BEAUTIFUL WRECK by Larissa Brown (R)

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

 

In a bleak future built on virtual reality, Ginn is a romantic who yearns for something real. She designs environments for people who play at being Vikings. But when her project goes awry, she’s stranded in the actual 10th century, on a storybook farm in Viking Iceland.

Heirik is the young leader of his family, honored by the men and women who live on his land. But he is feared and isolated because of a terrible curse. Ginn and Heirik are two people who never thought they would find a home in someone else’s heart.

When forces rise against them to keep them apart, Ginn is called on to decide—will she give up the brutal and beautiful reality of the past? Or will she have the courage to traverse time and become more of a Viking than she ever imagined?

 

 

MY REVIEW

4 out of 5 *Stars*

 

Beautiful Wreck is a book about time travel, Vikings, love, deception, and more.  Jen is from a future where buildings are in glaciers, glass houses are everywhere, and the present is so lost on everyone that they dress in their favorite time periods.  People walk around dressed like and acting as confederate soldiers, men in long coats and women with parasols, or even the occasional Viking.  Then, there are items such as digital contacts were people learn everything they need to know about the world they see.  Jen works for a company that creates virtual reality worlds so people can experience life in the eras that they most enjoy.  While doing a test run, something goes wrong, or right depending on how you look at it and Jen is transferred through time to 920 Iceland.  Now instead of learning all she could about the Viking era, she was living it. 

I was really indecisive about this book at first.  I go into every book wanting it to be my next favorite, so it was a little disappointing when I couldn’t get into this one right away.  In the first part of the book, it was as if the author would explain everything after the fact.  Therefore, as events were taking place, I had a hard time understanding what was going on.  For example, at the beginning, Jen kept seeing words pop up around her.  A couple pages later, it was revealed that her contacts were stuck in tourist mode.  It got so hard to read at times that I didn’t want to finish.  After around the 100 page mark (not so far since there is 569 pages), I was glad that I hadn’t stopped.  By page 264, I had chewed off all my finger nails, and by page 342 I was snapping at anyone that dared to interrupt my reading. :)

Once the main character got into the past, everything was described impeccably, and it was as if I could smell and taste everything that Ginn could.  Brown’s writing was very different than what I was used to, being much more expressive.

“It would be an accidental quantum leap in technology and pure artistry.  For this was art, magnificent in its fervent detail.”

It took a little bit of getting used to, but once I did, everything came out in perfect clarity. 

What I liked is that it wasn’t just a love story.  It had the dramatic lifestyle change from one time period to another.  Every detail about Viking living was so spot on.  A few times I thought that the author had to have gone back in time to get all of her information.  This had to have been a lot of research, and I have to commend her on the dedication to get everything perfect. 

Of course, being an avid romance writer and reader, that was my favorite part of the story.  The love between the two main characters started off slow, but you get to witness it grow stronger and stronger with just the turn of a page.  When I read,

“I trusted him in my bones, entirely always, with my life… We were born to stand next to each other, protecting each other until our last breaths,”

I swear it made my heart melt.   I smiled when things were going good, and I felt my heart breaking right along with the main characters at other times.   I even found myself getting mad at characters when they were being so stubborn.  It was as if I was in the story with them all.    

I definitely recommend this book, and I beg you…if you have a problem reading the first part of the book like I did, DO NOT STOP!  You will not be disappointed in the end.  I want to thank the author and the “Lovers of Paranormal” Goodreads group for gifting me this ARC book in exchange for an honest review.  Happy reading!