25 Oct 2015

Finding Willow by Michelle K. Pickett

Posted in Novellas, Reviews, Romance, Young Adult |

Book Title:

Finding Willow

Book Author:

Michelle K. Pickett

Book Series:

Freedom, #0.5

Publishing Date:

October 3rd, 2014

Publisher:

Clean Teen Publishing

Date Read:

October 18th, 2015

Synopsis

“Finding Willow” is the prequel to “Unspeakable,” the touching romance between Brody and Willow that explores one girl’s quiet strength to survive the unbearable weight of a family secret alone, and the love and resolve of a boy determined to help her.

Brody Victor lives life on the fringes. Moving from school to school with each transfer his mother’s job requires has taught Brody well: If there’s one thing harder than making friends, it’s saying goodbye to them. So he’s learned to close himself off. He’s a loner, and that’s how he likes it.

When his mother accepts a permanent position in Wisconsin, Brody begins to slowly open up. But old habits die hard and, for Brody, making friends doesn’t come easily. That is, until he meets Annabelle. Brody loses himself in her. Their connection runs deep and, for the first time, Brody truly lets someone inside. But life can be cruel. An unexpected job transfer uproots Brody from his home in Wisconsin, and Annabelle.

Vowing not to get involved with another girl after the heartbreak of losing Annabelle, Brody returns to life on the outside looking in. A loner by choice. Until he finds Willow. Friendly and beautiful, a guy can’t help but notice her, but Brody notices more than her beauty. When she flashes her full smile, a spark is missing from her hazel eyes and for reasons unknown to him, Brody needs to find the reason.

Along the way, he stumbles across a secret bigger than both of them.

My Review

There’s a reason I don’t typically read novellas, and that reason is because they’re always too short. This one isn’t any different – it was only about 23 pages, I believe, and I read through it in like 15 minutes…and wanted more.

If you liked Unspeakable by Michelle K. Pickett, this is the prequel for it. It’s told from Brody’s perspective – from before he had even moved to Willow’s town. Though it only has three chapters, it was free on Amazon, and since I really liked Brody’ character in Unspeakable, I just had to read this. Even if you didn’t read Unspeakable, this would be a good place to start, too. I usually read prequels first, even if they were written after the book is published, and while sometimes it is beneficial to read the actual book beforehand, this isn’t really the case.

This novella is cute, and it provides a good background for Brody, and we kind of get to know a bit more about him. It doesn’t really add all that much to Unspeakable, but since it’s free, it’s definitely worth checking out!