Captured Memories by Katherine McIntyre is a feel-good romance about two people looking for love and acceptance–both from others as well as themselves. The characters are well-written and relatable.
McIntyre uses fairly flowery prose, on occasion, which doesn’t always fit the contemporary setting. On top of that, the descriptors are really repetitive. However, neither of these things detracts from the overall story too much. Occasionally, I found myself rolling my eyes or skipping over some of the more distracting parts, but it didn’t seem to really intrude on my understanding of the story.
The thing that McIntyre does REALLY well that brings this book from a 3-star to a 4-star is her handling of the traumatic and tragic pasts and presents of the characters. I want to give her kudos for speaking out against victim-blaming and shaming the people who do nothing against “guy talk” that is abusive or recounts abusive behaviors. THANK YOU! Also, the reactions of Livs regarding certain positions and movements, the understanding of the triggering effects of smells…it is all an extremely realistic and in-depth look into how a victim of rape would react moving forward in her life. The only things I’m sad to see is that there is no mention of counseling to help in Livs moving forward.
Zane’s alcoholic past is also dealt with in a real and unapologetic manner. His self-loathing is heart-breaking and his struggle is always present in the book. Rarely, do you see an author devote that much time to the flaws of their characters, but McIntyre does. She does it so well, you begin to see the truth of alcoholics…that the struggle is always there, even if they are showing a face that says it’s not.
Overall, this was a pleasant read and I really fell in love with the characters and their struggle to accept themselves. The issues with friends and family and the treatment they receive from everybody is so realistic that the love they find in each other really shines.
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