Review: Song of the Fireflies by J.A. Redmerski

Title: Song of the Fireflies
Author: J.A. Redmerski
Series: Stand Alone
Published By: Forever (February 4, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
My Rating: 3 Stars!

Book Description:
New York Times bestselling author J.A. Redmerski brings us a stunning and heart-wrenching new novel about a couple who find each other in their darkest moment. 

Since they were kids, Elias Kline and Brayelle Bates have been inseparable. When Bray moves to South Carolina, separating the two for the first time, they both at last realize that their innocent childhood friendship has developed into something much more. So when Bray finally returns to Georgia—and to Elias—things between them couldn’t be more perfect…until one fateful night changes everything.

Desperate not to go to prison for a terrible accident, Elias and Bray decide to run. As they try to make the most of their freedom, the two find themselves relying on a rebellious group of people who tempt the duo into a wild and daring new life. But they can’t run from their troubles forever.

As the consequences of their past catch up to them, the couple must finally face reality. Even if they can make it through the unimaginable, Elias knows the truth about Bray’s painful history, and in the end he may not be able to save Bray from herself…

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 It is no secret that I love Redmerski's work, in fact she is one of the few authors that is on my auto buy list, even before she was picked up by a publishing agency. I just love her work, her writing and the very real characters she creates.

As soon as I saw her newest release, I knew it was for me and I snatched it up and dove right in.

Right away I could tell this wasn't going to be your typical boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl and they have a rocky start story. It had a completely different feel to it from the very first page. An almost Bonnie and Clyde feel. 

I knew I was going to get something exceptional. Not your typical two damaged people meeting and making each other whole, in fact, instead we get two only slightly damaged people that somehow make each other worse than they probably ever would have been alone yet somehow, in the end,  better as well.

I don't even know where to begin to try and express my feelings while reading this. Like I mentioned above, it was very different from her other work. It is told in first person dual point of views from both Elias and Bray and I liked that we got their altering point of views on everything from how they meet to how they became friends and then later lovers. It was a different change of pace than most new adult books out there and while it could have been a complete disaster it wasn't, Redmerski pulled it off and it worked nicely.

While I didn't connect to Elias and Bray like I am use to doing from this author's characters, I did like their tragic and sometimes heart breaking story. They were crazy in love and did some things that never should have happened that lead to some of their darkest moments in life but they stuck together and pulled through. They were there for one another through the good and the bad. 

This was rough and gritty and sometimes hard to read with the brutal honesty and situations the character were put in and even created themselves.

This wasn't one of my favorite stories from Redmerski but I did love it's uniqueness and overall messages about finding love, holding on to it and getting through things together, no matter the consequences or the situations. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*