Taken By Storm

Taken By Storm

By: Angela Morrison

Sometimes only love can save you...

Seventeen-year-old Lessie Hunt has rules: No making out. No sex. And definitely no falling for a non-Mormon. She pours all her passion into poetry, thoughts of escaping her tiny town and getting into her dream school, BYU.

Then Michael Walden arrives in Tekoa and everything changes. He is a free diver, which means he can hold his breath for minutes at a time. This is how he survived the storm that took his parents' lives, and the world as he knew it.

Lessie and Michael couldn't be more different: his dreams are tied to the depths of the ocean and hers to salvation above. Yet they are drawn to each other, even when jealousy, unbearable rules, and haunting memories threaten to tear them apart.

Every time Michael goes diving, Lessie is afraid  he'll never come back up. He is drowning in tragedy and she knows it's up to her to save him. Somehow.

But when temptation becomes too strong to resist, who is going to save her?

summary from book

My Rating: 4/5

I'd read quite a few negative reviews on Taken By Storm a while back. I don't remember specifics as to why some people didn't enjoy this novel all I know is that I was a little apprehensive to read it at the time. However, with much praise for Angela's up and coming novel Sing Me To Sleep, I decided that I wanted to give her previous work a read as well.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book a lot. It was nice to have a story of loss and grief told through a male perspective. I liked Michael very much. I felt for him and sympathized with his loss and the turmoil he had to endure. Michael was far from perfect and at times, he did do and say things that didn't go over well with me but that's okay. I enjoy flawed characters seeing as they're an accurate portrayal of how people really are...imperfect. I think he experienced fantastic growth as the novel progressed.

Lessie was another great character that I enjoyed. I think most people may not pick up and read this book because of the mention of religion in the summary. Lessie is Mormon and has very strong values and morals that she will do anything to uphold. I respected Lessie a lot. She was very much focused on staying true to who she was and what she felt was right which is admirable. At times, she could be a little preachy but I felt she always had the best interests of others at heart, especailly Michael who she would do anything to help. I'd never come across a character so devoted to anything in a novel as Lessie is to her faith. To me, this was refreshing, Lessie was refreshing. Another aspect I enjoyed surrounding Lessie is the beautiful poetry that she writes throughout Taken By Storm. Although the story is essentially told through Michael's point of view, the reader does catch a glimpse on multiple occasions into what Lessie is thinking and feeling through both her poetry and the conversations she holds with a friend over the internet.

I'm a sucker for a good romance story which is initially what drew me to Taken By Storm. I definitely felt the intensity that Michael and Lessie had for one another. Angela Morrison did a fantastic job of showcasing this immense connection between the two main characters through a multitude of well fleshed out scenes. At times however, I felt that these two characters relied far too much on each other. It's almost as if they were addicted to one another's company which although is not necessarily a good thing, I have to say it did make a lot of sense in the story. Michael is going through a terrible time where he feels empty and alone and then of course, Lessie is experiencing all of these emotions for the first time which made the heightened and dependent feelings coursing through the novel understandable.

Finally, I have to say that I enjoyed Angela Morrison's style of writing a great deal. It's very poetic in many places as well as staccato which I love. She writes with a lot of feeling, emotion and believability.

In conclusion, I do reccomend this novel. Although we're all different people with different preferences,  I do believe that if this novel interests you that it is very much worth a shot.