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Stay with Me #2
Even When I'm Gone
The second book in a heart-consuming series.
Ollie.
Forget everything you thought you knew. Hell, I don't even know myself anymore. For seven months I've been gone only to come back to be tested in every way possible. They say keep your enemies close, and my demons welcomed me back with open arms. My downfall is a necessary evil. But Mia is my endgame.
Mia.
Seven months ago, Ollie surrendered to the darkness, abandoning me in the process. He stripped me of my walls only to leave me defenseless. Now he's back, along with fresh new faces and obstacles standing in our way. He says trust no one. Not even him. How am I supposed to be strong for us both when I'm losing my grip?
"Just stay with me, Mia."
"Even when you're gone?"
"Especially when I'm gone.".
Ollie.
Forget everything you thought you knew. Hell, I don't even know myself anymore. For seven months I've been gone only to come back to be tested in every way possible. They say keep your enemies close, and my demons welcomed me back with open arms. My downfall is a necessary evil. But Mia is my endgame.
Mia.
Seven months ago, Ollie surrendered to the darkness, abandoning me in the process. He stripped me of my walls only to leave me defenseless. Now he's back, along with fresh new faces and obstacles standing in our way. He says trust no one. Not even him. How am I supposed to be strong for us both when I'm losing my grip?
"Just stay with me, Mia."
"Even when you're gone?"
"Especially when I'm gone.".
360 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 29, 2019
About the author
Nicole Fiorina
17 books2,807 followersNicole Fiorina is the #1 Best Selling Author in Poetry for her debut trilogy, Stay with Me, and Amazon’s #1 Best Selling Author in Gothic Romance for Hollow Heathens. She has four published titles, all translated into multiple languages.
Her writing style and stories are known to evoke imagery and emotion, varying across all sub-genres, settings, and time periods due to her ambition to live a thousand lives. She's a rule breaker who cannot be confined in a box, except when she's in the writing cave. In this case, she will lose track of time and will have to be dragged away. When she's not writing, she's busy being inspired, traveling, or planning her next book—with one hand on her laptop and the other balancing a latte.
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Facebook➜ https://facebook.com/nicolefiorinabooks
Book Club ➜ https://facebook.com/groups/nfgang
Website ➜ www.nicolefiorina.com
Instagram➜ https://www.instagram.com/authornicol...
TikTok➜ https://tiktok.com/@nicolefiorinabooks
Reading Order
Stay with Me Series:
Stay with Me
Even When I'm Gone
Now Open Your Eyes
Tales of Weeping Hollow Collection:
Hollow Heathens: Book of Blackwell
Bone Island: Book of Danvers (coming fall of 2021)
Stand-alones:
Ethan (coming end of 2021)
Love Sick Fool (coming Spring 2022)
Her writing style and stories are known to evoke imagery and emotion, varying across all sub-genres, settings, and time periods due to her ambition to live a thousand lives. She's a rule breaker who cannot be confined in a box, except when she's in the writing cave. In this case, she will lose track of time and will have to be dragged away. When she's not writing, she's busy being inspired, traveling, or planning her next book—with one hand on her laptop and the other balancing a latte.
Newsletter Sign up ➜ http://bit.ly/nfbnews
Facebook➜ https://facebook.com/nicolefiorinabooks
Book Club ➜ https://facebook.com/groups/nfgang
Website ➜ www.nicolefiorina.com
Instagram➜ https://www.instagram.com/authornicol...
TikTok➜ https://tiktok.com/@nicolefiorinabooks
Reading Order
Stay with Me Series:
Stay with Me
Even When I'm Gone
Now Open Your Eyes
Tales of Weeping Hollow Collection:
Hollow Heathens: Book of Blackwell
Bone Island: Book of Danvers (coming fall of 2021)
Stand-alones:
Ethan (coming end of 2021)
Love Sick Fool (coming Spring 2022)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,213 reviews
September 23, 2023
5/5 ⭐️’s
“he was both the hero and villian in our love story, saving me only to ruin me.”
i’ve been staring at this blank screen for what seems like forever now. i’m still speechless after reading this book…i barely got any sleep because that cliffhanger!?!?! i need to start the last book asap so please don’t expect much from this review🥲
♡ content warnings:
again…this book is dark so please please please look up trigger warnings! mentions of suicide and rape are the heavy ones. your mental health comes first🥹love you all<3
♡ my thoughts:
i. ate. this. book. up. nicole fiorina’s writing?! absolutely breathtaking, ♾️/10. i already wanna reread this trilogy and i’m not even done. i have high hopes for the last book, but i’m sick thinking about it because i have no idea how this will end. i was immediately hooked from the beginning of this book and then nicole gave me a suspenseful mystery plot on top of the romance!?!? yes. 1000000000000x yes. it was so good. it kept me on my toes, it made me go crazy, and most importantly i saw none of it coming. even tho that plot had me hurting for my bb mia and absolutely fuming…i absolutely loved it! the plot twists?!? my bruna bae was so right. there’s a part in this book where i’ll never forgive nicole. it involves one of the characters in this book and if you’ve read the book then you know what i’m talking about and it literally killed me. so sad. i can’t say cuz spoilers, but just know that i will NEVER get over it. oh and ollie’s pov!? my heart skipped a beat every time the beginning of a chapter said “ollie”, thanks to my bestie, hoda, for telling me in advance🙈i screamed and got even more excited to start this🤭
♡ tiny plot summary:
ollie is not himself. struggling with his mental health, they drug him up on a bunch of different medications. will those medications pull him under or will his love for mia keep him afloat?
“the moment someone speaks up about their internal pain, they’re shoved onto meds, counseling, and hospitals,” ollie tapped his head vigorously, “because we don’t fit into their box and we’re fucking weak and lazy, yeah? how about alone and misunderstood!”
♡ ollie & mia
this book was so hard to read because of my intense love for these characters. what they go through individually and as a whole!?! too much :( ollie and mia’s strength could lift the entire universe. i love them endlessly <3
“close your eyes, love,” he said.
“where are we going?”
“under the stars.”
the rest of my review will be my favorite, memorable, and painful quotes/scenes.
♡ scenes:
#1:
i flipped on the faucet to brush my teeth when i found my reflection in the mirror.
not me.
mia.
she stepped out of her stall and stood there with a towel around her tiny figure. our eyes linked and my hands hit the corner to hold myself up from the power she still had over me. her coffee-colored eyes held strong, undisturbed by the distance between us. her perfect lips parted, wanting to say something. just spit it out, love. if i had to wrap my fingers around her jaw and exhume them myself…
“let’s go,” scott barked.
mia snapped her mouth shut and dropped her towel. she stood stripped and bared. my first instinct was to snatch her up in my arms and remove her from hungry eyes. but then my gaze landed on her fading injuries. her flawless skin had taken a beating, and my soul went cold. yellowed patches marked her thighs and hips, and my grip tightened around the edge of the sink as my eyes continued their journey back to her face. “who did this to you?” i asked, each word pained by the view before me.
“you did.”
no. i would never hurt you.
i swooped up her towel, wrapped it around her, and pulled her to me.
mia shook in my grasp, and i couldn’t tell if it was because she was cold or scared of me. i lowered my head into the crook of her neck. “tell me i didn’t do this,” i whispered out of earshot. my entire being hung on her answer.
“it wasn’t you,” she cried softly into my chest. “you weren’t yourself.”
her words devoured me, shredded me to nothing. absolute nothing. chest pain so intense blurred my vision, and i held onto her tighter, digging my head into her neck.
“please, wait for me. just stay with me, mia.”
“even when you’re gone?”
“especially when i’m gone.”
~~~OOOOOO THIS WAS HARD TO TYPE, I’M SOBBING. pain pain pain pain.
#2:
“dammit, mia. look at me.” i snapped my head up and faced the music. a fire burned in his eyes, and his nostrils flared. then as if that one look sedated him, ollie’s shoulders dropped beneath his black hoodie, and he leaned into me, his body remembering me. calm. relieved. revived. hopeful green eyes examined mine, and he wet his busted lip. “it’s going to be okay.”
“how do you know?”
“i just do.”
“ollie i—“
“no, mia. i don’t care to know the details,” he cut in, all-knowingly.
“but—“
“it doesn’t matter.”
“i have to get it out!”
he raised his brows and lifted his chin.
“did you fuck him?”
“no, but—“
“did you kiss him?”
“no, ollie.”
his head titled and his eyes narrowed. “are you confused?”
never. “no!”
“then it doesn’t fucking matter.”
“how could you say that?”
“because you have no idea what it’s like to fall in love with you. i’m not stupid, he’s in love with you, and he’d be a bloody fool not to try something.” he looked off for a moment before his eyes hit mine again. “let it go, love. guilt looks horrible on you. it doesn’t match the color of your eyes.”
~~~my want and need for this man has intensified.
#3:
soft cries came from inside, and i jerked my head in his direction. “somethings wrong.”
“this is how it always starts. it’s a nightmare.”
“a nightmare?”
scott paused with a key in the doorknob to meet my eyes. “it gets worse. she’s had them ever since the day you left. imagine having to listen to it every bloody night.”
“you’ve been helping her?” i asked, surprised.
“trying.”
the cries turned into screams, and my focus bounced from ethan to his keys. “get me in there.”
ethan snapped his eyes back to the door knob and jiggled the key to get the door opened. i busted through and ran to her side.
in the dark, cold room, her small frame shook, drenched and hot with her hands into a fist. “mia,” i whispered, brushing my hand over her hair. i looked back to scott to see him gone and the door ajar. “wake up, my love. open your eyes.”
every scream from her lips grabbed my own emotions and shook them harshly. i dropped my head into my hand and clenched my eyes when i felt a hand over my shoulder. i glanced up to see scott standing over me with a towel in his hand. snatching it from his grasp, i turned back to mia and smoothed it over her glistening forehead. “mia, open for eyes for me.”
“ollie?” she cried out.
my heart clenched, and a breath left me at the mention of my name. “yeah, love. it’s me. i’m here.” her eyes slowly blinked open, and the color shifted from a black to a golden brown instantly. “it’s alright.”
~~~if there’s a nightmare trope…sign me up.
#4:
“that’s nonsense.” i withdrew my hoodie and sat over the mattress beside her. “no matter what, you can always talk to me. you know better than that.” after stretching out my legs, i pulled her up and over me so her head could lay in my lap. my fingers slipped under her shirt and i ran them down her back. scrapes and marks protruded beneath my fingers, and i lifted her tank and leaned in to get a closer look. “what in the hell…”
“it’s nothing,” mia’s voice broke and pulled away from my grasp.
it wasn’t nothing. my touch knew every detail of her skin. those had been scars. fresh scars. ones i’d never touched before. “take off your shirt,” i demanded with a rattled tone as i silently prayed i had been wrong. please, god, tell me i’m wrong.
mia faced me with humiliation in her eyes, and i tried to control my emotions from spilling out. “mia,” i urged, and for a moment, she hesitated, but then sat up and took off her shirt. the room was dark, and she turned her back toward me. i tilted her enough to hit the red blinking light coming from the corner of the room when i noticed scars covering her.
"what the fuck happened?" she hung her head, and my stomach twisted in knots.
"mia? how the hell did this happen? who did this to you?"
mia’s lips trembled, and she lifted her head to the ceiling, trying to curb all weakness.
i picked her up and slid her into my lap, facing me. her legs wrapped around me while her arms unwrapped from over her chest. i yanked my shirt off and pulled her against me, needing to be close without barriers. mia released an exhale into my neck, and her fingers scratched at the back of my head.
