Lady Macbeth's Reviews > Something Good

4 stars
Sammy and Will story starts when they're just two boys who love to ride their bikes, go camping and spending time together in their secret spot. When they're 12, Will has to move away and Sammy is devastated. They exchange only one letter and then Will doesn't write back. They're just kids and Will cannot know how he hurt Sammy, he didn't realise, at that time, how awful Sammy's family situation was and how much he needed Will's friendship.
When Will returns after seven year, Sammy is a lonely, bitter young man who has to work to buy himself and his brother Jimmy (who has anxiety) food because their mom doesn't care about them and she's always away with men.
Sammy is on the verge of losing everything: he's got no money to pay rent and bills, he's about to loose the house and he and his brother have to go to a charity organization to get some food.
He doesn't know how to make things work and, despite having spend a wonderful summer in love with Will, in order to prevent him to jeopardise his future, he pushes him away.

The journey that will lead them back together is long and painful and I really liked how the author described both MCs' feelings, how their experiences affected them, how they changed during the years of their separation.
Sammy's development was beautiful and I loved that a boy so desperate and hopeless was able to create something so beautiful and making a career out of it.

What prevented me from giving an higher rate
Will's behaviour: I believe that when they broke up, he was a little bit immature.
He run away and never looked back, he could have visited during breaks, he could have texted and called, but moreover he could have shown Sammy he still got his back, that they could at least be friends.
Instead not only he cut Sammy off, but he also distanced himself from his mother and from his friend Jason.
Sammy was trying to surviving, never forgiving himself for the hurt he cause to Will and never giving himself the chance to be happy with someone else. He sacrifices his own happiness to see Will realising his dreams and it's kind of sad that Will never truly understand it.

Dimitri: I think we all agree that he should be erased from the face of the heart. He's awful and the fact that Will put up with him, with his coldness and indifference, his cheating (Will clearly didn't want to see), the way they lived their intimacy, it says more about Will than Dimitri.
Just because Will's heart always belonged to Sammy, it doesn't mean Will had to endure that kind of relationship.

I really really loved the side characters of this novel: Jason, a concerned but also very supportive friend; Olivia, a caring mother, who gently pushed her boys towards the right direction; Jimmy, a brave little brother, who wanted to prove himself and return his brother's care.

Next book will be about Jason and it has all the premises to be another good second chance romance. I hope we'll got Jimmy's story soon, though, he needs a very happy ending too.

Very recommended.

I received an ARC from the author and this is my honest review