Jessica Koch

So Near the Horizon by Jessica Koch is a sweet, simple, romance read.

There WILL be spoilers in this review, so beware!

Romance seems to be a hit and miss genre - there are FANTASTIC novels, and there are HORRIBLE novels. So Near the Horizon, on the spectrum, is just below fantastic. This story starts out as if it's fiction - you don't realize it's based on Jessica's life (I mean...her name and the character's name are the same, but I honestly didn't even notice. See how much I pay attention?).

Almost immediately our main characters meet, and the sass is real. I love the sassiness between Jessica and Danny,The abuse that was mentioned in the first few pages also left me kind of awestruck. You just meet someone and you say how your father hit you in the face with a bottle? Okay then... At least Danny's honest?...

Our two leads, Jessica and Danny, are both pretty messed up. One minute they seem to be all over each other, and then next Danny's treating Jessica like she's garbage. You welcome her into your bed and sleep next to her all snuggled up, but then threaten to kick her out of your vehicle when you take her home? The bi-polar attitude of Danny made me not like him as a character and almost despise him. Jessica deserves better than some guy who flips his attitude whenever he feels like it. No matter his personal issues, he doesn't need to act so nasty all the time. It's almost like he's nice only when it benefits him. And sending a radio after to apologize? And then confessing his love to her? On top of that, he's almost always lying.... Yeah, this guy doesn't sit well with me, in the beginning.

Even Christina rubs me the wrong way at the start - she's got her own problems, but she's a psychopath. She threatens to kill Jessica numerous times and no one even cares. The fact that she is threatening Jessica with death if she hurts Danny is absolutely, freaking, ridiculous. Christina has her issues, and she's a broken character, but this running theme of having a bad life and being a total jerk to people makes me quite annoyed. Life can't be all "sunshine and roses" (just like Christina says) but I feel like you can do better than hurting people since you're hurting...Or maybe that's just me.

I also find that there's some repeated harassment that could have been avoided if reported. Out of everything in this novel, that drove me insane. Not that reporting always helps in real life situations...

I'm positive that my initial bad feelings towards this book are due to the whole Fifty Shades of Grey/Twilight controversy. There's lots of books where the guys are just not great guys, but somehow win the girl in the end. Danny could be an EPIC character, but his flaws just seem so dark. It's almost abusive in my eyes (and this is coming from someone who's been through abusive relationships). Don't get me wrong - Jessica is absolutely FANTASTIC and writes this novel well, I just don't like the relationship. That's nothing against her, because she makes it likable (to a degree). But then, you get to the end of the book and realize Danny's not JUST a character. He was real, he's a person, that was his real life attitude and actions (maybe not 100% because it's a retelling of Jessica's life with him, but you get the drift). People aren't perfect, not like book characters. I went through this book hitting my head against the wall going "JESSICA, LEAVE THIS GUY! HE'S A JERK! HE'S NO GOOD FOR YOU" and then you find out his troubles, and you find out he's REAL. This was a real guy who was dealing with real issues, and I felt for him. I was not myself when my Father died, nor when I dealt with horrible relationships in my life. I'm empathetic, because we're not all perfect Nora Robert's characters (I wish, sometimes that would make my job so much easier).

So, let's get to the positives. I wrote up an entire list of negatives when I thought this book was fiction (do your research, don't be like me who just jumps into a book). But, I threw them all out. When I realize this was real, why would I include negatives that don't fit this narrative?

1. Sass - there is so much sass and humour, that I couldn't put it down. There were the parts I was frustrated with, but I wanted to see the quirky conversations that were happening throughout this book.
2. It's not cookie cutter - so many novels (fiction and non fiction) seem to fit the typical trope. Falling in love, happy life, everything is great, something goes wrong but it's fixed, blah blah blah. This book shows what real life CAN Be like - it's not totally "realistic" (these "characters" meet and get pretty flirty and close super fast, which isn't always "realistic" for some people - but that's life for you), it shows some of the darker sides of life, and I love it.
3. Character development - These characters develop over time, some a little slower than others. Seeing how life changes and what it did for these people...Oh man, my heart aches. I want to meet Jessica and give her a GIANT hug. To live through that changes a person...
4. HIV. That little fact flipped my opinion of this book quite a bit - I wasn't expecting that to suddenly pop open. While it explains Danny's behaviour, it doesn't make some of his wild, horrible attitudes right. Yes, he has a HORRIBLE childhood, but does that give you the right to be a horrible person? What a conundrum.
5. The AIDS/HIV awareness - I like when books bring something into the spotlight, and this book did that with AIDS/HIV. The fact that it's so heavily focused and doesn't make it to be some sob story, but a real life story is honestly a wonderful change.

I had so hoped this story was fiction. It destroyed me - after losing my Dad to cancer I have become this emotional wreck that cries at everything sad or sentimental. AND JESSICA DESTROYED ME. Having a love so passionate, so deep (no matter what type of love) and losing someone...I'm hurting from this story. It's so horrible but so beautiful...Thank you for this book Jessica. Honestly, thank you for letting me see a little piece of your life.

Overall, as a story it seems super rushed. If it were fiction, I'd be annoyed at the fast paced antics that goes on in a relationship. But is any relationship "normal"? Romance novels has ruined timelines for us, hasn't it?

Five out of five stars. Yes, the relationship between Jessica and Danny was quite brutal, and the death threats infuriated me, but stories like THIS (real, honest and that bring something to the light like AIDS/HIV) NEED to be shared. Not want, NEED. We need more stories like this around, because this world's big and scary, but stories like this show the true humanity. Oh boy, I'm just a mess writing this.

Thank you Jessica Koch, the amazing author, who sent me this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it! It's always mind blowing when people actually seek me out, and it really humbles me. Thank you!!!… (mehr)

This book drew me in from page one. It's based on the author's real life experiences. The close knit group of the three main characters goes through many dark life experiences but through it all remain very close. I have not read a book in a very long time that made me feel like I was part of the story. I will most definitely be reading the other two books in the trilogy. Thank you #Jessica Koch for sharing part of your life with us and thank you #Goodreads for the opportunity to read this book I won in your giveaway.… (mehr)