“i’m not okay,” she cried. “i’m not. i can’t do it anymore…”
~~~PAIN. this scene was so intimate and so heartbreaking. i literally cannot with this book.
#5:
my fear had since turned into anger.
ollie’s fingers dug into my thigh, attempting to absorb the rage rolling through me.
“baby, eat,” he said.
ollie rarely called me that. he was desperate.
~~~this is such a small scene but had a huge impact cuz😩😩😩i mean it speaks for itself🥹🦋
♡ quotes:
- “memories of the way she made me feel. memories of the way i’d made her feel. perfection. she’d always fit perfectly in my arms. she'd fit perfectly on top of me.
i’d fit perfectly inside her. she'd fit perfectly beside me, against me, under me, bodies entangled and aligned. every way, we'd fit without flaw. her body was my kingdom come. her divine kiss was my salvation. her soul was mine's paradise. mia was my evermore. and i'd known since the moment my soul felt hers.”
- “anything that happens to you, happens to me. every blow, every setback, every burn, every bloody beating. you are not alone in this. you hurt, i hurt. you’re in pain, i’m in pain. whatever you go through, i feel it because you're a part of me. we're in this together."
- “i rose to my feet and watched her curl into a ball before drifting back to sleep—my angel. doctors saw imperfections, a mental illness, but all i saw was strength: a powerful mind and the ability to protect the rest of herself from it when needed.”
- “where they saw flaws, i saw blessings. that beautiful mind of hers kept her strong—kept her a fighter.”
- "consuming, timeless, unselfish, love. i'd loved you in my darkest hour when i wasn't myself, and i’ll love you in every lifetime after this."
- “i want you to love me anyway.”
- “you’re my evermore.”
- “there are cracks, but now the light can shine through.”
- "my medication was back in full force, but this time was different. this time, my body didn't submit to the side effects like the pills wanted because my body didn't belong to the side effects. my body belonged to her."
- "do you have any idea what you do to me, love?" 🦋🦋🦋<— this is what he does to me.
- "the most dangerous man is a man in love, he faced me, eyes wild and calm concurrently, "because i'd tear off my own flesh before someone hurts you... and if i'd do that to myself, imagine what i'd do to someone else."
- "the cruel irony is you are my forever but not my right now."
old updates:
i’m not ok. i devoured this this book in less than 24 hours and am simply. not. okay. i’m also speechless. review to come after i get some sleep and process wtf just happened…oh i loved it btw (if y’all couldn’t tell🙈) but wtf :D
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-
-
-
9/21: ok i’m officially starting, i’m ready to fall more in love with ollie and am ready to protect this man at all costs🤭
9/19: i haven’t started yet because i was at my bf’s grandfather’s viewing today and tomorrow is his funeral so this is why i’ve been so busy as of late🥺ily all tho, you guys always brighten my days<3
ok ok i’m ready for more pain! :D
my bruna bae convinced me to start the second book immediately🤭bestie told me there’s plot twists that will make me CRAZY?!?!?!?! ok bb, say no more.
also again…this cover is so gorgeous😍😍😍
“he was both the hero and villian in our love story, saving me only to ruin me.”
i’ve been staring at this blank screen for what seems like forever now. i’m still speechless after reading this book…i barely got any sleep because that cliffhanger!?!?! i need to start the last book asap so please don’t expect much from this review🥲
♡ content warnings:
again…this book is dark so please please please look up trigger warnings! mentions of suicide and rape are the heavy ones. your mental health comes first🥹love you all<3
♡ my thoughts:
i. ate. this. book. up. nicole fiorina’s writing?! absolutely breathtaking, ♾️/10. i already wanna reread this trilogy and i’m not even done. i have high hopes for the last book, but i’m sick thinking about it because i have no idea how this will end. i was immediately hooked from the beginning of this book and then nicole gave me a suspenseful mystery plot on top of the romance!?!? yes. 1000000000000x yes. it was so good. it kept me on my toes, it made me go crazy, and most importantly i saw none of it coming. even tho that plot had me hurting for my bb mia and absolutely fuming…i absolutely loved it! the plot twists?!? my bruna bae was so right. there’s a part in this book where i’ll never forgive nicole. it involves one of the characters in this book and if you’ve read the book then you know what i’m talking about and it literally killed me. so sad. i can’t say cuz spoilers, but just know that i will NEVER get over it. oh and ollie’s pov!? my heart skipped a beat every time the beginning of a chapter said “ollie”, thanks to my bestie, hoda, for telling me in advance🙈i screamed and got even more excited to start this🤭
♡ tiny plot summary:
ollie is not himself. struggling with his mental health, they drug him up on a bunch of different medications. will those medications pull him under or will his love for mia keep him afloat?
“the moment someone speaks up about their internal pain, they’re shoved onto meds, counseling, and hospitals,” ollie tapped his head vigorously, “because we don’t fit into their box and we’re fucking weak and lazy, yeah? how about alone and misunderstood!”
♡ ollie & mia
this book was so hard to read because of my intense love for these characters. what they go through individually and as a whole!?! too much :( ollie and mia’s strength could lift the entire universe. i love them endlessly <3
“close your eyes, love,” he said.
“where are we going?”
“under the stars.”
the rest of my review will be my favorite, memorable, and painful quotes/scenes.
♡ scenes:
#1:
i flipped on the faucet to brush my teeth when i found my reflection in the mirror.
not me.
mia.
she stepped out of her stall and stood there with a towel around her tiny figure. our eyes linked and my hands hit the corner to hold myself up from the power she still had over me. her coffee-colored eyes held strong, undisturbed by the distance between us. her perfect lips parted, wanting to say something. just spit it out, love. if i had to wrap my fingers around her jaw and exhume them myself…
“let’s go,” scott barked.
mia snapped her mouth shut and dropped her towel. she stood stripped and bared. my first instinct was to snatch her up in my arms and remove her from hungry eyes. but then my gaze landed on her fading injuries. her flawless skin had taken a beating, and my soul went cold. yellowed patches marked her thighs and hips, and my grip tightened around the edge of the sink as my eyes continued their journey back to her face. “who did this to you?” i asked, each word pained by the view before me.
“you did.”
no. i would never hurt you.
i swooped up her towel, wrapped it around her, and pulled her to me.
mia shook in my grasp, and i couldn’t tell if it was because she was cold or scared of me. i lowered my head into the crook of her neck. “tell me i didn’t do this,” i whispered out of earshot. my entire being hung on her answer.
“it wasn’t you,” she cried softly into my chest. “you weren’t yourself.”
her words devoured me, shredded me to nothing. absolute nothing. chest pain so intense blurred my vision, and i held onto her tighter, digging my head into her neck.
“please, wait for me. just stay with me, mia.”
“even when you’re gone?”
“especially when i’m gone.”
~~~OOOOOO THIS WAS HARD TO TYPE, I’M SOBBING. pain pain pain pain.
#2:
“dammit, mia. look at me.” i snapped my head up and faced the music. a fire burned in his eyes, and his nostrils flared. then as if that one look sedated him, ollie’s shoulders dropped beneath his black hoodie, and he leaned into me, his body remembering me. calm. relieved. revived. hopeful green eyes examined mine, and he wet his busted lip. “it’s going to be okay.”
“how do you know?”
“i just do.”
“ollie i—“
“no, mia. i don’t care to know the details,” he cut in, all-knowingly.
“but—“
“it doesn’t matter.”
“i have to get it out!”
he raised his brows and lifted his chin.
“did you fuck him?”
“no, but—“
“did you kiss him?”
“no, ollie.”
his head titled and his eyes narrowed. “are you confused?”
never. “no!”
“then it doesn’t fucking matter.”
“how could you say that?”
“because you have no idea what it’s like to fall in love with you. i’m not stupid, he’s in love with you, and he’d be a bloody fool not to try something.” he looked off for a moment before his eyes hit mine again. “let it go, love. guilt looks horrible on you. it doesn’t match the color of your eyes.”
~~~my want and need for this man has intensified.
#3:
soft cries came from inside, and i jerked my head in his direction. “somethings wrong.”
“this is how it always starts. it’s a nightmare.”
“a nightmare?”
scott paused with a key in the doorknob to meet my eyes. “it gets worse. she’s had them ever since the day you left. imagine having to listen to it every bloody night.”
“you’ve been helping her?” i asked, surprised.
“trying.”
the cries turned into screams, and my focus bounced from ethan to his keys. “get me in there.”
ethan snapped his eyes back to the door knob and jiggled the key to get the door opened. i busted through and ran to her side.
in the dark, cold room, her small frame shook, drenched and hot with her hands into a fist. “mia,” i whispered, brushing my hand over her hair. i looked back to scott to see him gone and the door ajar. “wake up, my love. open your eyes.”
every scream from her lips grabbed my own emotions and shook them harshly. i dropped my head into my hand and clenched my eyes when i felt a hand over my shoulder. i glanced up to see scott standing over me with a towel in his hand. snatching it from his grasp, i turned back to mia and smoothed it over her glistening forehead. “mia, open for eyes for me.”
“ollie?” she cried out.
my heart clenched, and a breath left me at the mention of my name. “yeah, love. it’s me. i’m here.” her eyes slowly blinked open, and the color shifted from a black to a golden brown instantly. “it’s alright.”
~~~if there’s a nightmare trope…sign me up.
#4:
“that’s nonsense.” i withdrew my hoodie and sat over the mattress beside her. “no matter what, you can always talk to me. you know better than that.” after stretching out my legs, i pulled her up and over me so her head could lay in my lap. my fingers slipped under her shirt and i ran them down her back. scrapes and marks protruded beneath my fingers, and i lifted her tank and leaned in to get a closer look. “what in the hell…”
“it’s nothing,” mia’s voice broke and pulled away from my grasp.
it wasn’t nothing. my touch knew every detail of her skin. those had been scars. fresh scars. ones i’d never touched before. “take off your shirt,” i demanded with a rattled tone as i silently prayed i had been wrong. please, god, tell me i’m wrong.
mia faced me with humiliation in her eyes, and i tried to control my emotions from spilling out. “mia,” i urged, and for a moment, she hesitated, but then sat up and took off her shirt. the room was dark, and she turned her back toward me. i tilted her enough to hit the red blinking light coming from the corner of the room when i noticed scars covering her.
"what the fuck happened?" she hung her head, and my stomach twisted in knots.
"mia? how the hell did this happen? who did this to you?"
mia’s lips trembled, and she lifted her head to the ceiling, trying to curb all weakness.
i picked her up and slid her into my lap, facing me. her legs wrapped around me while her arms unwrapped from over her chest. i yanked my shirt off and pulled her against me, needing to be close without barriers. mia released an exhale into my neck, and her fingers scratched at the back of my head.
“i’m not okay,” she cried. “i’m not. i can’t do it anymore…”
~~~PAIN. this scene was so intimate and so heartbreaking. i literally cannot with this book.
#5:
my fear had since turned into anger.
ollie’s fingers dug into my thigh, attempting to absorb the rage rolling through me.
“baby, eat,” he said.
ollie rarely called me that. he was desperate.
~~~this is such a small scene but had a huge impact cuz😩😩😩i mean it speaks for itself🥹🦋
♡ quotes:
- “memories of the way she made me feel. memories of the way i’d made her feel. perfection. she’d always fit perfectly in my arms. she'd fit perfectly on top of me.
i’d fit perfectly inside her. she'd fit perfectly beside me, against me, under me, bodies entangled and aligned. every way, we'd fit without flaw. her body was my kingdom come. her divine kiss was my salvation. her soul was mine's paradise. mia was my evermore. and i'd known since the moment my soul felt hers.”
