USA TODAY BESTSELLING LOVE STORY “What do you do when you meet your soul mate? No wait…that’s too easy. What do you do when you meet your soul mate and have to spend a lifetime loving him in secret? I’ll tell you what you do.You lie.” REN Ren was eight when he learned that love doesn’t exist—that the one person who was supposed to adore him only cared how much he was worth.His mother sold him and … doesn’t exist—that the one person who was supposed to adore him only cared how much he was worth.
His mother sold him and for two years, he lived in terror.
But then…he ran.
He thought he’d run on his own. Turned out, he took something of theirs by accident and it became the one thing he never wanted and the only thing he ever needed.
DELLA
I was young when I fell in love with him, when he switched from my world to my everything.
My parents bought him for cheap labour, just like they had with many other kids, and he had the scars to prove it.
At the start, he hated me, and I could understand why.
For years he was my worst enemy, fiercest protector, and dearest friend.
But by the end…he loved me.
The only problem was, he loved me in an entirely different way to the way I loved him.
And slowly, my secret drove us apart.
more
loved this book ,pulls at your heart strings, love this author
I love Pepper Winters books. Just finished first one of this series. She tells a great story that keeps you engaged throughout the book. Great characters and interesting story.
A survival story of a different kind. Sweet, tragic, uplifting and heartbreaking, I loved this story! Very well written!
Unique and addictive! Get ready for a journey you won’t ever forget. This story will stay with you for a long time to come. I was so engrossed with this book from start to finish. Prepare to feel beyond anything you’ve felt before. Hope, love, heartbreak, friendship, hardship, and a bond that is so unique, so beautiful you can’t help but be invested. This is truly an exceptional story. This book has my heart, my breath, every part of me.
Different from anything Pepper has brought to us before. I cannot wait for the rest. Any true Romance lover will fall in love with Ren and Della.
4,5 stars
Loved this book so much.
WOW, I was absolutely blown away by this read. The only other book I have read by Winters is Unseen Messages, which introduced me to the way Pepper Winters has the unique ability to write a beautiful story that feels epic and all-consuming. The Boy and His Ribbon was no exception-it was absolutely amazing! I cannot recommend enough that all readers, even ones that don’t like romance, should give this book a read because although it does have romance, it is more a story of survival, unconditional love and the struggle of growing up and accepting the changes that it brings.
Pepper Winters has some of the most beautiful and poetic writing. When I read this book, I was in awe because I couldn’t believe that it is possible to weave such beauty using the written word. I will say that I couldn’t believe that this book was only 394 pages because it felt much longer. So much happens in this book-beginning when the characters were only children and ending when they are young adults. It chronicles the two main characters lives with such detail that I felt like these individuals really existed. I felt their pain and sadness, along with their triumphs and happiness. This was an epic coming-of-age story that really pulled at my heart strings while making me root for these characters to succeed and survive the dire situation they had been forced into.
This story is told in dual POV’s, alternating between past and present with Ren’s voice describing the events of the past and Della being the voice of the present. I thought this aspect was done very well. Most of this book focuses on Ren and Della as children and how they forged an inseparable bond as they learned how to survive on their own, trust in one another and overcome many obstacles.
I absolutely loved these characters! Winters created very complex and developed characters. Even the secondary characters were well-rounded and added depth to the story and its progression. I will say that this story might not be for everyone because it is VERY character driven. The character’s emotions, desires, and motives really were the driving force behind the story. Both the main characters, Ren and Della, were relatable even though most of their experiences would not have been had by most. The emotional conflict of growing up, the bodily changes and finding ones place in the world are things most readers can understand. This was a beautiful coming of age story that pulled at my heart strings and made me question my moral compass.
Like I have stated above, this book does not focus on romance. In fact, romance does not even play a role in the story until the end of the book. However, I believe that this book was essential in establishing what is yet to come in book two. This is not just a taboo story of unrequited love-it’s a journey about how dependence turned into friendship that then morphed into something that is still unknown. It crushed my heart and I really felt for these characters.
I HIGHLY recommend this book, but just let it be known that it does end on a cliff hanger. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book because I have the feeling it will be more gut wrenching than the first, but I am hopeful that these characters will find happiness.
