Alexander & Maria
Alexander & Maria
By Soulla Christodoulou
A love story unlike any other I've read before.
Published by The Conrad Press, 2/12/20
Book review no spoilers I swear!!!
Before I start this book review I would like to firstly say thank you to Soulla Christodoulou for contacting me last month about reading Alexander and Maria in exchange for an honest opinion and for sending me an arc. I had no idea what to expect from this book and found myself unable to see where it was going to go. But before I tell you my thoughts, how about the blurb, give you an idea of what it is about.
Blurb:
An authentic story about love and life in all its messy, unpredictable, imperfect glory. A truly heart-warming read.’ Jane Lacey-Crane
If you’re looking for a book that will keep you captive, between its pages, until you’ve reached the end, then this is it. A story about overcoming adversity in all its forms, it will have you rooting for the characters as they fight for real love. Sexy and passionate it’s written in a beautiful and sensitive prose.
Trust is a big word, when life has always let you down.
And everyone deserves love a second time around, don’t they?
Alexander, locked in a loveless, cold marriage, has melted into the humdrum of life, hiding behind his cerebral palsy. Maria, a single mother, is still reeling from her husband’s gambling and abandonment from years before.
They click with their first tweet
Thoughts:
Well, like I said before I had no idea what to expect from this book, nor was it a love story like any other I've read before. It was probably one of the most challenging books I have read to date, mainly because I felt so conflicted and torn by the love interests.
What I liked most about this book was the writing style, it was clever in that it was easy to follow with the chapters switching from Alexander and Maria and the clear distinction between the two character's opinions and mindsets. This allowed for Christodoulou to introduce a range of side characters as well as backgrounds of the main characters, adding depth and intrigue in that I wanted to find out more about them as individuals.
The reason why I found this book so hard at times was mainly because of the cheating. Alexander is married in this book and although Maria knows this they still exchange love messages which for me is wrong. I wouldn't usually have a problem with naughty, explicit language but within the context of Alexander doing this behind his wife's back put me off, maybe this has something to do with my past and that's probably why I felt so torn because it's clear Alexander is unhappy in his marriage and his relationship with Maria is everything he's ever wanted, and I wanted them to be together, but at the same time I didn't.
I found the story line interesting despite the 'cheating' and I still wanted to find out how it ended, which was something I didn't expect! I wanted both Alexander and Maria to have a happy ending whether that was together or on there own but either way, both characters grew on me in the end.
Overall, I found this book to be interesting, sexy but also conflicting for me personally. It highlights disability as well as social & family issues with care and effectiveness.
Rating: 3 out of 5* (A good, enjoyable book)
After all tomorrow is another day spent reading,
Till next time,
Phoebe x
Alexander and Maria is available to buy on kindle from Amazon.