Review: Collide

Collide by Megan Hart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has taken me several days to think about what I wanted to say in this review. I loved this book so much - and it was completely different from anything that I’ve read in quite a while. Maybe ever. Even a week later, this book is still with me. I’m still thinking about it every day and I want to read it again and again. Really, I didn’t want the book to ever end.

The story focuses on Emm. She was in an accident as a child that left her with a brain injury. The only lasting after effects are the blackouts she occasionally suffers from. They’re called fugues.

Having recently moved out on her own in a new city, she quickly becomes a local at The Mocha, the neighborhood coffee shop. She meets here best friend, Jen, here almost every day for coffee and gossip. It is here that Emm also encounters Johnny Dellasandro. Apparently he’s famous (or infamous).....and Jen is a huge fan. Emm learns that he is an artist and a former actor in 70’s art films. Kind of like Andy Warhol....but with less pop culture notoriety. Johnny lives in the neighborhood and frequents The Mocha, though he hardly speaks to anyone. Ever. But Emm is intrigued and Jen is more than happy to show her all of his movies.

Soon, Emm becomes immersed in all things Johnny. And her fugues - which hadn’t been happening in past years - have started up again. The only difference now is that when she goes dark, she’s going back in time during Johnny’s heyday of the 70‘s. She sees his friends and his house and details that she doesn’t think she should know. At first, she blows it off as just her remembering random details from internet searches she did on Johnny. But the fugues become more frequent and every time she is with then-Johnny and they have the relationship that she wants with now-Johnny. But he continues to ignore her in the coffee shop. Their relationship never goes past that until Emm slips into a fugue state at his front door. He brings her into his house and helps her once she comes out of the fugue.....and this finally opens a door to a more personal relationship for the two of them.

I want to describe every detail of this book because I loved it so much. But I don’t want to say anything else about it because I want everyone else to have the OMG moments I had while reading it. The surprise, the joy, and the sadness - everything. Oh, and in case you’re wondering....yes, there is plenty of hot monkey sex going on in this book. PLENTY. But this is so much more than an erotic novel. It is a beautiful story of true love, and while it does make you suspend some disbelief here and there, it always comes across as completely believable....even if you know that it isn’t.

I can’t stress enough the amount of love I have for this book. Please do yourself a favor and read it. Like....right now.

*ARC provided by NetGalley