Out Of The Box - Review: Puddle Jumping

Title: Puddle Jumping

Author: Amber L. Johnson
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance.
Publication Date: June 29th, 2014
Pages: 127
Format: Kindle
Published by: Self Pub

When it comes to love there’s no such thing as conventional. Everyone thinks Colton Neely is special. Lilly Evans just thinks he’s fascinating. Once friends when they were younger, their bond is cut short due to her accident prone nature and they go their separate ways. Years later, they meet again and Lilly learns that there is something special about the boy she once knew, but she has no idea what it all means. And she’s not sure if she’s ready to find out. When he walks through the corridor of her school the first day of her senior year, she knows that it’s time to get to know the real Colton Neely. The more she learns, the deeper she falls. Their friendship grows into love, even as Colton does not express it in words. But one decision threatens to break down the world that Lilly has tried so hard to integrate into and she must
figure out if the relationship can survive if they are apart.

I have many books in high esteem. 

Others, in every word have stolen my breath.  

Others, have taken a part of my heart in the process. 

But this book, took my heart; and broke it into small pieces. By itself, it reconstructed it again. But, every piece... was already impregnated with something new, different. 

Of a new way of seeing, of feeling, of loving... to love especially. 

And that is what Lilly and Colton show us. 

The whole world deserves its own Lilly, because with this“I don’t believe there’s such a thing as conventional love. Love is bending. Love is breaking. Love is constantly learning about the other person until you go crazy because it will never be perfect, but there’s no fault in trying. I’ve loved a boy who was extraordinary beyond words, in my eyes.” and in addition, the journey she embarks next  to Colton is not easy, there are struggles, there is sadness, anger, love, laughter, learn new things, patience, but... never despair.

“It was those words that made me fall in love with him. Right there in that spot. Because he wanted me to be like him. That was his normalcy.”

Colton... Sweet Colton, he stole my heart... I think from the first time he said Lilly was unbearable... and in the process, I realized that my heart was wrapped in his sweetness, in his innocence, his talent, in what he painted.

“Talking with you would be much more enjoyable than talking with Talia, Lilly.” His eyes scanned the floor by my feet. “She’s paint by number; you’re a watercolor.”

And every time Colton said things like these...

“No,” he whispered. “You’re my beautiful Lilly. The one who makes everything right in my world.”

“I do . . . love you. If you needed me to say it before you should have told me so. I know what it means.” 

“I dream of you. And I don’t like it when I can’t talk to you or see you or touch you.” His eyes found mine again. “That’s love.”

I fell more, and more... And it's right here when I tell you, that I had loved a lot of books, but this one, made something with me, that maybe my words can't express the deepest of my feelings with this book.

About the author

Amber lives in Texas with her amazingly talented husband and incredibly gifted son. Most known for her novella Puddle Jumping (a 2014 Goodreads Choice Award for Best YA) she is constantly trying her hand at new genres and ideas to force herself to think outside the box.
She is inspired by music, her family, a close group of friends, and real life. Mostly in that order.

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