Elaine White's Life in Books

Book – Escaping Indigo (Escaping Indigo #1)
Author – Eli Lang
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 253
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 1st person, one character
Would I read it again – Maybe
Genre – LGBT, Rockstar, New Adult, Contemporary, Band, Music


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine


For me, the book felt more like a YA novel with some sexy bits in it. The characters were a little immature and acted more like eighteen year olds than people in their mid twenties and if you removed the sex scenes, it would have been a perfect, 5 star YA read.

Although I found the characters immature, I really did enjoy the story. It had some really intense moments that made me cry, but it was overall quite a negative look on live, love and friendships. Micah had lost his best friend, Eric, just as they were getting somewhere with their band career, while the rockstar Bellamy is suffering intense anxiety. Sadly, we never really get to move away from those themes throughout the story. They plague every move that either Micah or Bellamy make towards a relationship and it's really difficult to escape for a while, to have a happy moment.

Even when the mood is lightened, there's always something Micah overhears or sees in Bellamy that reminds him of the struggle. Or he constantly reminds himself about Eric and how he's all alone now. The way that Micah can't cope without Eric in his life is also another indication of how immature Micah is, because he can't make a decision or choose a direction for his life without Eric there to do it for him, which is a little disturbing at times.

I loved the presentation and the writing style; it was perfect. I didn't notice one single editing error, which was amazing but also really great for an ARC. I loved the chapter headings and scene dividers. One thing Riptide know how to do well is presentation.

Sadly, the book left me feeling pretty down and negative about a whole lot of things. I understood Micah's grief, but not the extent that he couldn't function in everyday life without his mind switching straight to Eric. I've lost people who are close to me, in the way Eric and Micah were close, and it just didn't feel realistic to me the way that Micah fell apart almost entirely because of Eric's death. Nor did I understand why Bellamy refused to be treated for his anxiety. I get that he didn't want to be started on pills, but the vehemence that he refused to be helped was disturbing to me. Maybe because I've been in a place where therapy and pills were the only option and I wouldn't be here today without them.

I loved the love affair between Micah and music, particularly the music of Escaping Indigo, but I also loved that his relationship with Bellamy moved slowly, through real intimacy and discussion, real moments of getting to know each other, even if I think it happened very quickly. I wasn't a fan of Bellamy moving on so fast after his last break up or with how pushy and interfering the other band members were, however. I felt like half the band treated Bellamy like their little pet depressive, someone who had to be taken care of and they had to walk on eggshells around.

I felt the chemistry between Micah and Bellamy, but I feel that the first half of the novel is far stronger than the second. I think the build up to the relationship was the shining part of the book, the part where I felt the most connected, the most interest and the most in love with the two main characters. By the second half, the story had shifted its focus to being all about Micah's grief and Micah's attempts to “fix” Bellamy. A term I really hate. Yet, in the first half, I really understood why Micah persisted to ask Bellamy if he was alright; he didn't want to miss the same signs in him that he'd missed in Eric, but by the second half it felt more nagging and more like Micah knew best, that he was trying to drag something out of Bellamy that he wasn't ready to say.

Overall, I think the first half was a solid 5 stars but the second half was what let it down, for me. I even wrote at the 30% mark that “this story will tear your heart out even before you get halfway through.” But it didn't continue in that vein and that's a disappointment.

I see that it's part of a series and I won't be reading the next book, which is a FF story about Ava. For me, I didn't particularly like her pushy, nosy attitude in this book, so I really don't see how I could enjoy a story all about her. So, I think I'll be skipping the rest of the series, as I have no doubt that they'll all bleed through one to the next.


Favourite Quotes

““I miss him,” I blurted out. “I keep thinking he should be here, that this should be us, and it's not. And I can't call him, and I can't ask his opinion, and I need him. I don't know who I am without him.”

“What I needed, I thought, was to be with Eric. To be his best friend. To tie my life to his. I didn't know what to tie my life to now. It wasn't ever going to be Eric again, though. Eric was gone. He was never coming back. And he had left a hole in my life that I had been trying to fill and ignore at the same time.”