The Epic Conclusion to The Boy & His Ribbon
“What do you do when you write down all your secrets? No…that’s not enough. What do you do when you write down all your secrets and the one person who should never read them does?I’ll tell you what you do.You hope.”RENRen didn’t know the meaning of love until he took Della for his own.To begin with, he hated her, but as the months bled into … his own.
To begin with, he hated her, but as the months bled into years, he learned the opposite of hate, dedicating his life to giving her everything.
Every sacrifice, every gift, he gave wholeheartedly.
But then love turned to lust and ruined everything.
DELLA
I was stupid to write down my secrets, but I’d been stupid before, so it was nothing new.
I couldn’t blame him, hate him, fix him.
I tried to move on without him.
But no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to delete the secrets I’d written.
Until something happened.
Until he came back and read my stupid secrets.
And nothing was the same after that.
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I have just finished one of the most profound books I have ever read. To the point that common words seems trite in trying to describe this masterpiece. In A Girl and Her Ren, Pepper Winters delivers the ultimate conclusion to a lifelong journey that is exceptional in its pure honesty and gutwrenching emotion. I couldn’t turn away if I tried as Ren and Della continue their time apart only to gratefully realize they are lost without the other in ways most of us might never experience. And to me, I believe that is exactly what the author wanted to convey: that their love is uniquely theirs and we are simply the fortunate ones who get to steal a glorious glimpse.
We get both points of view this time around with a bit more of Della once again acting as a narrator at key moments. Which I will readily admit I relish, since we are never unsure of what is in Ren and Della’s hearts even as they struggle to fully understand it themselves. Looking back on the past, Della is once again writing her version of events. This time from the future and everything she and her man encountered whether good or bad is there for the taking.
We’d spent our entire lives together. And, if I had my way, we’d spend the rest of eternity.
I didn’t know nor could I predict how much more I’d feel for these characters. Their early years so genuinely described in The Boy and His Ribbon (Book One) broke me more than once but with this next chapter in their story, I experienced raw emotion I wasn’t sure I’d survive. It was that powerful. But as the author continued her enticingly impeccable and descriptive writing, I happily fell into her words all to willingly once more.
There is a whole new world unfolding with each turn of the page as Ren and Della not only consummate their long-held love but embark on a newer life, one with the most uncertain of possibilities. With old friends becoming true family when our couple needs them most, this book transcends what is the typical romance novel. As has been said more than once in this superb book, this is not just a love story, this is most definitely a life story. With two main characters who are truly extraordinary in the most ordinary of ways. Ren and Della are the epitome of selfless and it is second nature to them to also be brave, resilient, devoted and truly appreciative. Two people who turn passion into an art form with each stolen kiss, the touch of a hand and every single all-consuming hug at the end of a good day’s work. I am completely wrapped up in Ren and Della and I am finding it extremely hard to let them go, despite the fact that I had to set my e-reader down several times in the last 10 to 15 percent. But I do know now that whenever I see a cardboard wheel of blue ribbon, I will forever do so through watery eyes.
I strongly feel that this story needs to be fully experienced by each reader on their own terms, which is why I have not gone into great detail with respect to what transpires through the pages. This book and duet is a gift of words and the very definition of why I read.
Feed your soul with a love story that is above all others.
A love story that has no beginning and no end.
A love story that is in a word, epic.
A Girl and Her Ren is magnificent and deserves no less than 10++ stars.
10 Heartbreakingly Beautiful Stars. This book is everything…happiness, joy, celebration, romantic, devotion, sadness, heartbreak, and peaceful. I’ve never read a story that’s captured so much emotion from so many directions before. Some moments are so raw, so realistic, that you break down and feel the pain with the characters. That’s true talent from the writer. There were moments I could not catch my breath and so many times I was broken, but I healed and found peace. Take the journey and finish Ren and Della’s story. This story is about life; and all that comes with it.
This story blew me away. It’s real and so very beautiful in its dichotomy of simplicity and complexity. A story for the ages that will go down as the best duet and story I have ever read. The ante has been upped and it will be difficult, near impossible for this story to be outdone. As result, this duet will ALWAYS own a piece of my heart.
Right from the very beginning, this book made me feel every desperate heartfelt emotion I’ve ever felt. I felt the deepest of despair to the most profound devotion.
It is a remarkable story that transcends time and space but yet hits so achingly close to home.
I loved being part of Ren and Della’s journey. Their story pulled me in and wrapped itself around my heart and squeezed, never once letting go.
Ren’s character, I fell in love with. Throughout everything, he puts Della first. Everything he does and says leads him back to his true love. He never falters. He is resilient and so very real.
Della is so very smart and strong. She is the perfect match for Ren. She loves him as desperately as he loves her. I felt their love as if it was tangible, something real.
This a powerful and undeniable story of life and love at its very finest. Recommended for everyone but especially those who truly believe love conquers all.
Please note that this is the second book in a duet. The Boy & His Ribbon must be read first.
I received an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.The Boy & His Ribbon
***Edited to tell you that this book is absolutely 10 stars, no fluff***
Pepper Winters lied. There is no choice. There is only acceptance or denial. But there is no choice. Pepper Winters is destroying my day one tear at a time.
I’m not sure I’m going to survive this book but damn it I already know my heart won’t let me stop. I spent the last few hours in utter agony. I was a sobbing mess of aches and horror. My head hurts, my eyes are swollen shut and I’ve been reduced to mouth breathing. My heart aches. My lungs are fighting to capture breathe. My face, tear ducts, and nose hurt from wiping and crying. I am an absolute mess of epic proportions. I am devastated, lost, and so madly in love with their love that I would voluntarily go through the heartache all over again- once I build up the walls that Pepper Winters smashed into dust.
