Gina:Freshly brewed tea. Earl Grey, loose leaf.Rain on the windowsills. The smell of library books. Escape into worlds greater than this.Solitude.Invisibility.A quiet life. Maybe boring, but boring was never dangerous. Until I saw what I was missing out on. Who I was missing out on. The man who shattered my boring, safe life and lay it to ruin.The man I’d been in love with since I was a teenager. … with since I was a teenager. Who I’d been invisible to since I was a teenager.
The man who just happened to be a world-famous rock star.
Sam:
Whisky. Neat. Leave the bottle.
Crowd of hundreds of people. No, make it thousands. All shouting my name. Live fast. Die…
Die? I’m too young, too famous and far too badass to die. Death doesn’t happen when you stop breathing, it’s what happens before that. Death is the monotony of life. The grave? Well, all the greats live there. You’re not a rock star until you die before you’re thirty. The grave doesn’t bother me.
Just the quiet.
That is death in the life of rock.
But then… her.
She’d been there all along and I’d been too blind, too obsessed with the fast, loud life to realize where the real Nirvana lay.
In the silence.
Even the grave couldn’t hold me if I didn’t get her.
And I’m a rock star.
And a badass.
And as stubborn as I am good-looking.
I know how to get what I want.
I also know how to kill anyone who gets in my way.
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Firstly let me say I read this book with a smile on my face! A full on cheesy grin that turned into belly laughs in a few parts!
Now, if you have followed this series you will know Sam and you will have caught glimpses of Gina. And their story will knock your socks off!
Sam is Sam…..Gina is…omg she is everything. I loved that nerd!
Note: underpants often make me laugh. You know, big ones, small ones, some as big as your head….but if you don’t laugh as much as I did at #pantsgate then you are dead inside!
We all know that Anne Malcom is one of my go to authors! After her Unquiet Minds series, the obsession with her became way too real. It hit all the feels and left me with the worst hangover. And now that she’s written a book about Sam’s story, we can’t help but be giddy with excitement!
The book started off really slow for me, and it didn’t catch my interest until about 40%. I guess that’s why it took me so long to finish it because I kept putting it off after the first few chapters. When I started I almost DNF but I persevered because I’ve been a fan of Anne’s from the beginning and I know she’d never let me down. And I was right! We see a side to Sam we’ve never seen before and while it’s quite refreshing to seeing him so open, it’s equally as heatbreaking at the same time. He’s the joker, the class clown, so full of life and the guy whose always around for everyone. With his rough upbringing, he’s got a rough time giving and receiving love and it’s devastating to read about but he’s the one person who deserves all the love in the world.
I never saw Gina coming. I gave myself a headache trying to visualise the right girl, the perfect heroine that could give Sam everything he needed and deserved. She came out of nowhere but it was a pleasant surprise! The chemistry these two share is explosive. Both with their own demons to conquer, it made for a tough relationship and a hazardous journey but a very fulfilling and worthwile one. Absolutely loved this book, the story, the journey and the rollercoaster of a ride I was put through! I can’t wait to see what else Anne has in store because she always manages to give us the perfect combination of angst and alpha male!
The thing i loved about this book was that i loved Sam in the previous books and i couldn’t wait to get his story and Gina was such a quiet friend of Lexie’s i wasn’t sure how she was going to fit in.
Well i found out and i really loved Gina she was a character that needed to be written and for every girl to read her story because all the insecurities that she faced was what every girl would feel and it was so refreshing that she wasn’t skinny, but her story was sad and the fact that she was bullied by someone she thought she loved really showed that anyone can be nasty i really loved the message in this book and to show that just because your not perfect doesn’t mean your not lovable and that be who you are and never change and i loved that.
Sam cracked me up but you also knew he had demons and he slowly brings them out and i don’t think i could have loved him more, he was so energetic and crazy but i loved that so much stuff that came out of his mouth i had to laugh, i would love to have a friend like Sam he was such a wild character to read.
