Complementary Colors

Title: Complementary Colors
Author: Adrienne Wilder
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: June 20th 2014
Genre(s): Contemporary
Page Count: 320
Reviewed by: Ele
Heat Level: 3.5 flames out of 5
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

My sister Julia manipulated my life into a prison to keep me silent about our dirty family secret. Her greed made me a slave and circumstance left me with no way to escape.

Trapped, the only way I could silence the nightmares driving me to insanity was to wrap them in color, hold them with shadow, and stitch them to negative space with line.

But no matter how bright the pigments, no one could see my confession.

Except for Roy Callahan.

I thought he was just another nameless one-night stand in a long line of many.
But I was wrong. Roy could see past the façade of my life and through the veil color over the canvas. He could see what the world couldn’t.

And with him I’d find the courage to tell the truth about the boy.

The boy who kissed me.
The boy who loved me.
The boy whose name I couldn’t remember. (less)

In every painting you create, you tell the world what happened.”
“No one hears me.”
“I hear you.”
“No one cares.”
“I do.”
“No one believes.”
“I believe you. Every word.”

This is not your typical romance. I’m not even sure it is romance. But it is an amazing love story. It is harsh and brutal. You ‘ll think there is no way out. Right until the end, you will doubt there is salvation. Take a break and keep pushing. But be warned…here be monsters.

Paris Duvoe lives with demons. Mental illness, dirty family secrets, and his sister, Julia, have him trapped with no way out. Painting is a comfort and a curse. It keeps the monsters away. He can’t do much, but he has to paint. He takes drugs to stay numb and has nameless sex to punish himself. Because he kissed a boy, but can’t remembeer his name.

And then he meets Roy. Who “carried himself like a man who was one with the world and not above it.”Who loved Paris and tried to become his safe place. But how can Paris let Roy love him when he’s so broken?

“Will you let me?”
“What?”
“Love you.”
“I don’t know how.”
“I’ll teach you.” He kissed my neck.
“What if I fail?”
“You won’t.
“It’ll hurt.”
“Only a little.” No. It would chew me up and spit me out. But not before tearing me apart and breaking every bone in my body.

There is a long way ahead. Paris will bleed, he will almost die before he lets Roy save him. But in the end, he will. It’s not perfect, but it’s real, beautiful and right. Like colors that complement each other.

According to the bio, the author is an artist. Only an artist would incorporate art so beautifully in this book. Painting is the core of this story and everything revolves around it. Paris thinks and speaks colors, he paints to save his life and whatever remained from his sanity.

“I surrounded those spaces with the brightest colors. I wanted them to stand out. To be unforgettable.
Like the loss of those you love.
Like a mother.
A brother.
Or a boy who gave you your first kiss.”

Adrienne Wilder, you blew my mind. Highly recommended!

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