4.25 stars
“She was my one weakness, and I was determined to stay immune to her for her own protection.”
I love Pepper Winters’ dark romances, but I love her contemporary romances even more. She always gives her all in these books, and really takes her time to tell the whole story. The Boy and His Ribbon, is about a broken ten year old boy Ren and baby Della who ends up in the Ren’s backpack when he makes his escape. He doesn’t know what to do with a baby in the wilderness, but finds a way to save her and himself. It broke my heart reading what these two had to go through to survive. But they had such a beautiful connection, that it also warmed my heart seeing how they took care of each other. Ren is super protective and takes on the father/brother role very serious. Della is very headstrong. As she transforms from a toddler to a young woman her connection to Ren becomes even stronger, and she starts feeling things for him. For Ren this is unacceptable and he does his best to keep his distance when its needed.
Everything Ren did was for Della. He wants her to have a normal future/life. He sacrifices so much for her, it was very heartwarming. He always put her wants and needs before his own. Della, sometimes forgot to be thankful and acted out, which is a normal behavior for a teenager. Ren did the best with the hand he was dealt with. Della, sometimes really pushed his limits. I really enjoyed that the author included chapters in Della’s POV (taking place in the present time), and that she acknowledges her faults. This story was a pretty emotional read for me, but not so much that it had me in tears. Pepper has a great writing style, and it was really easy to read. The pacing was perfect, and I was hooked to the story. The pacing was a great way to really showcase how Ren and Della’s relationship developed, and I am really looking forward to the next book in The Ribbon Duet.
Wow, wow, wow. What a unique and different story. It’s been some time since I’ve read a Pepper book. I have a few sitting on my kindle that I need to get to and the one thing I forgot about her is, she can write one heck of a story! I was drawn in from the first chapter, it was hard to put down so I could go to bed. I loved how we get the past from Ren’s POV and the present from Della’s. Their story spans 17 years and we get stories of survival, family, friendship and love. Navigating through all of that at such a young age had some ups and downs, but those two did it together. Ren made this whole book for me. Della had a few moments where I wanted to shake her but she’s young and trying to sort herself out. The book ended at a good spot. I can not wait for the conclusion of their story. I’m sure it’s going to be a great one.
I’m going to put it out there right now and say that this is going to be one of my top reads for 2018. It is going to take something exceptional to knock this of the podium! I lost track of how many times my heart stopped beating. The emotion, the characters,this book is everything; soul destroying, beautifully heartbreaking, compulsive, memorable. You won’t be able to put this down. Pepper Winters is the King Midas of the literary world…
Reading this authors books is like being taken on a magical mystery tour… You never know what’s coming but you are spellbound from the very start. The dynamic between Ren & Della was captivating, emotional, passionate and gripping. This book has touched me in a way that no other book has for a while. The story is a coming of age romance which spans 18 years; it has all the feels as both Ren and Della each deal with adolescence in a different way. I have laughed and I have cried with these characters. A 10 year old boy with no education putting his own life on the line to bring up a toddler, teaching her how to survive in the wild at times had the most hilarious yet desperate consequences.
This book is worth so much more that 5 stars. You need to make this a must read, you won’t be disappointed.
The Boy & His Ribbon by Pepper Winters is incredible! This coming of age story of sacrifice, survival & forbidden love blew my mind. You need to go into this book totally blind and with an open mind and heart.
Pepper’s writing was brilliant. I was captivated from the first to the last page. Dare, I say this might be my favorite book by Pepper. I literally couldn’t put this book down. As I anticipated, this story left my heart shredded with a wicked cliffhanger. My heart is in turmoil along with Ren and Della. The Girl & Her Ren can’t land on my Kindle fast enough.The Boy & His Ribbon
“The way Ren looked at you made you suffer beneath his expectation and glow beneath his praise.”
Whew, I honestly didn’t know what I was getting into when I started The Boy & His Ribbon. While I certainly read the blurb when it was released, I made a point not to go back and look at it before I started reading it, as has become my tradition with Winter’s books. I wanted to go into this with zero expectations because no matter what, I know the story being told will touch both my heart and my soul and this was no exception.
The Boy & His Ribbon is a magically dark story that ripped my heart out more times that I can count and I’m thankful for every moment. It’s a survival story. Survival for not only your life but for your heart as well.