I really loved this book not only was it about being a rock star but it was about family and the band and where Lexie and Killian were up too but there was also some drama and a great story line that had you hooked from the start
This book was amazing and loved everything about it, if your a fan of Anne Malcoms you won’t be disappointed at all.
I liked this but not as much as the other books in the series. The connection felt like it was missing for 3/4 of the book and such a big deal was made about her weight and how big she is only to find out later she’s a size 12? That’s not even plus size. Other than the over dramatized weight issue I mostly enjoyed it.
A massive book with a lot of soul searching.
5 BEAUTIFUL DEMONS STARS!! I binged read the Unquiet Mind series and each book keeps getting better and that is hard to do because I love them all. Sam and Gina’s touched every part of my heart, it was tough, broken, awful demons in many ways and so full of love. This author’s writing is simply perfection, I feel every emotion with her beautiful words. This series is one you definitely need to 1-Click.
To me this book had more depth in it. I was surprised by the power of the words by not just what people say to us but how we repeat those words over and over to ourselves. We can do so much more damage to ourselves than anyone else by believing the words little people spew from their mouths.
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Broken Shelves. This absolute perfection is the third book in Anne Malcom’s Unquiet Mind series. She has yet again created a world I wish I could escape to some days! Sam & Gina’s story rivals the great love stories. A lighter story, filled with love, humor, and some drama. It’s guaranteed to make you feel everything. I HIGHLY recommend this beautiful story!!!
This beautiful story really took me by surprise. Everyone knows how I feel about Anne Malcom’s books and this one is no exception. It explores inner demons that many of us hide and does it in a way that left me as a reader feeling both empowered and a little fragile at the same time. This story has jumped into my top reads of all time. It is one I know I will reread many times and get something different each time. This is a 6 star read for me
Gina’s character resonated with me in a way a character hasn’t for a very long time. Her self doubt, her brave front, her steady kindness. Gina is a lot of women I know, myself included. Women that don’t think they’re good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. When in reality they are more than those things. They are one hundred times more. They just need to find the bravery to open themselves up – when society, media and often those who were meant to love them have broken them down.
“That’s part of it. Life. Being scared…. It’s f@&kn’ scary, babe. It’s unpredictable, it’s uncontrollable, and you only get to do it once.”
Sam makes Gina brave. He is someone I already adored from the previous Unquiet Minds books and that didn’t change here. He was always a guy I wanted to have a night of drunken fun with, but I learned he was a whole lot more. His humour and his looks were hiding a man searching for what was always right there in front of him. Opening his eyes was a tough thing for him (I wanted to punch him at times) and finally truly doing it fundamentally changed him.
I laughed a lot in this story. Quite simply Sam is funny AF & Gina’s witty dialogue (especially with Lexie and Emma) is hilarious. It was one of my favourite aspects of the story and balances out the heavy side perfectly.
I also cried A LOT in this story – have your tissues handy. There are some very raw, honest emotions explored in these pages. I loved the imagery Anne used to paint a picture of each character’s lives to illustrate how we live often reflects our inner fears. What we crave can scare us. Retreat or avoidance is always easier, not better, but easier.
For me me this was a story of two people truly finding in one another what they didn’t see in themselves. For Gina it was Sam’s fun and bravery, for Sam it was Gina’s quiet and loyalty. That’s not to say they were incomplete or didn’t have these traits themselves, but with each other they were not only complete but content. Truly and honestly happy
“Maybe you’re here to make me live a little faster, and I’m here to slow you down just a little.”
Ultimately it’s a love story that is an honest exploration of people’s fears and a real, genuine, warts and all love story – one that isn’t always easy to read but oh so worth it. I mean real love isn’t always perfect or simple but it’s definitely worth it. Nothing in life is more important.
“Because that was what true love really was—an inconvenience, constantly informing, impacting and changing your path in a way you never could’ve expected. And it would ensure that your life was never your own as long as the other person existed and as long as that love existed.”
So if you’re looking for a story that will make you laugh, cry and think then grab this book. You won’t regret it.