Justine's Thoughts: Taken By Storm by Angela Morrison

Taken by Storm
By Angela Morrison

Source: Library
Pages: 291
Book Description:

Leesie Hunt’s Unbreakable Rules:

No Kissing (at least not of the French variety) . . . No Sex (hah! Not even close to happening anyway) . . . No Dating Outside the Mormon Faith (what would be the point?) . . . ABSOLUTELY No Falling in Love with the Wrong Boy (would ruin everything)

Leesie thinks she has her whole life planned out: get into the school of her dreams, write her poems, meet the perfect guy, and settle down. Then she meets Michael - a boy whose parents were killed in a diving accident during a terrible storm.

Michael is drowning in tragedy. And all Leesie wants is to save him. With each day, her heart hurts more. Could it be, perfect Leesie is falling from grace? Or is she just falling in love?

But if Leesie gives in to temptation, who is going to save her?

A quote:

The world spins, the stars shift
and I can’t see anything except his smoky
gray eyes gazing into mine.

You scare me, whispers
From my mouth across his.

Good, he breathes into me.
I need you to save me.

Any thoughts:

Taken by Storm is told in both Leesie and Michael’s points of views. Through Michael’s dive log, Leesie’s poems, and the online conversations between Leesie and Michael and Leesie and her friend, Kim, on ChatSpot, we are able to gain a full understanding of everything that is happening. Mostly through Michael’s dive log is where we see the story being narrated. With a grieving tone and a typical boyish attitude, the whole thing sounds so real.

It was a different read, however, because we get to see how religion gets in the way of a relationship, which I have never come across before. But I like Leesie. She is determined and helpful. She is smart and clever. She is willing to save Michael, help him overcome the stages of grief while remain true to the Mormon faith at the same time. Michael, on the other hand, has the desire to go diving and from the quote above, needs saving from his terrible nightmares.

I thought I didn’t like Michael as the novel progressed. He is the type of boy who thinks he can return love once he’s slept with a girl. But Leesie can only love without ever going past the limits. And that is truly heartbreaking. As a reader, I could feel the tension between them, feel the ache in their hearts as they feel it, feel their desires for one another. It just pulls my heartstrings.

Angela Morrison’s writing delivers an honest and poetic voice with so much emotion. I can’t say that I loved the ending, not even satisfied with it (although I do understand why it is the ending) but overall Taken by Storm was not at all disappointing.