Author: Amber Hart
Release Date: 11th November 2014
Publisher: Random House Flirt
Find on: Goodreads
Quick Review: Amber Hart pushes contemporary romance to its wildest limits in this heart-pounding novel, the story of a girl who travels to Africa to protect the legacy of one man . . . and stays for the love of another.
Raven Moore, a twenty-year-old college student from Michigan, feels out of place in the beautiful, treacherous jungles of Cameroon, staying in the habitat where her father gave his life to help protect endangered gorillas. He left home years ago; now Raven refuses to return home until she unravels the truth about his last days.
Raven certainly doesn’t count on crossing paths with a handsome young hunter—especially one as charismatic and intense as Jospin Tondjii. Instantly, she’s hooked. But Jospin is hiding a dark truth: He is the heir to a powerful poaching empire, part of a ruthless black market that is responsible for the dwindling gorilla population.
Their fathers may have been enemies, but Raven and Jospin forge a bond that goes beyond blood, a relationship that is tested as Raven draws closer to the source of her father’s death. Can she and Jospin bear the weight of the secrets of the wild—and the secrets of their pasts? Or will the rain forest destroy them both?
Detailed Review: <<I had the privilege of reading an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review>>
Amber Hart has done it again. And this is only the second book she's written so far.
Talent. It all comes down to talent. There are many authors who steal people's attention using fantasy worlds or some swoony romance, or even some important historical event-like Markus Zusak's The Book Thief.
This particular author doesn't just do that; she also brings people's attention to a global issue.
Hart decided to push her writing abilities to breaking point. And that's what makes her different from any author I've read so far.
In Until You Find Me, the author decides to use dramatic irony (Shakespeare loved using this!). We will find out things about Jospin and Raven, things that both wouldn't know about the other. That actually made the suspense more palpable as you read along.
She also decided to add one more element-which I'm sure if Shakespeare was alive, would award her an award for: star-crossed lovers.
This novel may well be the Cameroonian version of Romeo and Juliet.
I personally am an animal lover, so I was quite pleased when I found out that there was also some spotlight for gorillas and how they were being hunted to extinction.
To emphasise this issue, Amber Hart decided to put Raven through an almost-death experience with a gorilla, thus planting a hate for them in the main character.
And then. Magic. With Hart's writing and a gorilla, Raven's opinion of the gorillas was changed to something positive.
This novel isn't just some swoony romance (but it's one of the good parts); it explores the connection between man and animal. And the capability of animals to change the thoughts of men.
I harboured some hate for Jospin because he was a poacher- a person who hunted gorillas for money.
But then I knew he couldn't be blamed because he simply had no choice. He had been born into it.
What I loved the most was Raven's spirit. She didn't give up after her accident, but instead she grew stronger. That's heroine material for you right there.
I felt that Raven's father played a big part in the
She also finds out the truth of her father's death is not as it seems; there's something more sinister in the workings.
And the truth might actually pull both Raven and Jospin apart.
The plot, needless to say, had just the right amount of tension and action AND romance to keep it going.
And then, came the great finale- also known as- The Grand Twist.
All you need to know is there was heartbreak and betrayal involved.
Brief Review: This isn't just any NA contemporary romance. It's unique in its setting in the African jungle- where danger lurks everywhere in the form of animals and men, the subject of interest- how often do you read about gorillas- and even the diverse characters. Until You Find Me is a story of star-crossed lovers in a dangerous place; this novel has considerably raised my expectations for all NA contemporary romances- and it may have been what Amber Hart intended to do.
Final Rating: 5/5 'Totally Amazing!'
QUOTE:
Since the book is mainly about animals and nature, here's a quote about it,
Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened---Anatole France
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