Blog Tour [INTL]: In This Life by Christine Brae – Book Review + Fun Chat with Christine & Tarry + Giveaways

It started out so simply. Anna runs away to Thailand, drags her best friend Dante with her and spends a few weeks away, taking on other people’s problems while getting away from her own. She meets the enigmatic Jude Grayson, and for as long as it’s clear to both of them that it ends when they leave, she thinks she’s got the perfect fling planned out.

Or does she?

Anna returns home to find that her life is no longer the way it once was, and that she can’t stop thinking about him. She learns through tragedy that nothing she’s ever believed in has turned out to be true. The worst part? The people she loved were keeping a secret from her. And that no matter what she does, no matter how hard she fights against it, every path she takes keeps leading her back to Jude. 

This is a story about love, found in a faraway place by two very unlikely people. It is also a story about friendship and loyalty and fighting for what you have despite the illogical mystery of fate. And with the struggle between morality and guilt, faith and acceptance, there comes a learning that even the best-laid plans are powerless against the alignment of the universe.

From the beaches of Thailand to the streets of New York, three friends, Anna, Dante, and Jude will learn the hard way that once providence steps in, there is nothing in the world that can change what is truly meant to be.

In This Life was a beautifully crafted, raw, and emotionally stunning story by Christine Brae. It’s all about fate and faith, sacrifices, letting go, overcoming tragedies in life, and finding one’s self. This is my first Brae book, and I was captivated by her poetic writing style. I personally had a love-hate and bitter-sweet moments with this book and the characters. I get so emotionally affected that I sometimes forget that I was just reading a story and not inside of it.

The characters were too real to the point of getting pissed, agitated, hurt (and all other kinds of emotions) on their behalf. I came to the point of hating Anna for doing drastic and sudden decisions, for hurting people around her, and for not thinking clear, BUT I GET IT. I understand her. Dante and Jude, the other two main characters of the story, played their roles in the best way possible.

Dante, the best-friend, the underdog, the person you will surely fall for and the one who will get your sympathy until the end. I cried with him, I joined him on his sadness and griefs, I fell in love with his personality and undying love. I reveled in his passionate affection towards Anna until the end and it was just beautiful.

Jude, the lover, the confused and self-discovering man, and the person who will play with your feelings. After the first part of the book, I became loyal to Dante and was determined for Anna and his ship to sail that I forgot about the existence of Jude. BUT when he’s in the picture, he was screaming “I’ll ruin your ship!” and everything went chaos. He has something about him that even if he’s too confusing, you’ll still love him at the same time.

There was the most hurtful part where I literally dropped my phone (thank goodness not on the floor), and cried. And there were the saddest (and hurtful at the same time) parts where I cried, ached, got shattered into million pieces of shards, became wounded and broken — too afraid to never be whole again.