I’m not even going to get into a recap or give you a glimpse of what happens, I’m just going to tell you how it made me feel. First of all, if you find yourself moving a bit slow with the story in the beginning, it’s OK. I promise. I felt the same way. At first I felt that it was dragging on but by the time I finished the book, I realized that every detail from the start was necessary and I began to appreciate just how much back story was provided. I tell you this because it will be worth it, trust me.
Both Della and Ren captured my heart. They grew into such beautiful people and their story is unique, sad and uplifting all at the same time. It’s a huge bag of mixed emotions that will keep a flutter in both your heart and your gut. But it is Ren who stole the show. From the moment we meet him, we see how big his heart is and how much he generally cares for most things around him. Every single thing he did for Della made me only fall harder for him.
If you are looking for a survival story that will ruin you and save you all at the same time, then you need to read The Boy & His Ribbon. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book because I’m dying for more of them and I need to know how their story ends.
Wow. This book. This bloody book! It’s been days since I finished this masterpiece of a story. It’s been days since I’ve read anything else. Books I’ve been waiting for, authors I absolutely adore – nothing compares right now. I’m suffering the most massive hangover of all book hangovers. Pepper Winters, I adore all your heroes, inhaled all your stories, but this one … this one is pure magic. Not quite a romance yet, and still one of the greatest love stories ever told. And most likely my book of the year for 2019 – only possibly to be topped by its own conclusion.
5 stars just isn’t enough for this unique and unforgettable story. While I might have waited for Della to finally come of age for something to happen, I quickly wished I could learn about their life together forever – no matter their age. That bone-crushing love and devotion these two have for one another from such a young age is out of this world. I cannot even begin to express in how many countless ways their story has touched me!
The writing, as always, is flawless and poetic, only adding to the poignancy and significance of this story. My heart was just overflowing with emotion – and it still does, whenever I think back to Ren and his Ribbon. And don’t get me started on that treasured nickname Ren give his Della!
I don’t really know what to say that comes remotely close to what this book means to me. It surely is different from anything else by Ms. Winters, but no less emotional and intense and heartbreaking as much as it is heartwarming. I just can’t even.
I’ll stop right here and will just say this: This has to be on any romance lover’s must-read pile!
4.5 to 5 nvrmnd… it’s a 5
Okay, I’ll start this review with the obvious. 4.5 to 5? What’s that about?? I set the book down a lot and then came back to it. It might just be because stuff was on my mind, but usually, that is a determining 5-star factor. For a 5 it’s usually un-put-down-able. But like I said, I had stuff, so who knows.
What I can tell you, without a doubt, is that Pepper’s writing is flawless.
Did you guys read Unseen Messages?
Man oh, man, did I love that book. It’s a Pepper Winters book that wasn’t as popular as her brilliant Tears of Tess, but in many ways, there was something magical about that book.
Why am I bringing up other Pepper Winters books, instead of talking about The Boy and His Blue Ribbon? It’s because in The Boy and His Blue Ribbon, Winters takes everything that is perfect about Unseen Messages and Tears of Tess and she created this book. There is taboo, but there is also this striving to survive in desolate situations, that you get in Unseen Messages. This had a perfect blend of those elements.
Oh, snucks!
I think I just talked myself into this being a 5. Yep, definitely, was my own stuff going on. This book, now that I’m mentally going over again the details, and the journey and the way Winters grabbed me and made me think about surviving in the forest and the feels. Oh, the feels!
I watched a blogger, whose VLOGS I used to enjoy, go on about this book the other day, and I was in the middle of reading it and I was like, yeah, Molly is right!
This book is the shiznuts. (Yep, I just typed that!)
If you are new to Pepper, or you thought she was too dark, wait no further, to read her, for, in this book, you will get dark, but light too. It’s such a perfect blend of everything I’ve read from her that I think you will fall in love with it.
There is no real way of describing this book!
Other than it’s breathtaking, gut-wrenchingly beautiful, superbly poetic, and brutally raw!
A whole new realm of the divine world!
The Boy & His Ribbon is an exquisite masterpiece of divine art, etching it’s way into your inner solar plexuses, stealing all your rational thought. Then replacing it with wrecked and utter mindlessness!
