Review: ‘Save Me’ by @mcfrankauthor
'Now it's two stories unfolding. My story with Ari and my story with Greece. (...) Two love stories.'
Actually, there's a third love story going on: mine with this book. It’s been five years since I first fell in love with ‘Lose Me’ by M.C. Frank - the story of Wes and Ari: a British movie star and a half-Greek stunt actress, who meet on a beautiful Greek island while shooting a modern adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Now all the feelings that flooded me while reading LM came back, as I was reading the author’s newest book: ‘Save Me’, which presents Wes’ point of view. It was a delightful experience to get into this young man’s head - and by ‘delightful’ I mean: heartbraking, poignant, making me laugh, cry and fall in love with this character all over again. Wes seems to have everything: money, fame, beauty, he's even nominated for the Academy Award, but it all comes with a price. As they say, money can't buy happiness, and the pain can't be drowned in alcohol. His life starts to change when he meets Ari and saves her life, but it turns out she's not the only one who needs salvation. Obviously I loved this book and this one sentence could sum up my whole review, but there's a couple of things I want to write. First of all, 'Save Me' completes 'Lose Me' perfectly, filling all the blank or blurred spaces. For example, in LM we see that Wes is going through a major transformation, but only from SM we learn what was the whole process like, what caused it, how hard was Wes' inner struggle. Each book can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading both of them, because only together they become one beautifully crafted, full story. Secondly, SM is a story about many different kinds of love: the romantic one, the family love and the thirst for it, the Love that transforms people's hearts, but also about falling in love with Greece. Through this book the author draws attention to the problem how her country and its people are seen by the rest of the world. It's truly heartbreaking to see how one of the greatest nations, whose cultural and scientific achievements still influence the modern world, is being ridiculed and hated by the western culture. I'm ashamed to admit I wasn't aware of the scale of the problem, so I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn. Thirdly, I'm a huge fan of M.C. Frank's writing style and SM was no exception - it was beautifully written. The emotions of the main character felt so real, I believed his every word. Every part of the story: the romance, action, setting, dialogues or inner monologues prove that Frank is an excellent writer. I loved revisiting Wes and Ari's story, meeting them again, getting to know Wes better. I only wish the book was longer, so I could spend more time with them! But what are rereads for, right? ;)