- “anything that happens to you, happens to me. every blow, every setback, every burn, every bloody beating. you are not alone in this. you hurt, i hurt. you’re in pain, i’m in pain. whatever you go through, i feel it because you're a part of me. we're in this together."
- “i rose to my feet and watched her curl into a ball before drifting back to sleep—my angel. doctors saw imperfections, a mental illness, but all i saw was strength: a powerful mind and the ability to protect the rest of herself from it when needed.”
- “where they saw flaws, i saw blessings. that beautiful mind of hers kept her strong—kept her a fighter.”
- "consuming, timeless, unselfish, love. i'd loved you in my darkest hour when i wasn't myself, and i’ll love you in every lifetime after this."
- “i want you to love me anyway.”
- “you’re my evermore.”
- “there are cracks, but now the light can shine through.”
- "my medication was back in full force, but this time was different. this time, my body didn't submit to the side effects like the pills wanted because my body didn't belong to the side effects. my body belonged to her."
- "do you have any idea what you do to me, love?" 🦋🦋🦋<— this is what he does to me.
- "the most dangerous man is a man in love, he faced me, eyes wild and calm concurrently, "because i'd tear off my own flesh before someone hurts you... and if i'd do that to myself, imagine what i'd do to someone else."
- "the cruel irony is you are my forever but not my right now."
old updates:
i’m not ok. i devoured this this book in less than 24 hours and am simply. not. okay. i’m also speechless. review to come after i get some sleep and process wtf just happened…oh i loved it btw (if y’all couldn’t tell🙈) but wtf :D
-
-
-
-
9/21: ok i’m officially starting, i’m ready to fall more in love with ollie and am ready to protect this man at all costs🤭
9/19: i haven’t started yet because i was at my bf’s grandfather’s viewing today and tomorrow is his funeral so this is why i’ve been so busy as of late🥺ily all tho, you guys always brighten my days<3
ok ok i’m ready for more pain! :D
my bruna bae convinced me to start the second book immediately🤭bestie told me there’s plot twists that will make me CRAZY?!?!?!?! ok bb, say no more.
also again…this cover is so gorgeous😍😍😍
February 5, 2020
Heartbreakingly good. One of my favorites!
This was even better than Stay With Me, and that was an outstanding book. I love the struggle, the emotions, the romance, and the heartbreak. This sequel has every bit as much feeling and strife as the first book, but in this one, Nicole Fiorina definitely brought the heat index up to the highest levels. I’ll give this book five flames for sweltering scenes between Mia and Ollie 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.
At the end of the last book Ollies depraved brother Oscar had orchestrated a crime against Mia with Ollie watching but drugged so he couldn’t do anything. Mia barely escaped, but it came out that she has been with Oscar when she first arrived at Dolar. Ollie couldn’t handle the thought of Mia with his brother so he went back on his Medication. While on the meds he forgot about Mia and the deep connection they shared.
Dean Lynch sent Ollie away and Oscar was sent to prison for 30 years. Ollie was in jail for seven months until they could determine that he wasn’t involved with the prostitution ring Oscar was running, he is now back at Dolar and his love for Mia is back with a vengeance.
Ollie is able to see Mia and confirm that she still has feelings for him, but he starts to go into withdrawals from his medication and has to go back on it. Mia and Ollie both know that will bring forth the mean and emotionless Ollie so Mia makes him agree to stay away from her for the year while he is medicated.
While Ollie was away, Mia leaned on the new security guard who had helped her get through some of her issues because of what Oscar put her through. Mia leans on Ethan more as Ollie is medicated. It is heartbreaking to see them this way because you know how much they love each other. They are both hurting but underneath it all you know that deep in their minds they are each other’s end game.
The romance between these two is both inspiring and emotional and they sometimes can’t fight their feelings and that is when things really heat up. I ate up every scene where Ollie and Mia were together. The supporting characters were also awesome in this book. Zeke played a big role, he is the mute boy who was Ollies friend and who Mia would sit and talk to in the cafeteria.
Jake returned from book 1 also, he was Mia’s friend who was sent to Dolar by his father for being homosexual. Ethan the security guard was terrific as was the relationship between him and Mia. I won’t give out any spoilers or give away the main storylines, but I will say that the entire book was very well written and truly spectacular, including the ending. I can’t wait to read more.
I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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This was even better than Stay With Me, and that was an outstanding book. I love the struggle, the emotions, the romance, and the heartbreak. This sequel has every bit as much feeling and strife as the first book, but in this one, Nicole Fiorina definitely brought the heat index up to the highest levels. I’ll give this book five flames for sweltering scenes between Mia and Ollie 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥.
At the end of the last book Ollies depraved brother Oscar had orchestrated a crime against Mia with Ollie watching but drugged so he couldn’t do anything. Mia barely escaped, but it came out that she has been with Oscar when she first arrived at Dolar. Ollie couldn’t handle the thought of Mia with his brother so he went back on his Medication. While on the meds he forgot about Mia and the deep connection they shared.
Dean Lynch sent Ollie away and Oscar was sent to prison for 30 years. Ollie was in jail for seven months until they could determine that he wasn’t involved with the prostitution ring Oscar was running, he is now back at Dolar and his love for Mia is back with a vengeance.
Ollie is able to see Mia and confirm that she still has feelings for him, but he starts to go into withdrawals from his medication and has to go back on it. Mia and Ollie both know that will bring forth the mean and emotionless Ollie so Mia makes him agree to stay away from her for the year while he is medicated.
While Ollie was away, Mia leaned on the new security guard who had helped her get through some of her issues because of what Oscar put her through. Mia leans on Ethan more as Ollie is medicated. It is heartbreaking to see them this way because you know how much they love each other. They are both hurting but underneath it all you know that deep in their minds they are each other’s end game.
The romance between these two is both inspiring and emotional and they sometimes can’t fight their feelings and that is when things really heat up. I ate up every scene where Ollie and Mia were together. The supporting characters were also awesome in this book. Zeke played a big role, he is the mute boy who was Ollies friend and who Mia would sit and talk to in the cafeteria.
Jake returned from book 1 also, he was Mia’s friend who was sent to Dolar by his father for being homosexual. Ethan the security guard was terrific as was the relationship between him and Mia. I won’t give out any spoilers or give away the main storylines, but I will say that the entire book was very well written and truly spectacular, including the ending. I can’t wait to read more.
I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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January 2, 2020
4.5
Holy fucking shit! I did not see this story going where it did. Nicole Fiorina, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship!
Have you ever read a story that you thought was going to turn out one way, but then it went in such a different direction it left you jaw dropped? That's exactly what happened to me at the end of Even When I'm Gone! After I closed my mouth, I just stared out into space clutching my kindle with a goofy fucking smile on my face, and mentally added a star to my rating. If you've read this book, you may find that reaction a little weird given what occurred in the final moments of the book, but I live for that kind of shit, okay? 😂
I read so much that I'm rarely taken completely off guard in that particular way, and if this is only Nicole's second book, sign me up for all the rest! This author has balls and talent, and I have a feeling she will only get better from here.
We all know how authors can be raked over the coals for allowing their characters to be messy, flawed, conflicted, and confused. I know it has to be scary to let your characters go there and hope people don't rip you apart for it. Well, if this author worries about such things, I wouldn't know. She let's Mia and Ollie fuck up, waffle back and forth between what they want, and fuck up again. Yes, there is mental illness involved, but not all of these moments of indecision and weakness are due to that. Some are due to just being human.
As much as some people like to pretend they are perfect individuals that always know what they want and never make mistakes, in reality, that's just not the case. While I may not have made a lot of the decisions the characters did, I'm cool with the hero and heroine both being flawed and taking time to find their way back to each other and themselves. Some of those moments gave us a character that I hope we get a lot more of in the next book. I would go as far as to say the addition of that character made the book for me.
Don't get me wrong. I love Mia and Ollie together, but this new character brought this story somewhere else entirely. I anticipate a mucher darker third book, and I'm crossing my fingers that I'm right. Bring on the crazy, because I. Am. Here. For. It!
Even if that doesn't happen, I have faith in this author to work her magic and give this story the conclusion it deserves. This installment of the series is just as emotional as it's predecessor. The steamy and romantic scenes are on point. Both characters make you root for them and love them even if at some point in the story you wanted to strangle the shit out of them.
Overall, totally recommend to everyone interested in the series due to the blurbs, subject matter, or reviews. If you haven't read Stay With Me, go back and do that first. This is a series, and the books have to be read in order. If you've already read the first book, definitely pick up this one. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, and honestly, the last couple of chapters surprised the hell out of me.
New adult romance fans, this one's for you!
Holy fucking shit! I did not see this story going where it did. Nicole Fiorina, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship!
Have you ever read a story that you thought was going to turn out one way, but then it went in such a different direction it left you jaw dropped? That's exactly what happened to me at the end of Even When I'm Gone! After I closed my mouth, I just stared out into space clutching my kindle with a goofy fucking smile on my face, and mentally added a star to my rating. If you've read this book, you may find that reaction a little weird given what occurred in the final moments of the book, but I live for that kind of shit, okay? 😂
I read so much that I'm rarely taken completely off guard in that particular way, and if this is only Nicole's second book, sign me up for all the rest! This author has balls and talent, and I have a feeling she will only get better from here.
We all know how authors can be raked over the coals for allowing their characters to be messy, flawed, conflicted, and confused. I know it has to be scary to let your characters go there and hope people don't rip you apart for it. Well, if this author worries about such things, I wouldn't know. She let's Mia and Ollie fuck up, waffle back and forth between what they want, and fuck up again. Yes, there is mental illness involved, but not all of these moments of indecision and weakness are due to that. Some are due to just being human.
As much as some people like to pretend they are perfect individuals that always know what they want and never make mistakes, in reality, that's just not the case. While I may not have made a lot of the decisions the characters did, I'm cool with the hero and heroine both being flawed and taking time to find their way back to each other and themselves. Some of those moments gave us a character that I hope we get a lot more of in the next book. I would go as far as to say the addition of that character made the book for me.
Don't get me wrong. I love Mia and Ollie together, but this new character brought this story somewhere else entirely. I anticipate a mucher darker third book, and I'm crossing my fingers that I'm right. Bring on the crazy, because I. Am. Here. For. It!
Even if that doesn't happen, I have faith in this author to work her magic and give this story the conclusion it deserves. This installment of the series is just as emotional as it's predecessor. The steamy and romantic scenes are on point. Both characters make you root for them and love them even if at some point in the story you wanted to strangle the shit out of them.
Overall, totally recommend to everyone interested in the series due to the blurbs, subject matter, or reviews. If you haven't read Stay With Me, go back and do that first. This is a series, and the books have to be read in order. If you've already read the first book, definitely pick up this one. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, and honestly, the last couple of chapters surprised the hell out of me.
New adult romance fans, this one's for you!
January 3, 2020
#1: stay with me ↠ 5 stars
#2: even when i'm gone ↠ 3.5 stars
"He was both the hero and the villain in our love story, saving me only to ruin me."
i'm an emotional mess right now.
did i like it? YES. but did i also dislike some parts? f yes.
this book is definitely not safe and it was hard to read at times but it's honestly worth it as the characters feel so real and even though you wanna shake them sometimes because of their stupid decisions, you can't help but still love them.
unfortunately though, these stupid decisions are the reason why i didn't like this as much as the first one and im gonna rant about said stupid decisions so SPOILERS ahead.
in the first book, Mia (h) was the one who felt nothing while Ollie (H) felt everything. here, their roles switched and now it's Ollie's turn to let the darkness in.
