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Review

“I was looking at her. I felt grateful to be here: this woman, this time, this place. Second chances didn’t come any better.”

3.5 stars.

The Education of Sebastian / The Education of Caroline is one of my favourite and most cherished love stories. What started off as a forbidden affair between a 30 year old married woman and a 17 year old boy became an epic love story when they fell into soul-deep, life-changing love and were brutally torn apart, only to reconnect 10 years later. Now, Jane Harvey-Berrick has given us the story of that reconnection from a different perspective, and this book is the retelling of book 2, The Education of Caroline from the POV of Sebastian.

Sebastian has lived a wild life since he was left absolutely shattered by his separation from Caroline. Devastated and full of anger that she made no effort to contact him after he spent years waiting for her, he joined the US Marines, and is now a bitter and detached (semi-alcoholic) 27 year old, working a desk job in Geneva, Switzerland as a form of disciplinary rehabilitation for his wild behaviour. And then Caroline, now a journalist and war correspondent, walks back into his life.

She walked towards me and my heart started pounding in my chest again. Christ, it hurt so fucking much. How could it hurt so much if I wasn’t dying? Or maybe I was. I didn’t know anymore. Because when she came towards me, it was just her and me again. Just us. No one else. She wove her magic and the world went away.

If you’ve read the original two books then you will know exactly what to expect going into this book. If you haven’t read them, then stop reading this review and go off and make a start on them now, because this is one highly emotional, steamy and stunningly beautiful story.

The Education of Caroline is a clusterfuck of emotions as Sebastian and his Caro find themselves thrust back together after 10 years apart, and I loved the chance to be inside of Sebastian’s head as he experiences the shock, anger, hurt and regret of all that he has lost, and then the depth of his love for the woman he has been unable to forget and his firm determination not to let her get away again.

I watched her for the longest time, scared by the depth of emotion I felt for her, that I’d always felt for her. I knew she thought that a 17 year old boy couldn’t understand adult love, but she’d been wrong about that: nothing had changed for me. She was still the only woman who’d ever owned my heart.

The love story is beautiful, and I always love a story told by a desperately-in-love-man, but don’t expect too much new content. Honestly, I was hoping for something a bit more, but this book is exactly what it is advertised as – a retelling of the original story, with the same events and dialogue as appears in the original book, just with a different twist.

“I love you, Caro, so much. I haven’t changed how I feel. I still love you – I’ve always loved you. It’s only ever been you.”
I stopped breathing as she gazed back at me, her lips moving wordlessly. And then she spoke.
“I love you, too, Sebastian. More than you’ll ever know.”
That was all I needed to hear.

It has been a while since I read the original books so the repetitiveness wasn’t a huge issue for me, but this book did feel a little rushed. I especially wanted more details towards the end of the book where Sebastian’s story takes a dramatic turn. In the original books I felt that I wanted more from the end of the story, and I was hoping to get that here, but I still feel it wasn’t explored as much as it could have been – especially considering the detail of the romance earlier in the book. But again, I appreciated Sebastian’s POV so we could see exactly what he was feeling, and it was heartbreaking in places.

 I had nothing to offer her and she had no future with me. And I couldn’t help thinking she was only with me now out of loyalty; I was dreading the day when I saw hatred in her eyes. I’d seen every other emotion: frustration, annoyance, anger, fear, love as well, I think. But I also saw pity. That was the worst.

I think I was making her hate me; that was okay, because I loathed the piece of shit I’d become.

The ending finishes off exactly where the original book did – which I honestly thought felt unfinished, but I did have a copy of the more-recently-released The Education of Sebastian & The Education of Caroline paperback on my bookshelf which contains additional content, including an epilogue which finishes everything off beautifully. So I sat and read the end of that after finishing this book in order to give myself some closure.

I wouldn’t consider this book a must-read, and I admit it wasn’t as epic as I was hoping, but my love for these two characters and their story was enough to carry me through, and I enjoyed the different perspective on a book duet which remains very close to my heart.

3.5 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

The Education of… series