Sunday, December 27, 2015

review || CATCHING FOX { release day blitz } by Aimee McNeil


Limitless | December 22, 2015 | New Adult
★★★★

SOURCE: AUTHOR


A chance meeting between two young souls is all it took...

When Adalynne Fairweather was just a child, her entire life had already been planned. From Ivy League schools to a career in law, adventure was the one thing out of her reach. That was until a boy with bright green eyes and a monster truck t-shirt wandered into her back yard, giving the adventure she longed for. 

Refuge can be found in the most unlikely places…

Damon Knight’s abusive home life left him longing for a childhood he never had—until he wandered into Adalynne’s yard. She took his hand, smiled at him, and even gave him a nickname. Fox. The woods became their escape—a place to flee from reality. He discovered music through Adalynne’s piano, and not long after that, she gave him a guitar. Little did he know that gift would change his life forever.

Years later, their age is not the only thing that’s changed...

Adalynne’s love for Fox took on a life of its own. As they begin to build their lives, her heart aches for him in ways she can’t understand. As they slowly begin to drift apart, Adalynne becomes more desperate to cling to their secret romance. 

But Fox is no longer the bright-eyed child from the woods. Her shy, beautiful Fox has grown into a dark, troubled man with a guitar. And when her last attempt to salvage their relationship breaks Adalynne’s heart, catching Fox a second time seems just out of her reach.


{ about aimee mcneil } .

Aimee McNeil was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, where she continues to live today with her husband and three children. She is a stay-at-home mother that loves every colorful moment with her family.

Aimee spends most of her free time indulging in her love of writing. You can also find her lost in the pages of a good book, or making a mess with her paints. Aimee loves to explore anything that promotes creativity. It is one of the many reason she enjoys writing.

{ trailer } .

{ review } .

The story of Fox and his 'Bee' was so very cute. Aimee McNeil crafted a story with two characters from the young age of six, through new adulthood, capturing the timid Fox (nicknamed as such due to his quiet ways, by Adalynne) and a young Adalynne -- who when they spoke of choosing any name in the world, she would rather be 'Bee'.

Told in Adalynne's voice, albeit in the third person, we watch as Adalynne and Fox grow up, as their feelings for one another grow from secret friends to something more. Very rarely is Fox referred to as his given name, or even his stage name later on -- and I felt that with that clarification, with him being 'Fox', it showcased who Damon Knight truly was. Without Fox's voice, as reader's we are kept in the dark about the way Fox acts the way he does throughout their teen and young adult years. The epilogue, though, is told in his voice, so that was a nice little treat. I'm curious if Ms. McNeil would have interest in writing the story again/different aspects of the story in Fox's voice, as some author's choose to do (I just don't want to let these two go...).

Adalynne was the one to introduce Fox to music -- and that small introduction opened up a world for him he would not have had otherwise. Fox's home life was sad, yes, but as we learn, his desire for Adalynne's friendship was sweet and he fought for that bright spot in his early years.

While the story was extremely cute -- I could definitely re-read it again and again, and wouldn't mind seeing these two again someday -- I did feel that it was a bit longer than necessary. The first four or so chapters chronicle Adalynne and Fox's early years, from meeting and then into their senior year of high school, with two-plus year jumps. However, the author would often choose to have Adalynne remember things we had already read -- and rather than just remembering them, the scenes were almost written again in back-thought (example, we read when Fox gives Adalynne a necklace with a bee charm on it, and later when Adalynne is reminiscing, she states Fox gave it to her for such and such back during so and so -- 'the necklace Fox gave her when they were children' would have sufficed). Occasionally in the middle, Adalynne would refer to memories and the chapter would go into memory form, and I kind of felt that either Ms. McNeil should have put all of the early years in the beginning and not truly refer to them later, or put the memories in while she was thinking back on them as an adult (...if you catch what I'm saying. Does this make sense?).

I also became increasingly annoyed with Adalynne's continual pulling toward Fox. While I understood the reasoning, and that it was the author's way of choosing fate versus want, Adalynne came off as extremely needy.

Lastly, I was disappointed in Adalynne's father, but you can make your own judgement on that.

Regardless of the few annoyances, I truly did enjoy CHASING FOX. It had the ability to be a 5-star, if not for those few things.

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