"Her body was my kingdom come. Her divine kiss was my salvation. Her soul was mine's paradise. Mia was my evermore."
what i liked:
❥ Ollie & Mia (duh!)
❥ the poem written by Ollie in the beginning of each chapter. these were so beautiful (and this is an understatement btw) and they were one of the highlights in this book.
❥ second half of the book because that's where i finally felt my anxiety and dread from the angst faded away as Ollie and Mia FINALLY got together.
❥ ZEKE! (ps. still crying about that)
❥ the writing. main thing i disliked here were the characters' decisions BUT the writing is so beautiful and many of the quotes are honestly so unique and i love them.
what i disliked (SPOILERS):
❥ aight we'll start with the one thing i hated the most in this book: OW/OM drama and explicit scenes:
listen, i loved the first book and there were a couple of OM scenes there where the h went all the way with them but that was before her and Ollie were a couple and it wasn't as descriptive as it is here.
here though, it was VERY descriptive and frankly, i was disappointed with both Mia and Ollie.
❥ OW drama:
Ollie "touched" OW, let her give him a bj, watched her "touch" herself for a bit and he even went as far as putting on a condom but he eventually stopped because he went "soft" and deep down his soul was telling him to stop.
What should feel good didn't.
What should be me getting me off, wasn't.
i can't exactly fully hate Ollie for doing this. im just disappointed.
i knew what he was going through and this is NOT the real Ollie at all. the whole time i was reading this scene, i felt his pain, regret, jealousy, and hate for himself. he was full of dark thoughts and it was definitely hard to read. i still love him though. he will forever be the Ollie who would read The Notebook to Mia.
although this was the only very descriptive scene from Ollie, there were times where i felt uncomfortable reading his thoughts when he gets "aroused" easily because of his medication.
I couldn't help but notice Gwen's nipples harden beneath her shirt as she looked nervously. My knob pulsed to its own accord, and I wet my dry lips, hungry for a release that could never come because my heart was with Mia.
i really disliked this. like, i know he can't control his "knob" but this inner monologue just made him sound like a bit douchey for my taste. Ollie that i know and love is most definitely NOT a douche. maybe not in the first book but here? yeah... he kind of was in the beginning.
again, Ollie with meds is a disappointment to me for the most part but i loved how he was still fighting against his darkness.
all the OW drama happened pretty early on until 35% ish. but the OM drama? oh boy, this lasted a reallyyy long time.
❥ OM scenes aka Ethan:
listen, i liked Ethan sometimes and i understand his and Mia's connection because he was the one who was there for her while Ollie was gone for 7 months. Mia felt lonely and defenceless and Ethan gave her things she needed. they were strictly in the friendzone until Ollie comes back.
even though Ollie had an OW scene and his inner monologue about other women annoyed/disappointed me, Ethan and Mia actually had an emotional and physical connection. and that just made the OW drama look like child's play.
first of all, she lets OM sleep beside her on the bed (almost naked) EVERY night, cuddling her and she even lets him touch her inappropriately and when she feels his "knob", she doesn't do anything to stop it.
I had every reason to wake him up and pull away, starting with the most important reason—Ollie—but I couldn't.
I desired to be needed and wanted by Ethan in an unhealthy way that never made sense to me. So, I'd fallen back to sleep allowing his hands to roam and length to stay as he repeated words in my ear I couldn't hear.
this happened after she "broke" things off with Ollie but she did it to save him and to return to her so it was kind of her plan to break up with him and i'm pretty sure she didn't really mean it.
sooo why did she let this happen?
one thing i really hated here is that literally a few pages earlier, she would say she loves Ollie, she's gonna wait for him because there's no one else and then a couple pages later she does this and says this? i just didn't like the inconsistency there. i dislike it when characters who says one thing but then goes on and does another thing that completely contradicts what they were thinking earlier on, but that's just my personal opinion.
aaaand this dreaded OM scene where she let him go all the way to third base where h let OM give her oral sex and "touch" her. (and they never kiss by the way she wouldn't allow it).
I didn't want him to stop, and my hips matched every movement of his, wanting the same thing. But something inside me was screaming.
Inside, I felt sick.
But, still, I couldn't find the will to stop.
i really disliked her when this happened because literally ONE page before she said this: "The only way to get Ollie back was to let this charade with Ethan go. It had been going on long enough."
so... what the ffff?
again, the inconsistency just bugged me.
these OM/OW scenes is worse for me because the MCs loved each other down to their soul by this point and they actually became a couple already. i know they're on a break but Ollie ALWAYS fought for Mia and their future even when he wasn't himself while Mia cozies up with Ethan even though she TELLS us she's going to fight for Ollie. like, i get it, the cruel pranks happening to her, the isolation, and her history, she needed someone but letting things get that far? at least Ollie had some reason with the OW that i can get around with but Mia's reason really bugged me. im disappointed to say the least.
i don't fully hate this drama in this book because i understand how the MCs feel but it still bugged me because of my personal preference/opinion. but hey, i'm still very open when it comes to not so safe subject matter.
i wish Mia and Ollie talked about this OW/OM more when they finally got together and actually talk about it in a mature way, but they didn't really so i'm left unsatisfied.
❥ fake friends:
i kinda liked the friendship in the first book even though they were weird as hell but here? these "friends" of Mia and Ollie were FAKE.
dropping Mia like that so easily? damn. Jake, my man, im disappointed in you...
and where was the grovelling of these so-called friends? Mia forgave them way too easily and for once, i missed the bitchy side of Mia. BUT AGAIN, i understand that with her new character development, she has more sympathy now than ever before so it makes sense for her to forgive them so easily.
"The cruel irony is you are my forever but not my right now."
overall thoughts:
i love love LOVE the first book and it's because it gave me hope, admiration, and all these good feelings even though there were a lot of dark aspects. but here? it just left me annoyed, disappointed with the characters and frustrated with the whole situation.
even though there were OM scenes in the first book and the h actually doing it all the way with those two OM, it never bugged me because it wasn't as descriptive, and it was emotionless. Ollie was the ONLY one for Mia and Mia was only one for Ollie. the whole Ethan connection here ruined it for me.
and can we talk about how book 1 Ollie wouldn't even look and touch other women as Mia was the only one for him??
i don't know, it just felt like the character development of Mia and the personality of Ollie from book 1 is WAY different and kinda ruined for me because of the tropes i hated here. but hey, others might perceive things differently.
AGAIN, i understand that all these unlovely tropes are for the purpose of the story and it's actually quite brilliant but i can't help the way i feel and the real reunion of Ollie and Mia was ruined because of this. but i still love these characters, though. they're unique and imperfect and i love that.
but that epilogue just about killed me! i knew that particular character was up to no good! i really can't wait to read the third one because i just NEED an HEA.
ps. this ends with a cliffhanger.
October 29, 2019
Utterly stripped, unarmed, and exposed, the unity of us was a beautiful thing, and there was only one word to describe it. Poetic.
Nicole Fiorina is a talent. Plain and simple, this woman has a way of weaving words that will flood you with so many emotions and feelings, that you will feel as if you need to seek a therapy session, ASAP. It’s wild to me that the writing and the flow of this story will make you feel as if you’re in the throes of mental illness. Anxiety inducing is a better way to put it maybe? It’s like I’m empathizing with the characters POV that I’m reading. Like I can feel their stress, love, sadness, and happiness bleeding from the pages. It’s crazy that one persons words can give me that much feeling.
The rollercoaster of Mia & Ollie’s love is long and twisty, but so far worth the ride. The intricacies and complexities of the people and life they live in general at Dolor is just, psycho, and that’s putting it mildly.
I honestly can’t say much more about this story without spoiling things. So what I will say is that this is part 2 in the 3 part story of Ollie & Mia. There is love. There is loss. There is violence. There is happiness. There is sadness. There is vengeance. There is mystery. There is suspense. There’s a little bit of everything this session at Dolor, and better yet there’s more to come.
Y’all. I’m gonna need a minute. Or five thousand. If you haven’t read Stay With Me, do it now. So you’re prepared for EWIG when it releases October 29th.
https://instagram.com/p/B4M9FI2AuqG/
https://instagram.com/p/B3u_iqGgPdd/
^fan edit on IG!
AVAILABLE NOW!!
*ARC.
Nicole Fiorina is a talent. Plain and simple, this woman has a way of weaving words that will flood you with so many emotions and feelings, that you will feel as if you need to seek a therapy session, ASAP. It’s wild to me that the writing and the flow of this story will make you feel as if you’re in the throes of mental illness. Anxiety inducing is a better way to put it maybe? It’s like I’m empathizing with the characters POV that I’m reading. Like I can feel their stress, love, sadness, and happiness bleeding from the pages. It’s crazy that one persons words can give me that much feeling.
The rollercoaster of Mia & Ollie’s love is long and twisty, but so far worth the ride. The intricacies and complexities of the people and life they live in general at Dolor is just, psycho, and that’s putting it mildly.
I honestly can’t say much more about this story without spoiling things. So what I will say is that this is part 2 in the 3 part story of Ollie & Mia. There is love. There is loss. There is violence. There is happiness. There is sadness. There is vengeance. There is mystery. There is suspense. There’s a little bit of everything this session at Dolor, and better yet there’s more to come.
Y’all. I’m gonna need a minute. Or five thousand. If you haven’t read Stay With Me, do it now. So you’re prepared for EWIG when it releases October 29th.
https://instagram.com/p/B4M9FI2AuqG/
https://instagram.com/p/B3u_iqGgPdd/
^fan edit on IG!
AVAILABLE NOW!!
*ARC.
February 10, 2021
3.75 stars ⭐️
when i tell you i sobbed like a bitch at the first half of the book 😭
(i really didn’t have to bc it actually ain’t that deep but idk i was just emo ok)
𝚁𝚃𝙲~
when i tell you i sobbed like a bitch at the first half of the book 😭
(i really didn’t have to bc it actually ain’t that deep but idk i was just emo ok)
𝚁𝚃𝙲~
March 29, 2023
2 stars.
“Fall apart so we can fall in place, together”
This is, absolutely, not for me.
I really liked the author's writing, and in this book I continued to like it, yet it wasn't enough to captivate me.
It left me in a reading slump actually.
I can't understand the plot of this book, there was a lot of unnecessary and even confusing and boring things.
As I said about the first book, always watch out for trigger warnings, this book is VERY heavy.
I will not be reading the 3rd and final book in the series.
“Fall apart so we can fall in place, together”
This is, absolutely, not for me.
I really liked the author's writing, and in this book I continued to like it, yet it wasn't enough to captivate me.
It left me in a reading slump actually.
I can't understand the plot of this book, there was a lot of unnecessary and even confusing and boring things.
As I said about the first book, always watch out for trigger warnings, this book is VERY heavy.
I will not be reading the 3rd and final book in the series.
July 13, 2021
I am gonna do it backwards and review the 2nd book in this series first because ......well, because frankly, I don't plan to read the third.
The only reason I didn't dnf this book was because of the writing style. This author's writing style is Gorgeous and literally Mesmerizing!! Not to mention it induces a lot of emotions.
Thus, the only reason I didn't dnf is because the intensity of the words caught me and kept me captured in their beautiful web. Those two stars are for that.
##########################
However, the plot was ridiculous. It was like a soap opera meets highschool drama with a dash of insane (not the type of insane I love btw) characters. I was cringing the whole time and even guessed the climax ....correctly👀
(In my opinion, suspense is never enjoyable if we can see the big twist coming 10 miles before it's supposed to).
