This is another book that has left me in a bind emotionally. Tethered is so well written and the story is full of heartache & sorrow with brief glimpses of joy and stolen moments of ecstasy. However, it is basically the story of a very young girl who is forced to experience and navigate the world as an adult. It is so sad that she has to fight to save the tatters of her own pain riddled innocence. Donya is not afforded the luxury of just being a child despite the love and support that she finds in her "adopted" family. I didn't want her to need to have the maturity that she displayed, but unfortunately if she hadn't she wouldn't have survived as successfully as she did. Donya experiences the fallout caused by her mother's mental illness and her father's apathy with the resilience that no child should have to posses. Fred & Sam Grayne gave her the family that every child deserves with security, stability, & unwavering support-proves that accidents of birth such as blood relations, sex, or race does not define what a family is supposed to be.Emmet, on the other hand, makes the mistakes and choices of many teenagers although he is more mature than most he isn't on the same plane as Donya. Emmet also feels the tether that binds him to Donya from an early age. However, he tries to write it off as something other than what it ultimately is. He recognizes the age difference between them and the fact that she is his pseudo sister plays a big part in the guilt and confusion they both feel when their feelings for one another emerge. Emmet ultimately makes a mistake twice that at the very worst should only be made once by anyone. Even with his mistakes, I couldn't help but root for these two to one day make things work out despite the myriad number of obstacles that they faced. Even when some of those obstacles were self inflicted I wanted them to figure it out.The description of the tether that binds them is truly one of the most beautiful means of describing the connection between two people that I have ever read. When this love affair is started Donya is so very young and I didn't like that. Yet, with that being said, if she had been even 5 years older the story couldn't have been told and experienced the way that it is. In order to get the full scope of Donya and Emmet's relationship Donya needed to be this young, it just doesn't make for a fully comfortable experience. I have daughters at the ages and stages that she is in the majority of this book so the love affair that she has makes me a little squeamish. What Donya and Emmet have together is truly, deeply, and meaningfully a love affair, it is just experienced too soon and some of the problems Donya and Emmet face are direct results of their immaturity. Their experience of love is all consuming and beautiful, but it is definitely not one that I would wish for my own children at such a young age. Yet, the ability to feel and experience what she does at such a young age is precisely what makes Donya unique, it just makes my heart ache for her that she had the life that lead to it. If you are looking for a read that you can completely immerse yourself into and emerge from it at the end a little bit tattered and weathered around the edges for having read it go grab a copy of Tethered. This is a book that will take you there and more. This is going on my favorites list immediately!My favorite line maybe of all time: "I think I loved you the moment you were born into this world even though I didn't know who you were yet." Yep, pass the tissue...You can find more at Monlatable Book Reviewshttp://www.monlatablereviews.com/
4.5starsFrom Against All Odds to Mud Vein and straight to Tethered. I think self-flagellation would have been less painful. The three books aforementioned carry a common theme: soul mates. Apparently, the concept involves bone-crushing/soul-searing pain. Depression ensues and happy endings are never guaranteed. Why bother, right? Do I believe in the concept? I've been married a long time and have met thousands of couples in this lifetime. I don't think I've met anyone who has professed to an "invisible connection" that tugs and pulls and retracts. My belief is that love is constant work once the initial surge of hormones is over. Over time, we've come across this wisdom one too many times: once the passion fades (that feeling of falling in love), you hope that there is enough love for companionship going forward. If there is anything I've learned the most in these soulmate themed books, it is this: if you find your great big love - one that is unconditional ,one that does not judge, one that sacrifices and one that sees you through your flaws, brokenness and general mood swings then you need to grab it and never let go. Life is too short for missed chances caused by silly mistakes - miscommunication, obstinacy and grudges.While I don't believe in soul mates, I do believe that Emmet and Donya belong