The Boy and His Ribbon by Pepper Winters **ARC Review**

“What do you do when you meet your soul mate? No wait…that’s too easy. What do you do when you meet your soul mate and have to spend a lifetime loving him in secret? 

I’ll tell you what you do.

You lie.”

REN

Ren was eight when he learned that love doesn’t exist—that the one person who was supposed to adore him only cared how much he was worth. 

His mother sold him and for two years, he lived in terror.

But then…he ran.

He thought he’d run on his own. Turned out, he took something of theirs by accident and it became the one thing he never wanted and the only thing he ever needed. 

DELLA

I was young when I fell in love with him, when he switched from my world to my everything. 

My parents bought him for cheap labour, just like they had with many other kids, and he had the scars to prove it. 

At the start, he hated me, and I could understand why.

For years he was my worst enemy, fiercest protector, and dearest friend.

But by the end…he loved me.

The only problem was, he loved me in an entirely different way to the way I loved him.

And slowly, my secret drove us apart.

5 powerful stars

Wow, I have no words. This was a fantastic read for me. If I could categorize this book I would say it belongs more in the fiction genre, than romance. But it is a story that follows a love story. The story follows Ren a ten year old who was sold in a family and mistreated him along with other kids. One day he can’t take it any longer and runs away. Somehow he ends up with Della, the family’s infant.

"I didn’t want this. I didn’t want her. I wanted my freedom , and she was just another form of imprisonment."

We follow them throughout the years and how they survive, the things they go through, their separations and reunions. The novel is in both present tense, along with flashbacks from the past, as we find out their journey and how their relationship develops from hatred at first to a family bond eventually.

My heart stopped with how perfect she was. How smart. How kind. How brave. I'd never look at the colour blue again without thinking of her. I'd never hold another ribbon again without wanting to hold her.

This was such an interesting story, but I didn’t expect anything less from Pepper Winters. It’s no secret that I have loved almost every book by her and this wasn’t an exception. I am so intrigued with how their story is going to continue. This is such a well written novel and I was consumed by so many emotions while reading it. It’s a story that will make you sad, angry, uncomfortable, but also happy and in love with these characters. I was invested to the story of those two kids and I didn’t want it to end, but I was also curious to see where it will lead them.

This is definitely one of my top reads for 2018 and I’m already looking forward for the next exciting part of the story. Definitely a book I would recommend.

Thank you for the (F)BR my lovely shhluts: SueBee, Liz, Timitra, C, Lu, Myla, Ann, Susan, Akd, Snow, Megan, Tina, and Dayna!

ARC was kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

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