The Final Piece

Book Review: The Final Piece by Maggi Myers

Title: The Final Piece
Author: Maggi Myers

Life shouldn’t be about picking up the pieces.

Beth Bradshaw has spent her life hiding from her tragic past. From the moment a trusted family friend steals her innocence until the moment another rescues her, she struggles to just survive.

Surrounded by the comfort and protection of her extended family, Beth embarks on a journey of healing far from the horrors of her home. In her darkest moments, she meets a boy named Ryan. For one incredible summer, Ryan shows Beth what it’s like to act her own age.

To feel free and let go.
If only for a while.

Years later, another tragedy threatens to shatter the life Beth has carefully crafted. When faced, yet again, with more pieces to pick up, Beth begins to question what her choices have cost her.
Leaving her old life behind, she sets forth on a pilgrimage that will bring her back to the boy she could never forget. He wants to help her pick up the pieces of her life, but is she willing to do what it takes to become whole again?

Can she trust him with a piece of herself?

“The world is a great puzzle that hasn’t been put together yet, and we’re trying to find the other piece of the puzzle that goes with us.” ~ EE Cummings 

I finished reading The Final Piece a while ago but admittedly couldn’t review it until now. This story gripped my heart and soul in a way that not many others have. I needed time to process my emotions and formulate my feelings. The Final Piece has been with me since I finished reading the last page. It left me having to pick up my own shattered pieces. It left me speechless… kudos Maggi Myers as that is no easy feat!! 
What an amazing exploration through time and psyche you take with this book. The road traveled with these amazing characters will undeniably warm your heart. With every page you will grow more attached to each and everyone of them. Each of them encompassing so many facets of people in our own lives that it is near impossible not to relate to them on a personal level. 
Maggi’s writing style is flawless. Successfully she draws you in and squeezes your heart until you’re unsure just how much more you can take, releasing the vice she slowly allows you to recuperate and watch an amazing story of unconditional love and healing unfold. 
The subject matter in the beginning is not for the faint at heart but Maggi handles it with such grace and poise that you can’t help but continue to turn the pages. It’s a story of survival and coming of age. Elizabeth Bradshaw (Beth) is an amazing young woman with astounding strength and countenance. Her heart breaking, gut-wrenching introduction ushers you to a heart warming, hopeful ending. Spending a perfect summer in Iowa she meets Ryan Cantwell. That summer returns her to an age of innocence lost. We are privy to be the audience watching the relationships of family, friendship, romance, and self ensue. Maggi took each of these fragments and perfectly wove them into a vibrant tapestry of life and love. 
“Pretty.” What a simple sentiment, and doesn’t do this book justice, but that is what this book is. “Pretty” in every sense of the word. 

“Life shouldn’t be about picking up the pieces. We are all broken in one way or another. It’s about how we put those pieces together that matters.”

Born in West Des Moines, IA and raised in Miami, FL, I have an appreciation for the heartland and really good cuban food.

I want to write stories that make people think. The things you thought you knew about other people and their lives? I want to twist those perceptions and make you question everything.

I am a big fan of the underdog. The one that everyone else has written off? That’s where my heart is and where my most inspired writing happens.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR MAGGI?
MARK AN ENIGMA PROJECT IN YOUR TBR

The Final Piece by Maggi Myers

Music is a continuation of souls. It helps us heal, it helps us morn, it is there when we are sad and it is there when we are happy. Form page one of The Final Piece by Maggi Myers I knew music would be an additional character in this book, but what I didn’t expect was the very large box of tissue I would need. After reading this book I have a new found love of what a “real family” is.

“Life shouldn’t be about picking up the pieces.

Beth Bradshaw has spent her life hiding from her tragic past. From the moment a trusted family friend steals her innocence until the moment another rescues her, she struggles to just survive.

Surrounded by the comfort and protection of her extended family, Beth embarks on a journey of healing far from the horrors of her home. In her darkest moments, she meets a boy named Ryan. For one incredible summer, Ryan shows Beth what it’s like to act her own age.

To feel free and let go.
If only for a while.

Years later, another tragedy threatens to shatter the life Beth has carefully crafted. When faced, yet again, with more pieces to pick up, Beth begins to question what her choices have cost her.
Leaving her old life behind, she sets forth on a pilgrimage that will bring her back to boy she could never forget. He wants to help her pick up the pieces of her life, but is she willing to do what it takes to become whole again?

Can she trust him with a piece of herself?”

Dealing with subjects like abuse in any form is a fine line to walk and Maggi Myers was able to craft a story that shows you the tragedy along with the survival that follows. Beth is broken and the people she should turn to, her mom and dad, are not the safe haven she is looking for. It takes her extend family and some “self made” family to show her that she is important and worth the fight.

Enter Ryan! At the age of 17 most boys only care about one thing and that is not the security and welfare of a girl two years is junior. The moment Beth showed up early for her summer visit Ryan took notice of what she desired and that was trust. Ryan was the man to give it to her just that. As a survivor life is hard and Beth is learning that once love grabs hold of your heart there is no looking back.

I fell in love with Ryan from the beginning. Through this whole story I wanted to climb into my Kindle and grab both Beth and Ryan let them know that everything will be ok! Maggi created two characters that become a part of you as this story unfolds. You feel are there with them. I felt Beth’s pain and need to survive. The need to create a life you think you should live and only let a select few, if any, know the true you and Ryan wanting to step up to be the be the better man but life happens and love takes over.

Maggi thank you for a brilliant story that showed me what I have known all along…family is the anchor that holds you and allows you to live your life. I love connecting with a book and this is a book that did that not only though words but with music. So please excuse me while I head to iTunes to download the music from Maggi’s playlist for this book. I know that in the future I will be docking my iPod and playing the music that inspired this story as I re-read Maggi’s well-crafted words.

“We are all broken in one way or another. It’s how we put those pieces back together that matter.”