Slaying you from the very first start.
Pepper Winters has penned the novel of the century with this masterpiece!
I’d even go so far as to say it’s her best work ever!
Her writing has grown volumes, to a whole new level of unadulterated pure genius calculating, precision and grace.
5*
Ren hasn’t had an easy life sold into slavery to a Christian couple he runs away. Unfortunately he runs with unwanted & unknown treasure.
Della was saved from her parents but wasn’t aware how or what they were capable of.
The story is heartbreaking as it unfolds the struggle they both faced in their young lives for survival.
I was hooked on this book from page one it truly pulled me in.
I’m so desperate for the conclusion!
Girl & her Ren.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
Wow 5*
Iloved the story line in this book. Could not put it down.
The Girl and Her Ren (Ribbon Duet Book 2) Ren was eight when he was sold into slavery. He escaped two years later with a stow away. Unbeknownst to him, he stole something from them – something he did not want, until he did.
From the very first sentence, I became invested and intrigued.
After the first chapter, I needed to take a breath. I was at the edge of my seat, biting my nails hoping Ren makes his escape without harm.
The rest as they say is history – their history. It is messy, beautiful, awkward and full of love.
Ren and Della’s chronicles gave me goosebumps and had the fine hairs on my arms standing on end. The characters are vibrant and burrow right into your heart and soul.
This is a coming-of-age story of survival. Of Life. Of Love. There are no words to adequately describe this book. Pepper pens a compelling and touching story unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s original, enthralling, captivating and one of a kind. The story comes to life right off the pages, it is so real. It is heart breaking, heart wrenching and so full of heart. It is not a roller-coaster of emotion, it IS emotion. You live it, breathe it, feel it. It had my rapt attention until the very last word. This is Pepper Winters at her absolute finest!
After the last word, I feel heartbroken and devastated. Not to mention emotionally wrung out. I’ve felt every gamut of emotion I possibly could from this book.
Although this ends with a cliff-hanger, I, for one, am ecstatic because there is so much more to their story. So much more I want to know. To feel. To love. If I must rate this book with a star rating it would be 5 Stars but, it is so much more than that. It is a universe filled with stars for all the hopes, dreams, love, friendship and heartache we come to experience. This book is not to be missed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Buoni Amici Press, LLC for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Really enjoyed this book. Very different from what I usually read. I’ve already ordered sequel to it.
I really, really liked this book….until about the last 1/3 to 1/4 of it. The language got so bad I was practically just skimming the words at the end instead of really reading it. I haven’t ordered the next one yet because I’m guessing the language might continue on in the next book and I don’t want to read that. So if the language hadn’t polluted the ending I would have give this book 5 stars.
Warning
Do not read this book in public. I repeat DO NOT READ The Boy and His Ribbon anywhere in public lol.
Trust me, I started to read on the public transit and I swear that other riders thought I was crazy. Have you ever tried to stop yourself from ugly crying in public? Yep that was this chick lol
Temptation was my biggest struggle with this book. With ‘The Boy and His Ribbon’ I was tempted every day to fast forward and simply read the last chapter just to see how the story would end. I haven’t done this in forever and only recall doing it when I couldn’t take the constant questions and anguish. I was veryyyyyyy tempted but I wanted to hold out and experience every heart wrenching word without cheating.
Enough of my rambling,
Pepper Winters is a new to me author surprisingly. I have a few of her books however for some reason the stars never aligned and I haven’t started one of her books until this one. The way that the words were put together was extraordinary. With every page my heart was on a constant work out and I loved it.
The Boy and His Ribbon is told in dual point of views (my favorite) and goes from past to present. Instantly, from the first chapter I was sucked in. How could you not be? The story of Ren and Della is so unique and heart wrenching that even after finishing the book I had to take a minute to soak it all up.
I still have so many questions but won’t ask in fear of spoiling it for someone that hasn’t read it yet. Della is still questionable in my book. She is selfish and coming to the end of the book she really got on my nerves.
Honestly, June needs to be tomorrow so I can know what the hell happened. What an ending ughhh.
Overall, what a great story!
Ren will make your heart bleed for more. Seriously, where can I find my Ren?
Sigh…..
The Boy and his Ribbon gets my #1 spot for book of the year. Excellent read.