[Review] Jessica Sorensen - The Temptation of Lila and Ethan
Title: The Temptation of Lila and Ethan
Author: Jessica Sorensen
Release date (in Poland): 2017-11-06
Pages: 460
Polish title: Lila i Ethan. Nie kuś mnie
‘The Temptation of Lila and Ethan’ is the third book from
The Secret series that started with Ella and Micha’s story. When I got it for
Christmas, I was so happy, because I just couldn’t wait to read it. Ella and
Micha’s story has my heart so I was really excited to finally read about their best
friends. And to be honest, I’m surprised about what I’ve read.
“I don’t want to have to sit at a dinner table that is big enough to seat twenty when there are only three of us. I don’t want to be forced to eat food that looks like it still needs to be cooked. I don’t want to endure one more dinner where I’m told every single thing I’ve done wrong. I want them to just let me be myself and maybe, perhaps tell me that they love me.”
Lila and Ethan couldn’t be more different. Lila is a
perfect girl. She wears expensive, smart clothes, has flawless skin, is happy,
has a huge house… But in reality it all looks different. Her parents want
everything to be just perfect. There’s no place for mistakes. Young Lila keeps
hearing hurtful words coming from them, they say she’s worthless and a mistake.
She lives under the eye of her strick parents until they send her to a boarding
school because of one mistake she made. Lila, ready to do everything to feel
needed and loves, gives her heart to a guy who uses her as a result. This one
mistake costs her herself – the only way to survive are pills and sex with
unknown boys and she does it to stop feeling emptiness and pain. She’s on a
great way to self-destruction and there’s no one to help her. Ethan comes from
a ordinary, but tough familty. He grew up watching his father, a person who
should love him, beat and humilate his mother and sometimes even him. He vows
to never fall in love in fear he could end like his parents. When he lets
himself love someone for the first time and gets together with London, her
addiction to drugs leads to tragedy and their goodbye. Since that time, Ethan’s
heart only gets darker and he lives only thanks to the mask of a badboy and a meaningless
sex. Everything changes when these two meet each other. When Ella and Micha
leave, they are dangerously getting closer, balancing on a thin line between
friends and lovers. But can two people so different, with such different hearts,
find a way to be together?
„Perfect doesn't exist. Realness does. Realness is what I need.”
When I was reading books about Ella and Micha, I had no
idea Lila and Ethan had such dark past and they have to find s omany demons.
Lila was so well-put-together. How easily you can fall for a fake happiness.
The Temptation turned out to be a dark, heartbreaking, passionate story – which
Jessica Sorensen always holds onto. The author did a great job with the plot,
the book kept me in my seat and there wasn’t a moment I was bored. It touches a
heavy subject which is a drug addiction that a main character deals with. What’s
interesting, I had no idea what to expect, a book kept surprising me. I was
ready for every kind of ending. I didn’t even know what to think about Lila and
Ethan’s relationship – they were so different, it seemed like the sexual
tension between them wasn’t enough to start a relationship. But when I got
deeper into the story and saw how much Ethan wants to help Lila recover and heal
her heart, how he made her feel wanted and loved, I just knew these two deserved
to be happy with each other.
“Whatever. I’ve never understood what the big deal is about reading.” He shuts the door and locks it, turning for the stairs. “Going to another place. Getting lost in time. Pretending that you’re living a different life.” He heads down the stairs and I follow him. “What’s not to love?”
I don’t know why, but while reading The Temptation I felt
like I’m going through ‘Frigid’ by J. Lynn once again. These are to completely
different stories, but when it comes to Lila and Ethan’s relationship, they
really reminded me of Sydney and Kyler. Both of these couples’ve denied their
feeling to each other, unintentionally hurting the other one by meeting other
people and keeping secrets. For the first year of knowing Ethan, Lila has been
hiding her true herself behind pills and fake smiles. Ethan didn’t mention
anything about the situation that had scared his heart and kept him from moving
on with Lila. Despite of it, they trusted and cared for each other. What I
really liked is Ethan’s attitude when Lila had her worst days. He didn’t let
his hesitation overtake his mind and he did everything to help her, even when
she was acting really badly towards him and even if it was really hard for him.
“He’s what I want. What I need. He’s the only guy who’s ever made me worthy of love. He changed me in the best way possible and showed me that it was okay to love someone. That not everyone out there will break and crush my heart. And the best part of all, the thing I will forever love him for, is that he showed me that I was worth loving.”
I love Jessica Sorensen and her work with all my heart. I
wasn’t expecting to go through such a rollercoaster of emotions, but I’m once
again impressed. If you decide to read Lila and Ethan’s story (which you
should!), it’s a long journey ahead of you. It’s not an easy book, it’s hearbreaking.
Nevertheless, you read it quickly, because it’s drafted in simple language. It
just is this way with Sorensen’s books that when you start them, there’s no way
you leave then unread. ‘The Temptation of Lila and Ethan’ perfectly shows a
road to find your inner peace.