together. This is my favorite romance of all - childhood friends (somewhat siblings even) that grow into love. It's a combination of several things - their familiarity, shared history and how they've looked out for one another over the years. I think it was all of these factors alongside a great love for one another that connected these two in life. As far as angst central went, Tethered's level was surprisingly manageable. We've all read this story before and it is usually littered with melodrama as the couple flip-flop their way through life. I am grateful that L.D. Davis did not take this route. Instead she took her time out to build this couple's relationship. They fell in love as young kids and therefore had many slight hiccups along the way. But kids eventually grow up and herein lay the crux of Emmet and Donya's problem..."You're very young...the paths you will follow separately will slowly take you apart, piece by piece." We're on two different paths in life. They don't parallel and they don't converge, they go on in opposite directions."Sadly, at the end of their respective journeys to finding their true selves, Emmet and Donya find themselves falling further apart instead of finding their way back to one another. Later on, they belonged to different people. But I was already invested in the couple and believed that even then, they belonged together. With this ingrained in my mind, I felt no ugliness nor disgust in things that transpired. I have one big complaint and that is the overuse of the concept of tether/connection. It was there in every scene that they were together and in Donya's POV. All I had to do was look up at the page and know this. I get it. There was no need to incessantly pound my brain with it. Nonetheless, this did not take away from the fact that this was a beautiful story that spanned several decades - of two people who believed they were meant to be and did find their way back to each other.
What do You think about Tethered (2014)?
3.5 starsThis book can serve as a manual on how two people can love each other, but totally muck up each other's lives & possibly the lives of others. Selfishly.Why I kept reading...I don't know. The heroine, Donya, pissed me off, and the hero, Emmet, made mistakes that made me what to whack him upside his head. But they were also likable. It was painful to read a love so deep while at the same time knowing it was so doomed. The author did a good job with that element.I rooted for them. Yet, Oh! The angst! But, at least there was a voice who told it like it is...Emmet's father, “You two had plenty of opportunities to fix your relationship..." Yes. They did. I would have appreciated the angst more if I could understand why they were so eager to create it. It belied the fact that they were tethered.What stops me from giving it 4 stars is the fact that I probably wouldn't read it again, I got fed up with everything that kept them apart and it took up almost the whole book. It was like they were perpetually clueless & (view spoiler)[I didn't like having to read about the other man or the other woman involved. (hide spoiler)]
—Vallsykes
Think I should have read this before Girl Code but it honestly didn't spoil my reading pleasure. Like Girl Code this is told over a passage of time (I actually enjoyed that aspect in this book more so)Donya befriends Emmy (Accidentally on purpose) in school and due to her dysfunctional family she basically gets taken under the wing of Sam & Fred Graynes (Emmy & Emmet's parents)In a nutshell this was a heartbreaking love story. Donya & Emmet fall in love but obstacles throughout their lives keep them apart but not their tethered connection. On the hot scale Emmet is a 7 compared to Leo being a 10 in Girl code, I did like his protective nature but he was really cruel with words to Donya more than once.Comparing the girls in both books Donya was the better and stronger leading lady for me. Really enjoyed this book
—Vixster
Where's that 6th star when you need it?? This was one hell of an epic, heart pounding read. It blew my mind. This was not a mind f*ck but a heart f*ck. I found it hard to read at times I hurt so much for Emmett and Donya. The stupid mistakes they made with their life choices (more bloody Donya - she needed a slap upside the head at times grrr) that left them both with a long, torturous path to eventually get to their happy.This book - the relationshop between Donya and Emmett devastated me at times, I cried a lot of ugly tears for them, my heart hurt and was pounding out of my chest.This book - kept me awake, I was so chewed up about their pain.This book - had my emotions and tears in total overdrive.This book - is so beautifully written.This book - is worth a hell of a lot more than 5 stars. Totally bloody amazing and L.D. Davis is now an autobuy author for me. An emotional, heartbreaking then thankfully heartwarming fan-frickin-tastic 6 STARS!!!
—Bev