The cheating is a wide plot in this book....which got on my nerves so much. As if the OW and OM drama with the Main Characters wasn't enough, even the side characters were fucking their friends' partners and cheating. I was getting stabby.🔪🔪😒😒
Also, these books are longgggg. As I said earlier, I am not continuing with this series and the third book.
I'll just make up my own ending .....the epilogue didn't happen and Mia reached Ollie at 3 o'clock. Then they rode off to sunset ...Or Spain. Whatever. I don't care enough anymore after this drama-fest of a book.
Some quotes that I loved:
“The two slowest deaths
are absence and time.”
“I’m stuck between I’ll never be enough
and no one else will ever love you more.”
“The number of people who love you doesn’t determine your worth. Remember that.”
“Do not fear the hurt in their eyes.
Instead, fear when hurt fades to hollow.
For the difference between
the two is the heart.”
"Your ‘sorry’ doesn’t piece back what you’ve broken. And this time, it was us you broke. For good.”
Utterly stripped, unarmed, and exposed, the unity of us was a beautiful thing, and there was only one word to describe it.
Poetic.
The only reason I didn't dnf this book was because of the writing style. This author's writing style is Gorgeous and literally Mesmerizing!! Not to mention it induces a lot of emotions.
Thus, the only reason I didn't dnf is because the intensity of the words caught me and kept me captured in their beautiful web. Those two stars are for that.
##########################
However, the plot was ridiculous. It was like a soap opera meets highschool drama with a dash of insane (not the type of insane I love btw) characters. I was cringing the whole time and even guessed the climax ....correctly👀
(In my opinion, suspense is never enjoyable if we can see the big twist coming 10 miles before it's supposed to).
The cheating is a wide plot in this book....which got on my nerves so much. As if the OW and OM drama with the Main Characters wasn't enough, even the side characters were fucking their friends' partners and cheating. I was getting stabby.🔪🔪😒😒
Also, these books are longgggg. As I said earlier, I am not continuing with this series and the third book.
I'll just make up my own ending .....the epilogue didn't happen and Mia reached Ollie at 3 o'clock. Then they rode off to sunset ...Or Spain. Whatever. I don't care enough anymore after this drama-fest of a book.
Some quotes that I loved:
“The two slowest deaths
are absence and time.”
“I’m stuck between I’ll never be enough
and no one else will ever love you more.”
“The number of people who love you doesn’t determine your worth. Remember that.”
“Do not fear the hurt in their eyes.
Instead, fear when hurt fades to hollow.
For the difference between
the two is the heart.”
"Your ‘sorry’ doesn’t piece back what you’ve broken. And this time, it was us you broke. For good.”
Utterly stripped, unarmed, and exposed, the unity of us was a beautiful thing, and there was only one word to describe it.
Poetic.
February 6, 2023
dnf at 64%
i cannot fully comprehend or explain what i experienced during this book. actually, i’m just going to keep it blunt in my natural vocabulary--i fucking hated it.
there, that’s it.
i absolutely loved the first book in this series, Stay With Me. that shit slapped. i enjoyed mia, loved ollie despite his sometimes cringy poetry, and tolerated all of the side characters.
mia’s story was heartbreaking, and i’ll probably never be able to recover from her monologue in group therapy at 67%.
also, the “games” she and her friends played were kinda fun to read. i’m not even gonna pretend otherwise.
that being said, the second i started this book, and ethan was thrown in my face, i slowly began to perish.
like, lord, why? how could you put me through those awful scenes with that man?
i knew--i fucking knew--that bitch (ethan) had ulterior motives. he says he’s protective of her, but then he’s climbing into bed with her (which is so inappropriate). like, what’s with the security guards sleeping with the patients in this place?
anyways, one second he was “comforting” her from her nightmares, the next, he was taking advantage of her vulnerability in that position (also the fact that she was currently dealing with a heartbreak) and getting naked beside her.
then he followed her around like a shadow.
“‘Careful, Jett,’--Ethan took a step back--’You’re pushing away the only person left who gives a damn about you.’”
say it with me: ✨manipulation ✨
how the hell am i expected to like this guy?
in the entirety of my life, i have never truly “lost my appetite” from something happening around me, something i was watching, or something i was reading. but, let me just say, when mia woke up to find ethan’s fingers practically inside her, i physically pushed my dinner plate away from me.
god.
thankfully, she rejected him. but then this whole thought process happened….?
“Ethan exhaled, and I don’t know why, but I felt selfish at that moment. He’d been nothing but good to me, and I couldn’t man-up and give myself to him for one much-deserved night.”
watch your shoes, because i might vomit all over them.
this is a message to literally anyone who reads this: i don’t care if that man ended world hunger, you don’t owe him your body.
especially if you don’t want to give it to him.
the whole thing just felt like emotionally cheating to me. even if they weren’t together, idk how mia just let her “friend” in bed with her every night when she was still in love with ollie.
i understand her need for comfort, but she called that man a “father-figure.” sis, you sleep with your father now?
honestly, i probably just don’t understand the depths of her need for comfort. i’ve been told i have an apathy problem, so….
another thing that ground my gears was ollie’s whole-ass behavior in this book.
his shit with maddie? unacceptable.
i don’t care if he was fucked up on meds. he said he was horny all the time. here’s my solution: go to mia and say, “hey, mia, when i’m on these meds, they’re like viagra. i’m scared that if i’m not regularly intimate with you, i’m gonna make a huge mistake.”
bro didn’t even try that.
there is no way you can be fucking other people (or even attempting to) in the SECOND GODDAMN BOOK. especially after you professed your love to the h and told her you wanted her forever. forever!
i’m not saying all people everywhere are perfect, and i’m not saying that cheating in real life is inconceivable. it happens. but this isn’t real life. this is a book. these are characters. their actions are completely controlled by an author.
how the hell, as an author, could you let your H tell a girl he needed her to hold on and bear with his medicated personality, then have him almost fuck a different girl? not to mention, a few scenes later, ollie wants to “show mia how much he loves her,” so he fucks her from behind against a…..desk. brutally i might add.
i’m sorry, i’m just at a loss for words. like-- i don’t-- just read this:
“As if I lost all will to move, I morphed into whatever he needed because I didn’t want to say no.”
“Over and over, his familiar pelvis slammed into me in an unfamiliar way as my eyes stayed fixed on the mattress where we used to make love.”
ollie saying “sorry” doesn’t change the fact that mia didn’t want any part of that. at all.
while he was coming, bruises were forming all over her body.
at this point, i thought he was just as bad as a lot of the alpha-males i have to sit through. he changed into an unrecognizable person, and that wasn’t a good look.
i don’t know what happened to my overly-emotional, poet boy, but that wasn’t him.
at some point during this book, a switch flipped in my head, and i started barely reading the words on the pages. skimming couldn’t even describe how little of it was entering my brain.
so, i just stopped. i didn’t wanna read it anymore. i might hate myself, but i don’t hate myself enough to get through this torture.
by sixty-four percent, the story was getting better. everything was starting to fall into place, but i was just so over it.
honestly, i wish i never even read this book. i loved the first book, and yesterday, after i finished it, i couldn’t stop thinking about it. but now it just seems kind of--i don’t know--tainted? like to know that the first book leads to this? nah.
i don’t care who the “prankster” is. i don’t care to know how this book ends. or the entire trilogy.
and i promise i’d sooner suffocate than read the third book that includes ethan’s perspective.
sorry. that was a little dramatic.
i’m just so damn mad.
i seem to only be able to “review” a book when it pissed me off.
i’m classifying this as a rant. not a review.
but my rating whole-heartedly stands, and i will defend it against anyone.
i cannot fully comprehend or explain what i experienced during this book. actually, i’m just going to keep it blunt in my natural vocabulary--i fucking hated it.
there, that’s it.
i absolutely loved the first book in this series, Stay With Me. that shit slapped. i enjoyed mia, loved ollie despite his sometimes cringy poetry, and tolerated all of the side characters.
mia’s story was heartbreaking, and i’ll probably never be able to recover from her monologue in group therapy at 67%.
also, the “games” she and her friends played were kinda fun to read. i’m not even gonna pretend otherwise.
that being said, the second i started this book, and ethan was thrown in my face, i slowly began to perish.
like, lord, why? how could you put me through those awful scenes with that man?
i knew--i fucking knew--that bitch (ethan) had ulterior motives. he says he’s protective of her, but then he’s climbing into bed with her (which is so inappropriate). like, what’s with the security guards sleeping with the patients in this place?
anyways, one second he was “comforting” her from her nightmares, the next, he was taking advantage of her vulnerability in that position (also the fact that she was currently dealing with a heartbreak) and getting naked beside her.
then he followed her around like a shadow.
“‘Careful, Jett,’--Ethan took a step back--’You’re pushing away the only person left who gives a damn about you.’”
say it with me: ✨manipulation ✨
how the hell am i expected to like this guy?
in the entirety of my life, i have never truly “lost my appetite” from something happening around me, something i was watching, or something i was reading. but, let me just say, when mia woke up to find ethan’s fingers practically inside her, i physically pushed my dinner plate away from me.
god.
thankfully, she rejected him. but then this whole thought process happened….?
“Ethan exhaled, and I don’t know why, but I felt selfish at that moment. He’d been nothing but good to me, and I couldn’t man-up and give myself to him for one much-deserved night.”
watch your shoes, because i might vomit all over them.
this is a message to literally anyone who reads this: i don’t care if that man ended world hunger, you don’t owe him your body.
especially if you don’t want to give it to him.
the whole thing just felt like emotionally cheating to me. even if they weren’t together, idk how mia just let her “friend” in bed with her every night when she was still in love with ollie.
i understand her need for comfort, but she called that man a “father-figure.” sis, you sleep with your father now?
honestly, i probably just don’t understand the depths of her need for comfort. i’ve been told i have an apathy problem, so….
another thing that ground my gears was ollie’s whole-ass behavior in this book.
his shit with maddie? unacceptable.
i don’t care if he was fucked up on meds. he said he was horny all the time. here’s my solution: go to mia and say, “hey, mia, when i’m on these meds, they’re like viagra. i’m scared that if i’m not regularly intimate with you, i’m gonna make a huge mistake.”
bro didn’t even try that.
there is no way you can be fucking other people (or even attempting to) in the SECOND GODDAMN BOOK. especially after you professed your love to the h and told her you wanted her forever. forever!
i’m not saying all people everywhere are perfect, and i’m not saying that cheating in real life is inconceivable. it happens. but this isn’t real life. this is a book. these are characters. their actions are completely controlled by an author.
how the hell, as an author, could you let your H tell a girl he needed her to hold on and bear with his medicated personality, then have him almost fuck a different girl? not to mention, a few scenes later, ollie wants to “show mia how much he loves her,” so he fucks her from behind against a…..desk. brutally i might add.
i’m sorry, i’m just at a loss for words. like-- i don’t-- just read this:
“As if I lost all will to move, I morphed into whatever he needed because I didn’t want to say no.”
