[Emily’s Review]: The Difference Between Somebody and Someone by Aly Martinez

The world owes you nothing.

It took losing the woman I loved and facing the paralyzing task of moving on without her for me to truly understand that.

Consumed by regret and razor-sharp memories, I’d resigned myself to a life of loneliness until a survivor from the same plane crash that took my fiancée stormed into my life.

Remi Grey was chaos and sunshine, fire and freedom. With her in my arms, I began to believe that fate had other plans for me.

But as secrets of the past exploded around us, it seemed the only thing fated about our relationship was that I had been destined to lose her from the start.

The world owes you nothing. But for Remi, I would risk it all. No matter the cost.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I. I just. I can’t. I’m.. wow. 

PROCESSING. 

My brain literally can not compute. 

What an ending!!

What a twist!!

What a CLIFFHANGER!!

Bowen is grieving his fiancé, he has been since the accident that took her from him. His relationship with Sally was never easy, but it was his new normal. The turmoil and terror was a constant state that he lived in. Once she was no longer in his life, he had to find a new normal. Which wasn’t proving to be very easy. Enter Remi Grey. A ray of sunshine in Bowen’s dreary day to day. He finally finds a reason to smile again and it’s all because of a blue eyed blonde who pursued him even when he wasn’t ready to open his heart up again. This story is one of survival, and grief, tragedy and trauma and also of love that was written in the stars.

IT WAS SO GOOD.

Aly Martinez always manages to throw me for a MFing loop with her plots and this time was absolutely not an exception. Shocked doesn’t begin to describe my feelings when I finished the last chapter. I had to just sit in the dark with my own thoughts before I could function properly again.

Let me start from the beginning though.
Because, wow. 

Chapter one took my heart right out of my chest and then sliced it up, sent it through the shredder and then Aly proceeded to stomp all over it.
Tragic.
A tragic love story.
A star crossed romance.
Trauma ridden love.
POOR BOWEN. OK. JUST POOR BOWEN. 

My new favorite swoony-broody-rolled up sleeved accountant who just has so much love to offer. 
The man can’t catch a break and it’s awful to witness if I’m being honest. He’s just such a kind soul. Never mind that I literally would eat him right up. He is delicious. 

Then there is Remi, who is brash and funny and sincere and generally just enjoyable to read. I loved her fondness for flora and how strong she was. She was a survivor, but she was functioning. Even when the people around her were not. She was a pillar of strength and it was really good that she was doing good. I loved that she was close with her dad and her friends and I loved that she was friends with the other people from the thing that happened that I can’t talk about with our ruining everything. She was just GOOD. And I liked reading a character that was just a nice person. 

I adored the relationship that Remi had with Aaron and Mark. Even if the two guys gave me some off putting vibes at first.
Once I got to the end of the book it all made 127% sense.
I’m super curious as to where this story is going. I’m literally dying for the next novel. 

My goodness was this book sexy. Shmexy sexy.
? ? ? ? ? 

This book has some trigger warnings to be had. Depictions of suicide, grief and loss, possible kidnapping, PTSD, drug use and depression are all present at all times during this book. So be aware before diving in. It’s not for the faint of heart thats for sure. Because while Aly Martinez is successfully ripping your delicate emotions to shreds, she’s also heavy handed with the torment of her characters.

I loved it so much. It was super interesting. I was captivated right off the bat. The Difference Between Somebody and Someone is going live rent free in my head for a while, I just know it.

[Slight Spoiler?]: I have some theories that maybe Bowen’s ex was mentally ill and that some of her trauma was internal. It would definitely explain some of the flash backs that we get from Bowen’s POV, and it would definitely help to explain how the plot twist was so twisty!!
But I digress, that’s a different conversation for another day. 

Emily

Emily is a coffee loving, cat snuggling, hairstylist and book-a-holic.
Having always been a voracious reader and devouring books at a breakneck speed, joining the bookish and blogging community seemed like a natural next step. She loves giving recommendations to friends and family and then very gently (and not forcefully at all) asking for their opinions after they complete each chapter.
Her reviews tend to be goofy, a little sweary, on the more impassioned side and maybe sometimes a little self deprecating.
Emily typically enjoys reading almost every genre, including (but not limited to) monster romance, literary fiction, rom-com, contemporary, LGBTQ+, low/urban fantasy, paranormal, dystopian, sci-fi, gothic romance or basically any book that will make her cry.