INFINITY + ONE by AMY HARMON

Jenny: I adore Amy Harmon’s storytelling. Her previous books have been moving, beautiful, memorable and thought provoking. She never fails to deliver characters who are strong and resilient as much as they are vulnerable and damaged and they never fail to touch my heart!

Reading A Different Blue and Making Faces was like an arrow to my heart. I felt and believed every word this author wrote and I lived and breathed her characters.

‘Terror makes a man do things he would not otherwise do.’

There was much I really liked about Infinity + One and once again, the beauty of Amy Harmon’s writing was at the forefront. She writes from the heart and it shows. Finn especially struck a chord with me. His past pain, his basic requirements from life led me to feel an ache deep in my heart for this man. In my opinion Finn was the story for me and the reason I flipped through the pages.

“Don’t be one of those girls who thinks I’m something save! You can’t save me. I can’t save you.”

There were times I became a bit lost and disconnected from the story and there were times it felt weighted down. Bonnie could be so sweet and I completely understood she was grieving and going through her own pain, but her disregard for Finn’s welfare at times disappointed me. Bonnie could have easily alleviated the troubled situation Finn found himself in but Bonnie tended to only consider her own desires which ultimately left Finn vulnerable and caused me to resent her in a way.

Gitte: Finn and Bonnie’s story was truly beautiful and inspirational in many respects. A modern take on Bonnie and Clyde with country, mathematical genius and heavy emotion. I also wholeheartedly agree that Amy Harmon’s writing is truly stunning.

“Sometimes you’re right there, right on the surface, full of life and so crazy and beautiful that it makes me ache.” – Finn

I’ve loved every single story I’ve read by her and highlight beautiful quotes like a mad woman every time. Her stories really are quite breathtaking. However, for me this has to be my least favourite. I’ve always said that I love the simplicity of Amy’s stories. She doesn’t need all the extra angst and drama. This time I thought there was too much and it complicated the beauty of her simplicity and took away from what was intrinsically a beautiful journey of self-realisations and empowerment. It became a tad farfetched and unbelievable. It lost some of that Amy Harmon magic as some things were unexplained, some parts of the storyline was dropped and never carried through till the end. Such a shame as this could have been perfection.

“…sometimes hope is the difference between life and death.”

Finn, as a character, as well as his story broke my heart. I fell in love with his character from the get go and so many times whilst reading I wished I could pluck him out of my kindle and hug him; keep him safe. Amy Harmon writes the most fantastic vulnerable male heroes with real depth, humility and originality.

“Sometimes I think numbers are all I’ve got…but they go on forever, so it could be worse.” – Finn

As for Bonnie, she was sweet and had a heart of pure gold. Her story is one akin to real-life child stars taken advantage of by a greedy family.

“I don’t really want to die….I just don’t want to live very bad.”

Her journey was about herself first and foremost. Coming to terms with the past, a tragedy, and standing up for herself and what’s right in the present and future. At times, I just wish she had stood up for Finn more when he became an integral part of her journey. The intense beauty of their soul-mate story really was told in such a way it burrowed deep within my heart so I was sorry that this somehow got lost on and off in the mayhem.

Jenny: I did love a lot of Finn and Bonnie’s story. It was told with heart, humour and emotion and I applaud Amy Harmon for the research that must have gone in to writing this story.

This is a tale of fate, destiny, kismet…whatever it was, some force was working to bring these two lost and troubled souls and soul mates together and that part of the story was mesmerizing .

‘But he’d kissed me. And I woke up.’

Amy Harmon expresses an underlying message of faith in her stories and that message is delivered with subtlety through her words and her characters. It’s something I’ve always loved, but in Infinity + One something was different and felt amiss with me.

“I’m not poor, but I haven’t beat hopeless yet.”

I’ve pondered what it was, other than what I’ve mentioned above, and I’ve come to the conclusion that my partial disconnection lay with the religious references highlighted in this story. I accept faith plays a big part in Amy’s stories and the beauty of her message has always been in the subtlety of its delivery, but this time it didn’t work for me.

Reading is my escape. It’s my little slice of time when I can burrow deep into a book and block out the world around me. Unfortunately the feelings I took from Infinity + One was that I felt a little as though I was being preached to and this made me feel  uncomfortable. This also had the tendency to take away from the heart of the book. There were parts of Infinity + One which completely moved me and in these times I was invested in the story, but sadly, there were times it dragged and failed to have the same impact on me as her previous works. I hope that makes sense Gitte.

Gitte: Yes, I agree, I liked and enjoyed Infinity + One overall despite some reservations, but I too got lost a few times. For the reasons I mentioned earlier but also for the heavy emphasis on religion. Before anyone jumps on me for this comment I’d like to gently point out that I am a practicing Christian and I’m allowed to have an opinion either way.

I think, after a very long journey, the crux of the message in Finn and Bailey’s story shifted from a journey of learning, becoming strong in adversity and finding the true beauty of yourself and a love that doesn’t judge.

“They loved each other. And love is……fascinating.”

Instead I felt like their journey became a sermon. I’ve always loved the underlying theme of faith, which yes runs through Amy Harmon’s work. However this time it became too overwhelming in my opinion and at points in the story I found it overshadowing everything else. The characters behaviour became almost convenient and cliched towards the end.

“I don’t want to be Bonnie and Clyde. I want to be Bonnie and Finn. Just for a little while. Okay?”

So whilst I recommend this book it wasn’t my favourite by this Author, an Author I admire and truly love. Saying that, I did end up with copious amounts of stunning quotes as per usual. Above all, Amy Harmon is a brilliant magician of the beauty of words!

**ARC Provided by author in exchange for an honest review**