Grade: A- Despite the setting, this novella somehow manages to be quiet, intimate and very, very romantic.We stand there and just kiss, and with every touch, we seem to explain and apologise, and bridge that gap that yawned between us.I love it when I can just sink in and wallow in the language, and let it take me along wherever the author wants to go. And so far, I’m willing to follow Voinov wherever he’s heading....Everything stops existing when he takes off, as if he takes it all with him when he goes up there, to places I’ll never see again....I can’t exactly run after him, so I tighten my fingers around the bullet. It felt like I owned it when I pulled it from his seat, like that one polished stone amidst a million on a beach that catches your attention and feels like it’s meant for you alone....If the world ends tomorrow, how will I go? Without ever having risked anything, or having done the one thing I can’t stop thinking about?...We race towards something so amazing and precious it strikes me dumb with its immenseness. I lose every sense of myself, every thought; there’s just emotion and utter fulfillment....”I’m not going anywhere. Not while you’re still hurt. Not ever, if I can help it.”It took me an hour to finish this pathetic excuse for a rave recommendation because I had to keep re-reading my notes and highlights.NOTE: I read a digital review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley
