The Boy & His Ribbon by Pepper Winters

Emotional, heartbreaking, and a unique spin to a "brother and sister" relationship.

First off, I just want to say that Pepper blew me away with this book. It took me awhile to read it and now I'm kicking myself for taking so long. It's amazing. It's absolutely addicting and so very sad. I thought Pepper had outdone herself with the Dollars series but THIS?! This book is Pepper's best writing to date. The fact that I stayed up late with tears in my eyes to finish it says a lot. It reads almost like a saga/legacy because we see how Ren and Della grow up and the struggles they go through in this life-long journey from adolescents to adults.

Let's start off with the premise of this book: It's unlike anything I've read before. Sure, there were certain elements of it that have been explored in the romance genre prior but The Boy & His Ribbon is a hybrid of all things combined. It's a character-driven book and I loved that. We're first introduced to Ren and quickly realize the situation he's in - he is a slave, bought and purchased by a farm family known as the Mclary's. The book moves very quick, which is something I don't mind, and Ren encounters the unexpected during his escape: A young baby girl, the very daughter of the slave owners who tortured him, in his backpack.

Throughout their entire journey together, Della and Ren will both experience love and sacrifice, the pains and struggles of growing up, teenage angst, sex, betrayal, and many, many mistakes and misunderstandings along the way. I won't go into detail as to who they meet but there's one thing I will say: One mistake will change everything. My heart completely broke after it happened and it hurts to think about what could have been. If things were done differently, if they had waited...

Anyway, I highly recommend this book to those who are looking for some angst and gut-wrenching moments with a side of unrequited love. I had to go through several tissues while reading this book and all I can say is that IT WAS WORTH IT.

* This book was generously provided by Pepper Winters and Social Butterfly Books for an honest review. 

Rating: ★★★★★