“Over and over, his familiar pelvis slammed into me in an unfamiliar way as my eyes stayed fixed on the mattress where we used to make love.”
ollie saying “sorry” doesn’t change the fact that mia didn’t want any part of that. at all.
while he was coming, bruises were forming all over her body.
at this point, i thought he was just as bad as a lot of the alpha-males i have to sit through. he changed into an unrecognizable person, and that wasn’t a good look.
i don’t know what happened to my overly-emotional, poet boy, but that wasn’t him.
at some point during this book, a switch flipped in my head, and i started barely reading the words on the pages. skimming couldn’t even describe how little of it was entering my brain.
so, i just stopped. i didn’t wanna read it anymore. i might hate myself, but i don’t hate myself enough to get through this torture.
by sixty-four percent, the story was getting better. everything was starting to fall into place, but i was just so over it.
honestly, i wish i never even read this book. i loved the first book, and yesterday, after i finished it, i couldn’t stop thinking about it. but now it just seems kind of--i don’t know--tainted? like to know that the first book leads to this? nah.
i don’t care who the “prankster” is. i don’t care to know how this book ends. or the entire trilogy.
and i promise i’d sooner suffocate than read the third book that includes ethan’s perspective.
sorry. that was a little dramatic.
i’m just so damn mad.
i seem to only be able to “review” a book when it pissed me off.
i’m classifying this as a rant. not a review.
but my rating whole-heartedly stands, and i will defend it against anyone.
March 17, 2023
⭐ 2.5 stars
i’d say i’m disappointed, but i didn’t have very high expectations to begin with.
the first 60% was very hard to get through.
i’ve never wanted to DNF a book so badly but i forced myself to finish it. there was a lot of repetitive and irritating moments, everything was just so predictable. i rolled my eyes countless times reading it.
the characters semeed so different from the first book and this bothered me, i didn’t liked it.
i loved mia in the first book but she was so different and sometimes annoying in this one.
i knew ollie was going to change because of his meds but in some specific scenes he really pissed me off. kissing maddie in front of mia was TERRIBLE. ugh!
i couldn’t stand ethan, he was weird and his relationship with mia was boring and kinda creepy.
oh and zeke’s death??? unnecessary.
i loved him so much :(
i’m gonna give it an extra star because the book got interesting near the end, the last chapters were good and shocking. also there was some cute moments between mia & ollie which i really enjoyed, but all that is not enough for me to rate it higher.
i don’t know if i’ll have the motivation to read the last book.
i’d say i’m disappointed, but i didn’t have very high expectations to begin with.
the first 60% was very hard to get through.
i’ve never wanted to DNF a book so badly but i forced myself to finish it. there was a lot of repetitive and irritating moments, everything was just so predictable. i rolled my eyes countless times reading it.
the characters semeed so different from the first book and this bothered me, i didn’t liked it.
i loved mia in the first book but she was so different and sometimes annoying in this one.
i knew ollie was going to change because of his meds but in some specific scenes he really pissed me off. kissing maddie in front of mia was TERRIBLE. ugh!
i couldn’t stand ethan, he was weird and his relationship with mia was boring and kinda creepy.
oh and zeke’s death??? unnecessary.
i loved him so much :(
i’m gonna give it an extra star because the book got interesting near the end, the last chapters were good and shocking. also there was some cute moments between mia & ollie which i really enjoyed, but all that is not enough for me to rate it higher.
i don’t know if i’ll have the motivation to read the last book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2024
toujours difficile de trouver les mots quand on a un coup de cœur pour un livre- on a l'impression qu'aucun mot rendra justice ou ne sera assez pertinent pour exprimer ce qu'on a ressenti en le lisant.
alors une fois de plus, je sais pas trop quoi dire après avoir fini Even when i'm gone. je suis encore une fois passée par tellement d'émotions contradictoires, les plus belles comme les plus sombres...
je suis fan de Nicole, de sa plume, de l'histoire qu'elle nous partage, de Mia, d'Ollie, je les aime tellement. c'est probablement les personnages fictifs que j'aime le plus au monde, ils me touchent d'une manière inexplicable, ils me font tout ressentir, j'ai mal avec eux, j'ai mal pour eux- j'aime avec eux, j'aime pour eux. leur amour est la plus belle chose que j'ai lue je crois.
j'ai hâte de découvrir le dernier volet, même si je ne suis pas prête psychologiquement à les quitter, j'ai hâte de connaitre le dénouement de leur histoire. 🤍
— "tout ce qui t'arrive m'arrive aussi. chaque coup, chaque échec, chaque brûlure, chaque battement. tu n'es pas seule. tu as mal, j'ai mal. tu souffres, je souffre. quoi que tu traverses, je le ressens parce que tu fais partie de moi."
alors une fois de plus, je sais pas trop quoi dire après avoir fini Even when i'm gone. je suis encore une fois passée par tellement d'émotions contradictoires, les plus belles comme les plus sombres...
je suis fan de Nicole, de sa plume, de l'histoire qu'elle nous partage, de Mia, d'Ollie, je les aime tellement. c'est probablement les personnages fictifs que j'aime le plus au monde, ils me touchent d'une manière inexplicable, ils me font tout ressentir, j'ai mal avec eux, j'ai mal pour eux- j'aime avec eux, j'aime pour eux. leur amour est la plus belle chose que j'ai lue je crois.
j'ai hâte de découvrir le dernier volet, même si je ne suis pas prête psychologiquement à les quitter, j'ai hâte de connaitre le dénouement de leur histoire. 🤍
— "tout ce qui t'arrive m'arrive aussi. chaque coup, chaque échec, chaque brûlure, chaque battement. tu n'es pas seule. tu as mal, j'ai mal. tu souffres, je souffre. quoi que tu traverses, je le ressens parce que tu fais partie de moi."
January 22, 2022
2.5 stars.
"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨, 𝙊𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨. 𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮, 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚."
I didn't entirely hate this but I didn't love this as much as I loved the first book. When you think about the plot, everything that happens here it's just so dumb that I just wish Stay With Me was a standalone. This is a mess and some things don't even make sense, Bria keeps being close to Ollie and Mia after all she has done??? Those kids are all together in a psych ward and yet rarely someone go check on them???? It's all so unrealistic, so messy and just.. dumb. Again.. what even was this.
I'm not mad at Ollie when he clearly wasn't himself at the beginning but then his relationship with Mia is so ?????????? Actually this is my reaction for the entire book because i have no idea what was going on, how in a chapter they were trying to stay away and then just making love declarations????? Nothing about this book makes sense. I'm deeply disappointed because I LOVED the first book, the romance between those two broken characters was BEAUTIFUL. And now in this sequel we get absolutely nothing but Mia leaving a ginger guy in the frienzone while sleeping next to him almost every night, Ollie being constantly sexually harassed, their shitty friends being shitty friends (except for Zeke my baby). Idk what happened this was embarrassing in so many ways.
I loved Mia on the first book and she became a comfort character for me but I have NO reactions after reading this, this sequel ruined everyone for me. C'mon she doesn't even seem to be the same character and it's not because she's healed but because she's just different???? Again: nothing makes sense, I lost all my braincells reading this.
Oh and Zeke... I have no words for what happened to him.
𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: this is a very dark themed book, it contains mentions and descriptions of sexual assault, rape, drug and alcohol consumption, suicide attempts, self harm, violence, toxic family relationships. Please be careful and only read what makes you comfortable.
"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨, 𝙊𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨. 𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮, 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚."
I didn't entirely hate this but I didn't love this as much as I loved the first book. When you think about the plot, everything that happens here it's just so dumb that I just wish Stay With Me was a standalone. This is a mess and some things don't even make sense, Bria keeps being close to Ollie and Mia after all she has done??? Those kids are all together in a psych ward and yet rarely someone go check on them???? It's all so unrealistic, so messy and just.. dumb. Again.. what even was this.
I'm not mad at Ollie when he clearly wasn't himself at the beginning but then his relationship with Mia is so ?????????? Actually this is my reaction for the entire book because i have no idea what was going on, how in a chapter they were trying to stay away and then just making love declarations????? Nothing about this book makes sense. I'm deeply disappointed because I LOVED the first book, the romance between those two broken characters was BEAUTIFUL. And now in this sequel we get absolutely nothing but Mia leaving a ginger guy in the frienzone while sleeping next to him almost every night, Ollie being constantly sexually harassed, their shitty friends being shitty friends (except for Zeke my baby). Idk what happened this was embarrassing in so many ways.
I loved Mia on the first book and she became a comfort character for me but I have NO reactions after reading this, this sequel ruined everyone for me. C'mon she doesn't even seem to be the same character and it's not because she's healed but because she's just different???? Again: nothing makes sense, I lost all my braincells reading this.
Oh and Zeke... I have no words for what happened to him.
𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: this is a very dark themed book, it contains mentions and descriptions of sexual assault, rape, drug and alcohol consumption, suicide attempts, self harm, violence, toxic family relationships. Please be careful and only read what makes you comfortable.
July 24, 2022
los odio son re dramáticos y la mitad de las cosas en este libro no tienen fucking sentido, TOMENSE 10 TES DE TILO BASTAAA, encima los plot twist que había no eran tan buenos y la mitad los saque al toque, el gran final fue re boludo porque YA LO SABIA ERA OBVIO UN POCO MAS Y TE LO DELETREA, aparte se supone que me tiene que caer mal??? good for him!!!!
les juro una novela de wattpad del 2012 es menos toxica y dramática que esta huevada... en fin ahora a leer el que sigue
les juro una novela de wattpad del 2012 es menos toxica y dramática que esta huevada... en fin ahora a leer el que sigue
October 26, 2019
Fuck... Double fuck. My heart... I have cried more times reading this than I have in my entire life. This story is so close to home for me... SO FUCKING CLOSE. it's almost scary... Nicole Fiorina is new but don't let that fool you. This woman is talented beyond belief and has come in swinging. She has raised the bar. Seriously... FUCKING AMAZING.
------------------------------------
Round two reading.
It's that good.. And this story is something close to heart... so round two!
------------------------------------
I finished the second round with this book and I'm even more speechless as I was the first time around. I seriously do not know how to review this book and I don't mean that in a bad way. It was just that fucking brilliant that I am struggling to find the words to come with how amazing this book was.
I am not sure where this author has come from, all I know is that her books are pure gold. I am no stranger to mental health. I struggle myself and in a lot of ways, I am a lot like the main female in this story. I actually think I am a little bit more than a lot... It's been like looking into my own story, in a way.. some parts are very different, of course, but some were so accurate it was scary. I felt like this author was writing my life story.
If I thought book one kicked my ass, I was very very mistaken. Even When I'm Gone just shattered me into pieces, and what did I go and do? I went back for more.
I honestly don't know where to start. I fell in love with Ollie and Mia from the very beginning. Their story is a little similar to my own, so it drew me in straight away. But what has kept me this drawn in is the way the author tackles this subject in her books. Mental health can be viewed from many angles, but I felt as though the author viewed it from my own. Having lived with mental illnesses my entire life, it was refreshing, yet devasting and heartbreaking to read something that I didn't feel was written from a textbook or google. The story feels like it came from her heart and that this subject was also something she could relate to. The accuracy of her words and the way she explains certain scenes in the book were amazing.
I am not even going to try and detail this, because honestly? You need to go into this series blind... Or I think personally you won't get the full experience. But I do have a few things to say. Nothing is what it seems. NOTHING and when you think you may have worked out where the author is taking this, she will turn around and gut-punch you hard and leave you hanging on for dear life. I was... I was hanging on to each and every word. My head was spinning. My heart pounding. This book is NOT for the faint of heart. I even struggled with some parts and that says a lot because I can handle a lot but like I said above, this story hits home hard for me and I was emotionally invested in Mia and Ollie. I honestly don't know what else to say, other than be prepared for your mind to be mind fucked like never before. You think you know what you are in for but mark my words. YOU DO NOT!
