Craves The Angst: REVIEW - IN HER WAKE (Ten Tiny Breaths #0.5) by K.A. Tucker:

TITLE: In Her Wake
SERIES: Ten Tiny Breaths
SERIES PLACEMENT: #0.5
AUTHOR: K.A. Tucker
AGE GROUP: New Adult
GENRE: Romance, Drama
RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2014
PUBLISHER: Atria Books
FORMAT: eBook and Paperback
PAGES: Approx. 176

MY GOODREADS REVIEW LINK
RATING: 4 Stars!

BOOK BLURB:
Before you knew him as Trent in Ten Tiny Breaths, he was Cole Reynolds—and he had it all. Until one night when he makes a fatal, wrong decision…and loses everything.

When a drunken night out at a Michigan State college party results in the death of six people, Cole must come to terms with his part in the tragedy. Normally, he’d be able to lean on his best friends—the ones who have been in his life since he could barely walk. Only, they’re gone. Worse, there’s the shattered body of a sixteen-year-old girl lying somewhere in a hospital bed, her entire life ripped from her because of a case of beer and a set of keys.

Everyone assures him that they know it wasn’t intentional, and yet he can’t ignore the weight of their gazes, the whispers behind his back. Nor can he shake the all-consuming guilt he feels every time he thinks of that girl who won’t so much as allow him near her hospital room to apologize. As the months go by and the shame and loneliness festers, Cole begins to lose his grip on what once was important—college, his girlfriend, his future. His life. It’s not until Cole hits rock-bottom that he can begin to see another way out of his personal hell: forgiveness.

And there’s only one person who can give that to him…

4 Spiraling Stars!

Warning... This review is a bit spoilery.

The Review:

I loved Ten Tiny Breaths and I always wondered about Trent’s side of the story. What happened to him after the accident. What happened to him during that time when healing should have been a priority and where was his head at. What made him decide on the course he took when he stepped in and altered Kacey’s life.

This is his story.

It takes place on that fateful night when he and Kacey’s lives were irrevocably intertwined and all the heartbreak that followed. You get to see what life was like after the accident, the loneliness and desperation that sunk into his daily routine and the gut wrenching pain he was in. And what was even more amazing was I felt connected to his friends Derek and Sasha, even though we hardly met them. That’s the power of this authors writing. I felt anguished over the events in this book and all the characters who suffered from one tragic mistake.

I loved getting inside Trents head. He was devastatingly sad and my heart just broke for him. I also really enjoyed seeing parts of Kacey’s life from his eyes as he watched her from afar. There were new scenes that we didn’t get to see in TTB’s. She was so broken and messed up and her life was spiraling out of control.

I will say that though I loved this novella, I do wish we had gotten a look inside his thoughts after he met Kacey in the laundry room in TTB’s, which is where this book ends. I wanted to know all those little moments when he stalked her at the strip club, when he watched her from his apartment window, when he was seeing what the accident and the years that followed had done to her life. And I desperately wanted to hear his thoughts when he found out Kacey forgave him. I wanted all that. And I know that’s being selfish. But he was a wonderful character and getting a taste was more like a tease! ;)

The Wrap Up:

This is titled 0.5 in the listing, but really ends where Trent and Kacey meet in Ten Tiny Breaths. I would suggest reading TTB first so you won’t be spoiled. And you’ll get the added bonus of recognizing all the little additional scenes you never knew existed in TTB. Regardless of your reading order, Ten Tiny Breaths and In Her Wake are amazing reads and you won’t be disappointed. Bring on the angsts ‘cuz there’s plenty here!