Review: "Out of Focus" by L.B. Simmons

Free falling into 10 million stars *An ARC was provided for honest review for Wicked Women Book Blog* One of my top anticipated book of 2016 was Out of Focus and boy did it take me for a ride. L.B. Simmons never seizes to amaze me with her insight into the minds and hearts of the characters she writes about. With Out of Focus, she managed to dive deep into the darkness of Cassie’s soul, strip her bare for us to se

e the dark within and take us all on a journey that literally made your throat ache and your heart hurt. There were so many times while reading I had to stop because of the tears blinding me. Yet again Ms. Simmons broke my feels.

Cassandra Cooper was not a new character to me, I have been curious about her since I read Under the Influence and fell yet again in love with L.B.’s writing. She was the funny, snarky, loud, best friend of Spencer Locke. When I started Out of Focus, I knew I was going to FEEL. The thing about L.B.’s writing is that she knows how to reel you in. So I started the prologue and learned that Cassie has been hiding her true self from a very young age because of a secret. A secret that is slowly eating away at her soul. A secret that was shrouding her world in darkness. My heart broke, I didn’t wanna believe but I had to. I learned that Cassie Cooper has never stopped pretending since those fateful months. The Cassie we knew and the Cassie that was born that day were two different people. This book was extremely emotional for me because I actually felt her struggle, her pain, and her darkness. Out of Focus was hauntingly poignant and got me yo-yoing from one spectrum of feels to another. Because one moment I was going all aww because of the sheer adorable-ness of tiny Cassie and Spencer and then I wanted to grab a sledgehammer to bash HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED’s head in because of what was revealed then to flat out swooning and going all gooey for Gray. The feels were running amok all over the plac

e starting with the swish, swish motion of Cassie’s dress, the utter strength of Cassie and Spencer’s bond, the ‘love you, times two’s’, krav maga, the tremors raking Cassie in the middle of the nights, her inner monologues, the voices, intensely dark blue stares, the understanding, the acceptance, the butterflies in the tummy, the giddiness accompanied by his touch, the sheer need to protect one’s best friend at all cost, thinking you don’t deserve to be happy, the past, making new friends, the revelations about Liam (brought back so many feels), Gray’s confession about the look out (swoon moment), Gray understanding her, roller-skates, first dates, flashbacks that destroys your happy, family, Mrs. Locke, first step closer to a new relationship, silent conversations, books that are key to your happy, kisses on the forehead, the fall, the easy moments, the real Cassie, sharing stories with each other, death by Grady Bennett, Daisy Mae gets a surprise embrace, Rat (I had to stop cos I couldn’t see anything at this point), the anger, the fight, wishing and wanting, free falling down to earth, the hospital (the past coming back to haunt me and make me giddy), the crash landing, the past coming back to take away our Cassie, and then came the epic entrance of beloved character that literally make me squeal, then the letters, and then…. well at this point you just have to read to find out.

Will Cassie Cooper be brave enough to fight her demons? Will she overcome them to find her light or will she allow the darkness to swallow her whole. Out of Focus pissed off, made me swoon, go all gooey, tore me apart and emotionally drained me. Yet it portrayed the feelings of those who find themselves visiting the dark. Those who loses themselves because of the parts played by people without conscience, without shame, without a heart. This story is a journey of a little girl, who lost herself in the dark only to find herself craving the light. But when darkness has veiled your soul for so long, it’s hard to come out and face the bright light of love.