Collide

 

When I saw Van Gogh mentioned on the first line of Collide I knew I would like the book, but I was not expecting to love it as much as I did. Modernisations are not my favourite sub-genre and even though sometimes I like them, I seldom love them, but Collide was a page turner book that kept me glued to it for two whole days and that completely changed my perspective. I absolutely loved this modernisation!

In this North & South variation Maggie Hale leaves her small town of Hillstone to pursue her dream of becoming a contemporary dancer in Las Vegas and it is in Sin City that she will meet Jay Thornton, someone she will misunderstand but who will intrigue her more than she would like to admit.

In Collide each chapter is focused the point of view of each of these two characters, so we will get to know each one of them very well, and this is one of the highlights of the book for me. The way Melanie Stanford organised and wrote the book made it absolutely irresistible and readers will keep wanting for more and more. The fact that the point of view changes with each chapters makes it a very dynamic book and there is not one dull moment in it.

I loved the Vegas environment and how real these characters felt in their own little world. I could picture their every move and imagine each scene in my head, I felt transported into that reality and I don’t believe there is anything better in a book.

I wasn’t too sure about Jay Thornton’s character in the beginning, but those doubts faded very quickly as I started falling in love with his character. He is compelling, and I could feel myself being drawn to him with every page I turned. But to be honest, I loved all characters in the book, Nico was an excellent modernisation of Nicholas, and I loved how the author made his relationship with Jay so similar to the original, in fact, It is astonishing how well Melanie Stanford translated the original story into this new setting. Everything was put together with a lot of care, and every little detail seemed to flow in the right direction every single time.

Mrs. Thornton does not exist in this book, and I confess that only made it better for me, I never really like her character in North and South books and Jay Thornton’s family life was much more interesting and modern, it made me love him even more,

The relationship between Maggie and Jay is incredible, I felt sparkles between them every time they were together and even though the first time he sees her dancing Song of the Cage Bird is one of my favourite scenes, it doesn’t stand out so much in comparison to the others because they are all great!

Collide is definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year, and if I could give it a higher rating I would, I loved everything about it, the characters, the setting, the story, the writing… Every single aspect of this book contributed to it being a compelling, intense and wonderful book that I recommend to absolutely everyone, not just those who like North and South, but to everyone who likes a love story that carries along with it real life struggles. I’m sure most people will not have gone through the situations these characters went through as they are too extreme, but I could relate to their struggle to get a better life, Nico was the best example, but I could also relate to Maggie fighting for her dreams and for a career on something she likes and to Jay for fighting to get out of the loop kind of life he got himself into.

In short terms, bravo Mrs. Stanford! This is a book I will not forget anytime soon. Oh…and the cover is perfect for the story!!!

 

You can find Collide at:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.ca