In a twisted example of the destruction of my soul I wanted to walk you through the painful, most intense quotes that are sure to destroy even those that opt against reading this duet. But then I remembered I hate spoilers and that I could not in any conscience jeopardize the intensity of the authors words to make myself feel better. So once you have been demoralized, destroyed, and left in tatters by this book, please PM, message, or email me. I need the release valve of shared agony as much as you will.
You want to know my thoughts. I F@CKING LOVED THIS DUET!!!!!!!!!!! I know most sites won’t let those words be stated as is so I will add ridiculous characters to emphasize their meanings. Pepper Winters has been able to get emotions from me since I read my first of her books. She has never not gotten visceral responses from me. I just never knew that she had this duet in her! There are no real words to describe the kind of story that this unless I use hers:
“It is based on life. A life that everyone must endure.”
You see Della warned as all along. You may not remember or you may have brushed it off as I did. But the truth of the matter is that she warns us that this is no fairytale- or at least not the Disney kind. Its real and raw and so very beyond words. Its heartache, bone deep despair, and love filled with longing only some of us will ever experience. It is soul branding love, spine bowing intensity, and 110% loss. Loss of innocence, love, and spirit. The Girl & Her Ren is loss of hope, light, and sanity. But as you start to think of me as Debbie downer, The Girl & Her Ren is everything. EVERYTHING you could ask for in a life story. Unconditional love to a degree no one has ever put to words. It is hope intensified to epic need. It is simply the best/worst book I have ever read. I have never cried, sobbed, and shut down as hard as I have reading this book. There have been tons before this that made me cry, weep, and mourn but they have all been pushed of the pedestal of pain. The new crowned book: The Girl & Her Ren. I don’t know if Pepper Winters set out to destroy, demolish, and obliterate every known reader in the world but she is off to a fantastic start.
So take it from this reader with the puffy eyes, snot stained tissues, and oppressing headache- you have never read a life story like this one and you will never read another one either!
Once upon a time, there was a boy and a baby…
Reviewed for Sweet Spot Sisterhood
I have been trying to figure out how I could possibly write a review of this book that would do it justice. You must read The Boy and His Ribbon first. I thought that book was absolutely amazing and have had a very hard time waiting to read The Girl and Her Ren. But that time finally arrived. It was so worth the wait!! This book was incredible. It is very obvious that Pepper Winters poured her blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul not only into this book, but into the Duet itself. I was blown away by The Girl and Her Ren. It took me on a very emotional journey. A brilliant story of epic proportions.
THE GIRL AND HER REN is the second instalment in Pepper Winters’ contemporary, adult THE RIBBON Duet focusing on Ren Wild and Della Ribbon. THE GIRL AND HER REN should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up immediately after the events and cliff hanger of book one-The Boy and His Ribbon.
Told from dual first person points of view (Ren and Della), and second person perspective using present day and future reflections of the past THE GIRL AND HER REN is a heart breaking, brilliant and staggering narrative that focuses on twelve years in the life of Ren Wild and Della Ribbon. Where as book one covers the first eighteen years together, THE GIRL AND HER REN is a dramatic, traumatic and realistic introspective about two people on an ill-fated journey of love, laughter, idealism and fate.
From the outset, life would never be easy for Ren and Della; smooth waters gave way to rushing torrents; peace and happiness were but a momentary dreams of ideation and long-sought comfort. Pepper Winters takes the reader on an odyssey of transitory emotions, emotions as volatile and fragile as life itself. Forever is but a fairy-tale of the imagination; romance is a sentiment found only in stories and books…but love….love is permanence, a permanence that transcends life and death, yet in the end not everyone finds the perfection that is the love between Della and Ren.
THE GIRL AND HER REN is a dual introspection of one man’s struggle to be the man deserving of his happily ever after, and one woman’s battle to prove he is worthy of that love. Pepper Winters writes a sensitive, imaginative and riveting tale that will leave your heart in pieces, and your mind in turmoil as you come to grips with what happened and why. THE GIRL AND HER REN is an intoxicating, tragic and exhilarating story that will remain in your psyche for a very long time.
As I try to compose myself to find words for this review let me just say this book is absolutely breathtaking! We pick up a few months after Ren left and Della is trying to move forward with her life as hard a that is. Sometimes you have to be alone to fully grow and experience life, but can Della truly ever forget her soul, her Ren? Ren ran but never truly could let Della go completely. Can he truly ever let her go? Will it be to late to go back to his heart, his Ribbon? Their story is what gives hope that true love does exist. A beautiful, heartbreaking, coming of age love story that spans time. Told in dual POV; have some tissues ready….or a whole box!
Once in a while you come across a book that will steal your heart and leave it’s mark on your soul. The Ribbon Duet was everything I needed that I didn’t know I needed.
This book in particular, well this book shook me, consumed me, and left me forever changed. The story was heart-stopping, brutal, and in the end it was the most heartbreakingly beautiful thing I have ever read.
With the amount I read a year I find a lot of books I like, some I love, some that I want to scream at the top of my lungs “READ THIS BOOK” because they are so epic. With The Ribbon Duet, I want to pat the chair next to me, I want to sit you down, and then I want to tell you about how these books are nothing like you will ever expect. I would go on to say that if you trust the journey, then you too will forever be in love with a boy named Ren and his girl Della. How he went from her savior to her everything. How she saved him and changed him in so many ways. How they came together, had more love, and lived a fuller life than any of us will ever live.
I want to tell you so many more things. I want to go over everything I felt at every point in this book but that would ruin it for you. I don’t want to take away the experience you will have while reading this book. It will be something I never forget because no book has ever done to me what this book did.
This book is everything. This series is everything.
Trust the journey and read these books.