Title: Only The Good Die Young
Series: No. It’s standalone novel.
Author: K. K Hendin
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Rating: 3.5 stars
Cliffhanger:. No
The first year of college is supposed to be about parties, parties, and getting the hell out of Texas. Instead, Milcah Daniels is spending her eighteenth year in and out of Houston's hospitals. Her hair is falling out, they’ve cut off her boobs, and if she makes it to nineteen, she’ll consider it a personal miracle.
Breast cancer really has a way of messing with a girl’s social calendar.
When Milcah’s temporarily discharged from the hospital, she’s determined to get a tattoo for every medical procedure she’s had. Her quest leads her to Skin Stories, a new tattoo parlor a block from her apartment. And to it’s infuriatingly sexy artist, Callum Scott.
Callum is everything Milcah wants, and everything she shouldn’t have now. A new relationship when the official prognosis is one to five years is a terrible idea. But Callum doesn’t know about the breast cancer, and Milcah’s not running to tell him.
But when the doctor says things are actually looking positive, her entire life turns upside down. How is she supposed to start living again when she’s finally learned to accept her death.
Breast cancer really has a way of messing with a girl’s social calendar.
When Milcah’s temporarily discharged from the hospital, she’s determined to get a tattoo for every medical procedure she’s had. Her quest leads her to Skin Stories, a new tattoo parlor a block from her apartment. And to it’s infuriatingly sexy artist, Callum Scott.
Callum is everything Milcah wants, and everything she shouldn’t have now. A new relationship when the official prognosis is one to five years is a terrible idea. But Callum doesn’t know about the breast cancer, and Milcah’s not running to tell him.
But when the doctor says things are actually looking positive, her entire life turns upside down. How is she supposed to start living again when she’s finally learned to accept her death.
“Sounds like you’re opening a Laundromat,” says a deep voice, sounding vaguely familiar, although I can’t figure out why.
“Not opening any Laundromats,” I say, turning to see who it is.
It takes everything I have not to have my mouth drop open in unmitigated lust. It takes all my self-control not to plaster myself against that chest.
Is this what a hot flash feels like?
“Damn,” he says. “I was looking forward to clean clothing again.”
“Don’t you have your own washing machine?” Dominick asks.
“Laundromats are so much more entertaining than doing laundry in my own apartment building,” he says. “There’s nobody interesting in my apartment.”
“It’s just dirty clothing,” I say, hoping I’m forming complete sentences and I don’t pass out from lust.
Because holy crap, he is gorgeous.
If you looked up tall, dark and handsome in the dictionary, you’d probably find his picture there. Add the adjectives dangerous and sexy, and you’ve pretty much got his encyclopedia entry. With cross references to tattoos, and probably motorcycle dude.
“If Laundromats are only dirty clothing,” he says. “You’re doing it wrong.”
Why does that sound like he’s insinuating something?
“Callum, are you harassing my new favorite customer?” Angelina asks as she walks up to the counter, holding a takeout bag for me.
“I would never,” he says, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
Dangerous.
Definitely dangerous.
“Just telling her that if all Laundromats are is dirty clothing, she’s doing it wrong.” The grin he flashes again is one that should probably be declared illegal for the safety of our country. The FBI should be signing a warning or something.
But all Angelina does is laugh. “Callum, you get progressively weirder every time I see you.”
She turns to me. “And I’m sure he didn’t even introduce himself to you before telling you you’re doing your laundry wrong.”
“Well, I don’t think we got up to the ‘you do my laundry wrong’ part,” I say.
Callum smiles at me, and I lean back a little bit. Dangerous is too calm of a word for what he is. “Callum,” he says, sticking out his hand.
“Milcah,” I say, tentatively sliding my hand into his.
Forget the cancer, I’m going to die right now from the chemistry that explodes from the simple little handshake. Has the chemo made me extra sensitive to extremely attractive men?
Maybe I should add it to the list of things I should ask Dr. B next time I see him, because everyone knows there’s no point in having an oncologist unless you can ask them all the weird-ass questions you want to.
“You new here?” he asks, looking seemingly unaffected from our handshake.
Okay, maybe the explosion of lust is just one sided.
“Kind of,” I say. It’s too complicated.
“Well, kind of welcome to the neighborhood,” he says.
“Food to go for both of you,” Angelina says, handing over bags. “Behave yourself, Callum.”
He smiles. “Behave? I’m not sure I know what that word means.”
Oh, dear God. This can’t be a good thing.
Only The Good Die Young is a story about eighteen year old Milcah that found a lump in her breast that was more dangerous than a teen girl ever thought it could be. After six months of neglecting it, the doctors say she has a breast cancer stage three. It’s like the world seemed to stop for her. Now, she’s constantly living the day as it’s her last; between the chemo and mastectomy, Milcah is bitter, lonely and miserable.
“I don’t know how to live anymore,” I whisper.
“What do you mean?”
“Right now, I’m living like a piano is going to come plummeting from the sky any second, and I don’t know when. So it’s always like, this is it. This is all you’ve got left.”
She decides to have a tattoo and instantly feels attracted to Callum, the tattoo artist from Skin’s Secrets and apparently her neighbor.
But what young man would want boobless, bald barely living girl without any perspectives for the future, not counting death?
“Everyone’s dying, Milcah. Some people are just dying sooner than others.”
This was very emotional read. From start to finish I got to know not only very depressive and heart wrenching story but something entirely dark and unique.
Milcah’s journey was raw and very real. I found myself bottoming out in the same deep dark hole the main heroine was thrown into. My heart broke for her over and over again and well, I can honestly say her depression was rubbing of on me; when I read Hendin’s work, the day seemed to look even sadder and grayer than ever before for me.
I absolutely adored the biggest part of the book. Despair, hopelessness, sorrow and the constant desperateness was the slow agony that Milcah has to go through and it was bleeding through the pages, which I found as much appealing as overwhelming. Somewhere in the middle the story started to go downhill for me.
After pretty big load of sorrow and hopelessness I’ve read about I was getting anxious and tired of it. I hoped the romance would lift things up a little bit, but on the contrary it made this book even gloomier. Milcah started to be very hard character to bear with, even though I was hurting for her and admiring some of her actions. Her relationship with Callum was wary, slow burning and fragile.
Overall, Only The Good Die Young was definitely eye-opening book that was very depressive. Still I found myslef appreciating this emotional roller coaster. Despite the hollowness that I felt when I’ve finished it, I found Only The Good Die Young good, realistic read. And even though I hoped for more demonstrative and passionate romantic relationship between Milcah and Callum the story was admirable and I highly recommend this book for those of you who look for something truly unique and beautiful.
*ARC provided by the author in exchange for honest review *
KK Hendin's real life ambition is to become a pink fluffy unicorn who dances with rainbows. But the schooling for that is all sorts of complicated, so until that gets sorted out, she'll just write. Preferably things with angst and love. And things that require chocolate. She’s the author of the NA contemporaries HEART BREATHS and ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG.
She spends way too much time on Twitter, where she can be found at @kkhendin, and rambles on occasion over at www.kkhendinwrites.blogspot.com.
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