Book Review: Beneath the Scars

Title: Beneath the Scars

Author: Melanie Moreland

Genre: YA Fiction

Reviewer: Aly

Book Blurb: 

The sound of the ocean, the crash of the waves as they kick up against the sand and rocks—these are the only sounds Megan Greene wants to hear. She wants to leave the rest of the world behind, and find some peace. The offer of a private house on the beach, set in a small town in Maine, is perfect. Time to think—to be by herself. It’s all she wants. It’s the escape she needs. 

Until she stumbles across the painting that seems to echo her own chaotic mindset. Until she meets the unfriendly artist behind the stormy painting and discovers his secrets.

All Zachary Adams wants is to be left alone. His canvases, and the unending scope of the ocean and sand, are his life. They direct him—fill his hours. Bring him focus.

Until she enters his life. She dredges up memories of the past—the haunting images he has hidden for years; the fears he has never shared. A story he keeps buried below the surface. 

Review:

In Beneath the Scars, the author creates the scenes easily, almost effortlessly, without overloading with descriptive words. They use exactly enough to get the point across and not enough to overwhelm the reader. I found this a marvelous writing style and it immediatly drew me into the book. I only fell more and more in love as I read.

I had so many questions as I read, and even as one would be answered, another would pop up. I honestly did not expect some of the things that were shread to happen. It was great to almost constantly be shocked and not in a nice way. It showed the horribleness of humanity but also the marvelous, the love, and just it really balanced it out so that you weren’t constantly down in the dumps. At the same time you felt frustration about certain characters actions while still understanding their motivations.

The two characters seemed to fit very well. Thier relationship seemed to do the other a world of good, and I liked how their relationship was not described or could be described as perfect even towards the end. It was still a rocky, and yet worthy quest that they were following and I enjoyed seeing the ups with the downs.

And yet, happiness can be taken in one second. The plot allowed this to happen and didn’t necessarily gurantee the characters would get a happy ending. It kept things intresting and it certainly made me keep reading, even as the emotional problems came out.

At the same time, you also got to know the secondary characters. Maybe not as many as you’d like or as well as you’d like, but you get the necessities to allow you to fall in love with them. There were several characters, other than Megan and Zachary, whom I positively adored throughout the book.

Rating: