My rating: 5 of 5 stars
HOLY HELL. I read this two times in a row.
Felicity (Flick) Eastwood can transfer happiness from one person to another. However, she herself, feels none. One evening after her volunteer shift at the hospital, she feels a shiver down her spine. This marks the first time in 3 years she has felt any real emotion, thus, she decides to follow it. And it ends at Achilles, a super-villain with a face painted like a skeleton. Only, where she should be screaming and running for her life, he intrigues her, and her him. Once Achilles finds about her power, he decides he must have it for himself and kidnaps her. Here is where the story picks up; Stockholm syndrome in a world where no one is black or white, but every shade of color possible.
I just want to gush.
The CharactersFelicity and Achilles are some of the most complex characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. The fact that the author doesn't reveal all the skeletons in their closets (pun intended) adds to the mystery and personality of these incredibly imperfect characters. To be honest, we never do find out about Achilles past, where he came from, how he came to be the way he is. We just accept that he is a weird fish out of water, as is Felicity. Though, we do get a teeny bit more of a peek into her background.
Felicity's best friend, Lucia, was built up just enough to find endearing yet not worry too much about what happens to her in the end. She helps provide backbone to the story in a much needed place and she could not be more perfect.
The Romance. They are so imperfectly perfect for each other. They fill in all the small weak points that have made their lives blase hitherto: he makes her strong, she makes him soft. At the end, they infinitely seem more human in their imperfect fish out of water ways.
The Plot. So incredibly unique. It's not just a story of Stockholm Syndrome. It's ultimately a story about courage and how love changes people in all the right ways. Achilles will never be all good. But he learns to be good enough for Felicity. It is also a story about growing into yourself and not letting your demons rule your life. Everyone has demons, but sometimes you have to get up and face them head on, and it's okay to require a little bit of help.
The world building. This is probably the one element I found lacking in Equal Parts. We know we have a world with superheroes and super-villains. We know they fight each other. We know that authorities are pretty bad at catching the bad guys. Yea, that's about it. While I enjoyed no detail was wasted on useless landscape descriptions, I would have enjoyed knowing more about this world and how this mapping of superhero/supervillain fit outside of Felicity and Achilles' city.
It ended on a note that didn't wrap up nearly enough, but was just perfect. I can't explain it any other way. You'll have to read it to find out. I highly recommend this book for anyone who understands that people are not just good or evil and wants to explore that, as well as an amazing love story.
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