The kiss ignited something, blew it into being, and afterwards, all Skye could think about was Ben.
Skye is happy with her boyfriend Hamish, her job at the gym and her blossoming art career. Even though she’s been through some tough times with the loss of her father, her life is on track. When she meets Ben, though, things change instantly. For reasons she can’t explain, Skye is instantly attracted to Ben, and she senses that he feels the same. Soon she is throwing away her steady relationship and starting a new, all-consuming one with this new man. Wrapped in the bliss Skye is sure she has found the love of her life and as if nothing can go wrong – until she discovers that Ben is the one man she should never be with, and her world falls apart.
Into My Arms is a heartbreaking, captivating novel which deals with a subject which is both confronting and highly plausible. The plot twist is one which leaves the reader chilled, and Ladd cleverly takes us along so that we feel the protagonist’s pain and suffer her dilemma. The apparently simply answer is not simple for Skye and Ben, and we are invited to empathise, even whilst being shocked.
Subplots also explore important issues and their impact: Skye’s twin brother is gay and faces a childless future; one of her students is a refugee whose family has been separated and struggles to cope; and Skye’s father has died after a battle with dementia. Yet for all of this, this doesn’t feel like an issues-driven book – rather the issues form part of the mesh of a wonderfully engaging, absorbing story.
Not an easy read, but a rich, satisfying one.
Into My Arms, by Kylie Ladd
Allen & Unwin, 2013
ISBN 9781743314586
Available from good book stores, or online