeling it', she accepts
a second date with Jack in the hopes that she's just not giving him
enough of a chance. She ends the night in the Emergency room, brutally
raped, beaten and unconscious. Fading is the story of After.
After...
Candace takes refuge with her BFF Jace and his boyfriend Mark. She's
trying to forget her attack; some days she succeeds, but most days she
fails miserably. She's withdrawn from her friends and is having trouble
with ballet. Then she meets Ryan (a friend of Jace and Mark) and
slowly gets to know him over a period of months. He's patient with her
(she has a lot of PTSD), and she likes him, but she knows if he ever
finds out what happened to her won't want her. As Ryan's feelings grow
into more than friendship, he knows she's got secrets and he's patient
because he knows she's worth it. The problem is, does Candace know she's
worth it?
I can't remember how I stumbled across Fading. I think I was just in the mood for a dark read and it caught my eye. At first I was all, "Nah - not another New Adult book with this same theme", but I took a chance and am so glad I did. It's an amazing story of pain and fear and the long, difficult road to achieving a new normal.
I can't remember how I stumbled across Fading. I think I was just in the mood for a dark read and it caught my eye. At first I was all, "Nah - not another New Adult book with this same theme", but I took a chance and am so glad I did. It's an amazing story of pain and fear and the long, difficult road to achieving a new normal.
I'm not going to lie - the beginning of
the book is brutal. It's painful to read. But the way Ms. Blair writes, I
found myself unable to turn away. While I have never been in her
situation, I still found Candace relatable and fell right into her
story. I can't say I felt her pain, because again, I have not had been
in her situation, but I can say it was portrayed in a way that made me
believe it was real. Did I find myself frustrated with her character?
Absolutely - I wish she would have made some different choices than the
ones she did, but I thought the author did a good job of explaining why
she made the choices she did.
There may have been a loose end that was tied up little too neatly, and sometimes I thought to myself, "she's crying AGAIN?", but other than that I have no complaints. I had so many feels while reading Fading: horror, sadness, hope, and happiness, and the ending made the journey so very worth it.
There may have been a loose end that was tied up little too neatly, and sometimes I thought to myself, "she's crying AGAIN?", but other than that I have no complaints. I had so many feels while reading Fading: horror, sadness, hope, and happiness, and the ending made the journey so very worth it.