Mental health is such a big thing, it's so well known, yet it's treated taboo by so many. This story kind of blows that out the water. Ms. Fiorina has a profound ability to weave her words together and create a masterpiece that I couldn't put down, that consumed me for weeks... I'm not talking hours or days... Weeks. I read this and re-read it before I type this up and as you can tell. My mind is a mess, and my review isn't much better... But it's coming from my heart, and not wanting to give to much away because as I said before, you need to go into this blind. Take the leap. Go in open-minded. Fall in love with Mia and Ollie, but be prepared for that love too for them to be tested.
Once again, Nicole flaws me. Shatters me. Wrecks me. Breaks me to pieces and achingly slowly she puts it back together piece by piece, but I don't feel like it'll ever be fully healed. This author has gotten under my skin, and I need more. I want to know more of what's in that insanely amazing brain of hers, because if any of her future books are anything like this? Then I'm sold. She's an auto one-click for me now.
10000000 Stars!!!
------------------------------------
Round two reading.
It's that good.. And this story is something close to heart... so round two!
------------------------------------
I finished the second round with this book and I'm even more speechless as I was the first time around. I seriously do not know how to review this book and I don't mean that in a bad way. It was just that fucking brilliant that I am struggling to find the words to come with how amazing this book was.
I am not sure where this author has come from, all I know is that her books are pure gold. I am no stranger to mental health. I struggle myself and in a lot of ways, I am a lot like the main female in this story. I actually think I am a little bit more than a lot... It's been like looking into my own story, in a way.. some parts are very different, of course, but some were so accurate it was scary. I felt like this author was writing my life story.
If I thought book one kicked my ass, I was very very mistaken. Even When I'm Gone just shattered me into pieces, and what did I go and do? I went back for more.
I honestly don't know where to start. I fell in love with Ollie and Mia from the very beginning. Their story is a little similar to my own, so it drew me in straight away. But what has kept me this drawn in is the way the author tackles this subject in her books. Mental health can be viewed from many angles, but I felt as though the author viewed it from my own. Having lived with mental illnesses my entire life, it was refreshing, yet devasting and heartbreaking to read something that I didn't feel was written from a textbook or google. The story feels like it came from her heart and that this subject was also something she could relate to. The accuracy of her words and the way she explains certain scenes in the book were amazing.
I am not even going to try and detail this, because honestly? You need to go into this series blind... Or I think personally you won't get the full experience. But I do have a few things to say. Nothing is what it seems. NOTHING and when you think you may have worked out where the author is taking this, she will turn around and gut-punch you hard and leave you hanging on for dear life. I was... I was hanging on to each and every word. My head was spinning. My heart pounding. This book is NOT for the faint of heart. I even struggled with some parts and that says a lot because I can handle a lot but like I said above, this story hits home hard for me and I was emotionally invested in Mia and Ollie. I honestly don't know what else to say, other than be prepared for your mind to be mind fucked like never before. You think you know what you are in for but mark my words. YOU DO NOT!
Mental health is such a big thing, it's so well known, yet it's treated taboo by so many. This story kind of blows that out the water. Ms. Fiorina has a profound ability to weave her words together and create a masterpiece that I couldn't put down, that consumed me for weeks... I'm not talking hours or days... Weeks. I read this and re-read it before I type this up and as you can tell. My mind is a mess, and my review isn't much better... But it's coming from my heart, and not wanting to give to much away because as I said before, you need to go into this blind. Take the leap. Go in open-minded. Fall in love with Mia and Ollie, but be prepared for that love too for them to be tested.
Once again, Nicole flaws me. Shatters me. Wrecks me. Breaks me to pieces and achingly slowly she puts it back together piece by piece, but I don't feel like it'll ever be fully healed. This author has gotten under my skin, and I need more. I want to know more of what's in that insanely amazing brain of hers, because if any of her future books are anything like this? Then I'm sold. She's an auto one-click for me now.
10000000 Stars!!!
June 21, 2021
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾☆ 4.25 stars ☆☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
oh yeah i enjoyed this one A LOT. but first things first, this one is NOT safe . BUT as someone who hates absolutely hates unsafe books, i loved this one. This one is... special. This is a rare case where this didn’t bothered me and i don’t think i can’t explain it to you, you just need to read it :)
a lot happened here, but my ollie is still my boy. he is so fcking in love and he feels so fcking much!!!! i loved having his pov, loved loved loved it. mia... girl i wanted to slap you when you went looking for their friendship back, i’m glad nothing happened there. whew. mia has grown a lot since this journey started and i’m really proud of her. also, i just wanna say, i’m not educated on these mental issues, but i feel the sincerity behind them and the consistency. i think the addition of ollie’s pov added A LOT to the story.
this one hurt, but not as much as the last (even though that bit with zeke... yeah fuck u). ethan... y’all i still like him. i’m mad at him for not letting me watch them become official, but i understand him. the epilogue?? oh yeah i was rooting for him, i hope he got them all, but like... WHYYYYYYY, leave my babies alone 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 u know??
i kinda enjoyed this one a bit more than last one, it’s so weird with what the books has and all (for me). i gotta say though... i feel like the conflicts need a bit more build-up, that part with maddie was... surprising ofc, but also a bit anticlimactic. Not with what happened and her story, but with how it was written. i don’t know if that makes sense. the last last bit, though!! was good. i had my suspicions cause i’m amazing, but it still was good.
i’m not sure if we are dealing with a kidnapping or something like that next book. I have a few predictions and suspicions, but i’m not 100% in either of them. Let’s just start the next one and see!! i’m so excited for the last book.
p.s. i loooove the covers and i looooove ollie’s poems.
“I want you to love me anyway,” a single, lost tear trickled down his cheek.”
❁
“Do not fear the hurt in their eyes.
Instead, fear when hurt fades to hollow.
For the difference between
the two is the heart.”
SONGS:
Lost - Ollie
Hold Me While You Wait - Lewis Capaldi
Hold On - Chord Overstreet
drugs - EDEN
Bloodstream - Stateless
�� ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁
Stay With Me Trilogy
Stay With Me #1 — 4 stars
Even When I’m Gone #2 — 4.25 stars
Now Open Your Eyes #3 — 1.75 stars
❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁
oh yeah i enjoyed this one A LOT. but first things first, this one is NOT safe . BUT as someone who hates absolutely hates unsafe books, i loved this one. This one is... special. This is a rare case where this didn’t bothered me and i don’t think i can’t explain it to you, you just need to read it :)
a lot happened here, but my ollie is still my boy. he is so fcking in love and he feels so fcking much!!!! i loved having his pov, loved loved loved it. mia... girl i wanted to slap you when you went looking for their friendship back, i’m glad nothing happened there. whew. mia has grown a lot since this journey started and i’m really proud of her. also, i just wanna say, i’m not educated on these mental issues, but i feel the sincerity behind them and the consistency. i think the addition of ollie’s pov added A LOT to the story.
this one hurt, but not as much as the last (even though that bit with zeke... yeah fuck u). ethan... y’all i still like him. i’m mad at him for not letting me watch them become official, but i understand him. the epilogue?? oh yeah i was rooting for him, i hope he got them all, but like... WHYYYYYYY, leave my babies alone 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 u know??
i kinda enjoyed this one a bit more than last one, it’s so weird with what the books has and all (for me). i gotta say though... i feel like the conflicts need a bit more build-up, that part with maddie was... surprising ofc, but also a bit anticlimactic. Not with what happened and her story, but with how it was written. i don’t know if that makes sense. the last last bit, though!! was good. i had my suspicions cause i’m amazing, but it still was good.
i’m not sure if we are dealing with a kidnapping or something like that next book. I have a few predictions and suspicions, but i’m not 100% in either of them. Let’s just start the next one and see!! i’m so excited for the last book.
p.s. i loooove the covers and i looooove ollie’s poems.
“I want you to love me anyway,” a single, lost tear trickled down his cheek.”
❁
“Do not fear the hurt in their eyes.
Instead, fear when hurt fades to hollow.
For the difference between
the two is the heart.”
SONGS:
Lost - Ollie
Hold Me While You Wait - Lewis Capaldi
Hold On - Chord Overstreet
drugs - EDEN
Bloodstream - Stateless
�� ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁
Stay With Me Trilogy
Stay With Me #1 — 4 stars
Even When I’m Gone #2 — 4.25 stars
Now Open Your Eyes #3 — 1.75 stars
❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁ ❁
October 29, 2019
Thank you Nicole for my ARC!!!! I also purchased this book and the first one... that is how much I love this series!!! Book two is out now!!
I really don't know how to put what I'm feeling into words. This is the second book in a three book series and they only get better! There were parts of this book that were really hard to read. I didn't like Ollie at the beginning ( and it's really hard not to like him because he is awesome) but that was because we were seeing another side to him! Mia bless her heart, she is so damn strong to have gone through all she did. The twist and turns in this book had me screaming at my kindle. The ending WTH!!!!!!!!!!!! Nicole's ability to write so good makes you feel like you are there and to bring so many emotions out of you. I can't wait for the next book and I'm praying there will be some HEA!!! Nicole you wrecked my feelings with this book!!! Great job!!!!
I really don't know how to put what I'm feeling into words. This is the second book in a three book series and they only get better! There were parts of this book that were really hard to read. I didn't like Ollie at the beginning ( and it's really hard not to like him because he is awesome) but that was because we were seeing another side to him! Mia bless her heart, she is so damn strong to have gone through all she did. The twist and turns in this book had me screaming at my kindle. The ending WTH!!!!!!!!!!!! Nicole's ability to write so good makes you feel like you are there and to bring so many emotions out of you. I can't wait for the next book and I'm praying there will be some HEA!!! Nicole you wrecked my feelings with this book!!! Great job!!!!
November 12, 2019
FIVE poem stars for MIA and OLLIE ❤🖤❤🖤!!!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I still can't believe that "Stay With Me" is Nicole's debut book because it's brilliant, but that is nothing compared to "Even When I'm Gone", the second book this series 😱!
The first book was an emotional roller coaster.
There were a few times when my tears were dropping trough my face but this one was also emotional and shattered my heart a lot of times.
Nicole Fiorina has a beautiful writing style that penetrates the soul.
I felt everything.
Every each word touched my heart.
My soul.
My mind.
In these two books, she wrote about true life problems, mental health and social issues in the way I didn't find in any other book with these topics.
Mia and Oliver's relationship is all but ordinary.
They started as enemies who fought each other until they became conscious of the connection between them.
And just when I thought they finally found their happily ever after, something happened to separate them apart.
Epilog shocked me and I can't wait to read the next book in series 😍!!!
If you're looking for a book that wrecks your emotions, this is a book for you 💖!!!
Highly recommended!!!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I still can't believe that "Stay With Me" is Nicole's debut book because it's brilliant, but that is nothing compared to "Even When I'm Gone", the second book this series 😱!
The first book was an emotional roller coaster.
There were a few times when my tears were dropping trough my face but this one was also emotional and shattered my heart a lot of times.
Nicole Fiorina has a beautiful writing style that penetrates the soul.
I felt everything.
Every each word touched my heart.
My soul.
My mind.
In these two books, she wrote about true life problems, mental health and social issues in the way I didn't find in any other book with these topics.
Mia and Oliver's relationship is all but ordinary.
They started as enemies who fought each other until they became conscious of the connection between them.
And just when I thought they finally found their happily ever after, something happened to separate them apart.
Epilog shocked me and I can't wait to read the next book in series 😍!!!
If you're looking for a book that wrecks your emotions, this is a book for you 💖!!!
Highly recommended!!!
