Black Box by Cassia Leo

This would be the first book that I would review and mind you, this will be my first attempt in doing such. So, please bear with me and allow me to bring you along on the journey.

 

The story:

 

♥️ Three fateful encounters....
♥️ Two heart-breaking tragedies....
♥️ One last chance to get it right.

From New York Times best selling author Cassia Leo, comes an epic love story about rewriting destiny.

Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on three separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.

Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.

Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he's never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he's never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn't even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he's never felt like his life had any purpose... until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.

When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.

Spoiler alert:

The story focus on two main characters; Mikki and Crush. For the last 5 years their life entangled in a way that was twisted yet saved both of their life.

Mikki was someone who suffered from emotional and psychological damage, where she was bullied so bad that she had the urge to kill herself. Thou, before she even acknowledged this and seek the help that she needed, she had decided to kill herself. However, before she went on with the plan, she tweeted one last cry of help and that was when Crush saved her by tweeting her back and told her  a quote from his favourite book; 'Black Box'.

This black box is yours to keep, to stash your trouble away. 

Just lock it up and call my name and Ill be there always.

This quote saves her life that night but life for Mikki was not easy. A year after being diagnosed with Type-two bipolar and transferred to an alternative school and having a new best friend, Mikki decided to attend a party with Rina. Thou, feeling overwhelming and being left alone by Rina, she decide to went out and called her mom to pick her up but that was when everything turned for the worst for her. She was kidnapped, rape and left to die. This was when Crush entered the picture and save her life once again and this time she saved him too.

Crush... When Crush first introduced himself to Mikki, my first reaction to his name was 'What sort of name is Crush'. It was an awesome name but it was name that has a deep meaning into it especially when you made it your legal name. Just like Mikki, Crush was also broken. About two weeks before his first encountered with Mikki, his cousin/best friend passed away and the truth behind his death sent Crush over the edge. It was so unbearable for Crush that he decided to kill himself the night he found Mikki being forced out of a van after being kidnapped and rape. He saved her, sent her to the hospital and left her with 'Black box'.

It was not until three years later that Mikki and Crush met again when both of them decided to go to L.A for two completely different reasons. Mikki to finally killed herself without the interference of her family  and Crush to finally record his song about Mikki and finally letting her go.

Thou, fate had another plan for them as their flight were cancel due to a storm and somehow they decided to spend time together while waiting for their next flight without recognizing each other.

My thought and review:

This is a beautiful story and something I can relate with. The feeling of wanting to kill oneself is something I could understand caused there were times in my life when I wanted to do so. The different between me and Mikki and Crush, I never crossed that line and be at the point where one second into the future could ended my life. It is my personal believe wanted to die is a normal thing but to act upon it is when you need to go and seek for help.

The story was well written and I could feel and understand Mikki suffering. Her need to killed herself and her need to die was so strong and only she can save herself but that could not happened when everything remind her of that night. I mean the decision to kill yourself is yours and no matter what other people said about it, you can't just turn off your feeling when everything around you is falling apart and your desire to live is non-existence. Thus, come in Crush. The boy who saves her life. A boy that she knows she can trust and boy who gave her the 'Black Box'. You can't help but to trust the one who go all out to save you right?

I don't want to indulged more into the story as I spoil about 60% of it but one thing for sure, from page one until the end of the story, I was alert and have no idea on how the story would end. I kept on wondering if Crush will be able to save Mikki from herself or would she still go to L.A and kill herself. Would Crush's love for her is enough for her to not wanting to die. Would they ever go to L.A. Heck, there was even this one moment I thought that maybe that everything that happened since they met in the airport was not real and just Mikki's hallucination.

Okay... I can't say that the book was perfect. It was not. There were times where I got confused and had to reread a passage or a chapter again because I have no idea who was talking. Was is Mikki or Crush point of views. I love dual point of view caused I love to know what the other one was thinking and the author did a good job with this one but somehow along the way, I got confused especially when it seems Mikki and Crush are the same person.

Before I end I left you with a song by Crush:

Hope can cleanse the darkest soul

Wash away the blue

And hope is all I can recall

The night I met you

Washed up on this shore of mine

A Shell broken, cracked

never could have known this time

You'd turn my world black

This black box

Is yours to keep

This black box

Will help you sleep

This black box

Don't know your name

This black box

Loves you just the same

Time don't pass for the lonely

Season's all look gray

Time stands still when you hold me

Knowing you won't stray

Love don't come to the wicked

Get what's coming back

Oh, love ain't no white picket

No, our love is black

I don't believe in coincidence or fate

But I know one thing for sure

Your face was meant to be

Burned into the deepest reaches 

Of my blackest memories

My rating (4/5):

How do I rate the books:

1. The time taken for me to read it (5)
 (Less than a day: 5; More than 3 days: 3; More than a week: 1)
2. The urge to finish the book & does not want to do something else (4)
(Strong: 5; Medium: 3; Meh: 1)
3. The Hook the books got on me as in the feel involve (4)
(Strong: 5; Medium: 3; Yawn: 1)
4. The Hero (4)
(Strong, Alpha and Awesome: 5; Keep on making mistake but forgiven: 3; Unforgivable: 1)
(Awesome character development: 5; Alright: 3; Meh: 1)
5. The Heroine (4)
(Strong, Sweet and Independent: 5; Bitchy: 3; Pathetic: 1)
(Awesome character development: 5; Alright: 3; Meh: 1)
6: The other characters (3)
(Well developed and loved: 5; In between: 3 Just a waste of space: 1)
7. The Story (4)
(Awesome development: 5; Its alright: 3; SAY WHAT?: 1)