In my initial pursuit of all things Literature it was to find the elusive text—whether, in poetry, plays, lyrics, journals, books, letters the list is endless—that would ultimately change my template and leave my soul breathless. I have read thousands of things from academic, to classic, to plain ole smut and there are a ton that has left their mark. Rarely, though do they leave me with a sense of euphoric peace juxtaposed with utter devastation. This author is one of those that manage to do that in some way or form in everything that she writes. It can be just a simple phrase, word choice, a cadence to her tone and style, or because she can make the flawed and broken seem perfect and beautiful.
This book is a prime example of that. It should not have moved me the way that it did but in typical fashion, my emotions and feelings are a slave to this author and her master wordsmith skills. There was a touch of ruthlessness to Wolfe as he played a game to enact vengeance. Francesca was a pawn in that game, or so everyone thought but ultimately, she became the Queen. The queen is, after all, the most important piece as she ultimately decides who wins the game. My heart hurt for her at times, not because of the situation as much as she didn’t know that she had the power. She didn’t need to have notes tell her what her future would be, instead, she just needed to realize that she needed to spread her wings and fly free. I am not sure if that had been Wolfe’s intention all along or if it came as an afterthought. It is hard to say who learned the importance of trust and love first. These two did not make it easy on either account for the other and therein lied the beauty and dichotomy of this beautiful story. They both had shattered illusions of what Love meant. One was naïve, and the other was jaded indifference.
“No love is fully requited. No love is equal. No love is fair. There is always one side that loves. More. And you better not be that side –because it suffers.”
I just know that in their own way, despite being disillusioned, they are were truly the perfect fit because even monsters needed someone to love them. Perhaps if those monsters had the love in the first place and not had love burnt or killed) then they would have not been a monster in the first place. I don’t think Wolfe was as much of an anti0hero as he has been portrayed to be. Instead, I see him more of a man that is guarded but most definitely not an anti-hero or a monster. He used his words and his actions as a defense mechanism and I cannot blame him. It was a pleasure to watch both Wolfe and Francesca grow into the people they were destined to be. To fall in love, to discover that sometimes, your first kiss being stolen might be a blessing and not an omen Especially, if in the end, it leads a person to discover that just because you have wings doesn’t mean that you should fly, sometimes, just sometimes, they are meant to protect