May 30, 2021
it just keeps getting better 🥺🤍
December 31, 2021
i actually started book 3 right after finishing this last night because i was just......not okay. and i'm not a series binger AT ALL so this means a lot coming from me!! this book was immaculate. i love mia to death and even though ollie can be a little much for me at times, seeing them together is just AH perfection. i loved this even more than book one! we saw so much growth and development and intrigue and i was just so invested in everything that was happening. this series is everything and unlike anything i've read. it's so much more than "just" a romance and i can't get enough of it. i'm scared of everything that's going to happen in book 3 but i'm also SO EXCITED ah. nicole fiorina really did THAT.
also, if anyone knows where i can get my hands on a poetic hoodie, please hit me up???🥺
also, if anyone knows where i can get my hands on a poetic hoodie, please hit me up???🥺
May 6, 2021
Wow. Another great book in this series. I love Ollie. This one was quit diff then the 1st. This time it's Ollie who needs Mia's help.
October 5, 2019
OMG! This my friend is definitely a must read 2019!
This second book by Nicole Fiorina and second in the series was just WOW!OMG! unbelievable gripping and hellish emotional. I don't even know how to describe my emotional condition right now.
This book wrecked me 😩
It was a torture to read some of the chapters 🤯.
My fingernails are gone thanks to the continuous breath-holding suspense 😂 and honestly?
I loved every second of this heartache and wouldn't change a thing about it 😍❤
Mia's and Ollie's story is so never-ending dramatic and incredible beautiful at the same time. Their unique love story is like nothing that I read before. This book leaves you breathless and emotional spent, but with a enormous need for more.
I'm really in love with the characters and not only with Mia and Ollie, through they will always stay my favorite soulmates couple, but also with Ethan and Jake. I know with the abrupt and surprising ending and unknown future because of the epic cliffhanger 🤯, someone will think that Ethan is a loose cannon, but hey! no one is perfect 🤷🏻♀️
After the first book I was curious if the second book would be as good as the first and you know what?
I think it was even better 🤗
So much drama and heartbreak in so short time is inhuman, but that's what this book is about. Take mental breakdowns and mental disorders mixed with psychopathic behavior and you have a small glimpse of the big story.
I can't give you more details, because I don't want to spoil this dark book for you, but trust me when I say it is a must read.
I love drama and heartbreak in my books, but this series brings it to the extremes limits of emotions.
If you haven't read the first book "Stay With Me", you've still time utill October 29th.
You've to read the first book before you start this one!
I highly recommend to read it blind like I did. If you love drama and more drama without HEA (this time 😩 I'm sure there'll be a HEA in the 3rd book 🤨), this is a story for you.
This second book by Nicole Fiorina and second in the series was just WOW!OMG! unbelievable gripping and hellish emotional. I don't even know how to describe my emotional condition right now.
This book wrecked me 😩
It was a torture to read some of the chapters 🤯.
My fingernails are gone thanks to the continuous breath-holding suspense 😂 and honestly?
I loved every second of this heartache and wouldn't change a thing about it 😍❤
Mia's and Ollie's story is so never-ending dramatic and incredible beautiful at the same time. Their unique love story is like nothing that I read before. This book leaves you breathless and emotional spent, but with a enormous need for more.
I'm really in love with the characters and not only with Mia and Ollie, through they will always stay my favorite soulmates couple, but also with Ethan and Jake. I know with the abrupt and surprising ending and unknown future because of the epic cliffhanger 🤯, someone will think that Ethan is a loose cannon, but hey! no one is perfect 🤷🏻♀️
After the first book I was curious if the second book would be as good as the first and you know what?
I think it was even better 🤗
So much drama and heartbreak in so short time is inhuman, but that's what this book is about. Take mental breakdowns and mental disorders mixed with psychopathic behavior and you have a small glimpse of the big story.
I can't give you more details, because I don't want to spoil this dark book for you, but trust me when I say it is a must read.
I love drama and heartbreak in my books, but this series brings it to the extremes limits of emotions.
If you haven't read the first book "Stay With Me", you've still time utill October 29th.
You've to read the first book before you start this one!
I highly recommend to read it blind like I did. If you love drama and more drama without HEA (this time 😩 I'm sure there'll be a HEA in the 3rd book 🤨), this is a story for you.
April 14, 2023
4 Stars
I devoured this series. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and I felt every single emotion while reading this series. Ollie and Mia are perfection.
I devoured this series. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and I felt every single emotion while reading this series. Ollie and Mia are perfection.
July 11, 2023
✨3.5✨
“stay with me mia”
“Even when you’re gone?”
“Especially when i’m gone”
The first book was better. I mean this was good too there was a-lot of angst and drama and omg the plot twists at the end was so shocking and the writing soo touching and beautiful 💖 but for me the first is my favorite 🫶🏻
”the worst part of caring too much, of feeling too much, of having too much to give, was that eventually you drain from being too much for too long”
ollie his povs 🥹🥹 omg i love him you cannot imagine how much i really love him he can gladly run me over with a tuck and I would gladly thank him that how much control he has over me 💖 the 3 stars is for him and him only 💖
” give me a love so intoxicating, i never suffer a hangover”
mia i have a love/hate relationship with her.. she annoyed me so much her selfishness was what made me dislike her so much in this book the way she used ethan to full ollie place while she knew that he has feeling for her 🌝 but i also loved her i loved her love for zeke and her friends i loved her love of ollie loved her character development in this book
” if people fear you, you will be ten feet tall amongst enemies. If people love you, you will be hundred feet tall among loyal defenders”
I still hate everyone else in this book except for zeke and ethan 💖
quotes
”if reality becomes unbearable, close your eyes we were made with an imagination”
”because love is constant. When you love someone, you can be angry with them, you can hate them, you can upset or disappointed in them, but you never stop loving them because love endures all other emotions”
” fall apart so we call fall in place together”
” i’m not sure what’s more terrifying, the violent storm inside my head or the silence”
”never again would be left alone with the dark because the nigh was when our demons came out to play. And our demons played nicely together, leaving the two of us alone”
” I suffer from the heart of a saint with the hands of a sinner”
There is still so many more quotes i want to add 😭💖
“stay with me mia”
“Even when you’re gone?”
“Especially when i’m gone”
The first book was better. I mean this was good too there was a-lot of angst and drama and omg the plot twists at the end was so shocking and the writing soo touching and beautiful 💖 but for me the first is my favorite 🫶🏻
”the worst part of caring too much, of feeling too much, of having too much to give, was that eventually you drain from being too much for too long”
ollie his povs 🥹🥹 omg i love him you cannot imagine how much i really love him he can gladly run me over with a tuck and I would gladly thank him that how much control he has over me 💖 the 3 stars is for him and him only 💖
” give me a love so intoxicating, i never suffer a hangover”
mia i have a love/hate relationship with her.. she annoyed me so much her selfishness was what made me dislike her so much in this book the way she used ethan to full ollie place while she knew that he has feeling for her 🌝 but i also loved her i loved her love for zeke and her friends i loved her love of ollie loved her character development in this book
” if people fear you, you will be ten feet tall amongst enemies. If people love you, you will be hundred feet tall among loyal defenders”
I still hate everyone else in this book except for zeke and ethan 💖
quotes
”if reality becomes unbearable, close your eyes we were made with an imagination”
”because love is constant. When you love someone, you can be angry with them, you can hate them, you can upset or disappointed in them, but you never stop loving them because love endures all other emotions”
” fall apart so we call fall in place together”
” i’m not sure what’s more terrifying, the violent storm inside my head or the silence”
”never again would be left alone with the dark because the nigh was when our demons came out to play. And our demons played nicely together, leaving the two of us alone”
” I suffer from the heart of a saint with the hands of a sinner”
There is still so many more quotes i want to add 😭💖
March 21, 2021
This book was just as good as the first. I loved it! Mia and Ollie's love consumed me. I love them so much. We saw Mia's growth and witnessed Ollie's struggles. The way Ollie worships Mia...ugh, my heart!! ❤️😍 I loved the new characters and everyone had me on edge. Trust no one! What I loved about book 2 is the plot twist out of left field. I kept thinking I had a feeling what would happen, but it was nothing like what I suspected.
Im excited for book 3 but also sad. I don't want this series to end! Mia and Ollie forever!
Im excited for book 3 but also sad. I don't want this series to end! Mia and Ollie forever!
July 4, 2020
holy fucking shit. this book gave me all the emotions, i cried hard, laughed even harder, and was at the edge of my seat the whole fucking time. amazing, just amazing.
December 25, 2021
Even When I'm Gone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
!I advise you to check the trigger warnings!
I'm too obsessed with this series, I don't want it to end.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
!I advise you to check the trigger warnings!
I'm too obsessed with this series, I don't want it to end.
December 22, 2021
This follow up to Stay with Me is just as heartwrenching as the first in the trilogy! I enjoyed watching the role reversal between Mia and Ollie. Throughout the book, they both make mistakes that are painful to follow, but incredibly realistic and true to their characters. We’re introduced to several new characters in this book, and there’s an intriguing suspense plotline going on in the backdrop. There are a few surprising twists, though the final twist was obvious. This book ends with a cliffhanger, and I genuinely haven’t a clue where the next book will lead! But I guess I’ll find out!
5 stars
5 stars
June 28, 2022
4.7/5
this book broke me.
this book broke me.
January 8, 2022
oh my god corny! lame! BOOO 🍅����🍅
January 4, 2023
3.75 stars! ☆
3.5/5! 🌶 🌶
wow. i'm not even sure how to begin this review because so many things just happened. while i LOVED the first book and fell in love with miaollie in "stay with me", this just felt a bit rushed and repetitive to me. there were several instances in which i felt that there was no true plot to this because details kept getting thrown out for the sake of it. even one of the main plottwists did not make sense? it felt shallow for the amount of anticipation the author wrote. this book just felt a little all over the place for me. while i enjoyed watching miaollie reconnect and find one another again, both ollie and mia made so many questionable decisions to the point where i wasn't sure what was going through their heads. i knew this would be a rough ride seeing ollie struggle with his medication and finding himself, but something just did not click with me the way i expected to love this story. furthermore, the plot finally speeds up towards the last 75 pages and the buildup truly did not do the ending justice because everything just fell a bit short. however, i will say that the writing of this series is absolutely magnificent. i do not think i have ever read a story so beautifully articulated. it truly is encapsulating while reading and there were so many beautiful quotes shared between miaollie and even each character's own dialogue. i feel inspired by miaollie and their love -- my heart still aches at this book's ending. i will be continuing with the rest of the series (aka the last book) since i truly hope these characters get the ending which they fully deserve.
3.5/5! 🌶 🌶
wow. i'm not even sure how to begin this review because so many things just happened. while i LOVED the first book and fell in love with miaollie in "stay with me", this just felt a bit rushed and repetitive to me. there were several instances in which i felt that there was no true plot to this because details kept getting thrown out for the sake of it. even one of the main plottwists did not make sense? it felt shallow for the amount of anticipation the author wrote. this book just felt a little all over the place for me. while i enjoyed watching miaollie reconnect and find one another again, both ollie and mia made so many questionable decisions to the point where i wasn't sure what was going through their heads. i knew this would be a rough ride seeing ollie struggle with his medication and finding himself, but something just did not click with me the way i expected to love this story. furthermore, the plot finally speeds up towards the last 75 pages and the buildup truly did not do the ending justice because everything just fell a bit short. however, i will say that the writing of this series is absolutely magnificent. i do not think i have ever read a story so beautifully articulated. it truly is encapsulating while reading and there were so many beautiful quotes shared between miaollie and even each character's own dialogue. i feel inspired by miaollie and their love -- my heart still aches at this book's ending. i will be continuing with the rest of the series (aka the last book) since i truly hope these characters get the ending which they fully deserve.
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