Most of All You by Mia Sheridan Review
Most of All You by Mia Sheridan is the type of book that rips your heart out and then puts it back together again. This is my second book by Sheridan and I enjoyed it even more than Archer’s Voice. Both books had similar themes, but Most Of All You stood out more to me.
Synopsis:
Crystal spends her evenings working at a strip club, barely making enough to get by. She has no money, and her trauma-filled past has left her with no ambition and a clouded future. One day at work she is approached by Gabriel Dalton.
Gabriel was abducted as a child and kept in a basement for six years. He was able to break free from his captor, but has to work everyday to escape the demons that followed him out. His PTSD does not allow him to get close to anyone, but he is hoping to find someone to help him learn how to be touched and to touch again. When he approaches Crystal, she agrees, but after one session, decides she is unable to help him.
One evening, Crystal is leaving the strip club when she is attacked by three men who were giving her a hard time in the club. They beat her up so badly that she will need months to recover. When she’s found, she is clutching a phone number in her hand: Gabriel’s phone number. Gabriel is called to come get her as her contact at the hospital. With a broken leg, Crystal is unsure how she is going to get up and down three flights of stairs at her apartment. Gabriel offers to take Crystal back to his house so he can help her while she heals.
After much hesitation, she agrees to let Gabriel take care of her. As the weeks go by, they start to slowly turn back the layers of each other, learning about the horrors that have turned them into the people they are today. As Crystal heals physically and emotionally, she realizes she depends on Gabriel more than she expected to. She knows that in order to become who she is meant to be, she needs to let Gabriel go,
Review:
When I started reading this book, I had a hard time getting into it. Not because it was boring, but because the trauma was hard to take in. The idea of a child being abducted, and the trauma that Crystal endured, was overwhelming
However, this is such a beautiful story about healing and it pulls at every single emotion.
I loved Gabriel. His kindness and patience with Crystal was so beautiful. He saw the world through a different lens. His own personal tragedy didn’t cloud his ability to see the happiness in life. Instead, it allowed him to appreciate the little things more. His ability to look towards the future and heal from his past really showed his amazing character traits. Crystal was also a great character and showed tremendous growth.
The one thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was Gabriel's brother, Domonic. I understand why his storyline was put into the book, but he was let off the hook a little too easily for the decisions he made, even though they were later explained.
The ending of Most of All You was beautiful, but felt rushed. The last few chapters had a lot packed into them. I wish the storyline had slowed down a little to really emphasize the beautiful ending.
Title: First of all You
Author: Mia Sheirdan
Genre📖: Contemporary Romance
Star Rating: ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐/5
Read if you enjoy: Colleen Hoover, Ari Wright, Lucy Score
Good Reads Rating: 4.02
Tropes: Slow burn, Mental Health Representation
Trigger Warnings: Childhood abuse
Edited by: Lindsey Sanford
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