As dust dances by Samantha Young

My rating: 5/5 stars

To be sincere, I missed Sam Young terribly. Her “On Dublin Street” series is one of my all time favorites and every book belonging to her hits the right spot for me. She nails the characters, the story, the plot and everything in between to make that particular book awesome and memorable.

“As dust dances” is her recent release and I loved it because of the complexity of the characters and the emotions they managed to pass on to readers. Maybe the plot was not extremely complicated, but what it transmitted is something I won’t forget easily, because it has depth and meaning. I considered it a lesson to be learned 🙂

Skylar is living on the streets, with no money to have a decent meal. She is running from certain events that happened to her, which will come to us gradually, as the plot progresses. With only her Taylor by her side, she is sleeping in a cementery, busking and singing on the streets, leaving her famous days behind. Some time ago, she rocked the music stages all over the world with her band, but now she has nothing left. Why? We will have to find out by staying by her side. One day, Skylar is approached by Killian, a young business man who seems interested in her music and voice and offers her a second chance in this industry. Being on the run, Skylar is reluctant and doesn’t want the past to reach her again, but after some events that really took a toll on her, she will be back in the music industry, at Killian’s record label, recording an album. Between them sparks will fly, tension will built and they will see each other in a very odd situation, to fall in love when least expected. Everything about them will come gradually, building trust and breaking down wall which were strong for many years.

The 2 are a very dynamic and contrasting couple, but the further we go in getting to get to know them, the more we learn how alike they are. As mentioned above, Skylar is running from her past, from her band, from the memories that hunt her every second. She is hurt, angry, scared and very remorseful. She is aware of her faults and of all the things she did wrong, but now she knows that time can’t be reverse and bad things can’t be prevented from happening. All this built up guilt will consume and overwhelm her. That is why she punished herself by living on the streets, far from fame, technology and people who might know her story. Killian appears in an important moment in her life, when she managed to realize that living a busker life will not lead to anything good. He too has issues, having to practically raise his sister because of the death of their parents and always live in his uncle’s shadow. He is constantly proving himself and always lacks something to achieve his goal. His dream is to be successful in the music industry and I believe Skylar is his greatest achievement so far, both professionally and personally.

I loved the way they were together, their lines exchange, their tension, discussions and sensitive moments. Skylar managed to open up to Killian about her most awful moments and her vulnerable side was visible the most with him, while Killian changed from the “icicle man” to the sweet and funny guy he trully is. They both had masks that needed to come off eventually, but not finding the right person to do so, this task seemed impossible at the moment. Their love story is intense, sweet and very passionate. They fight as they love each other, they speak up their minds and are not afraid of the outcome. They think so much alike and I loved their interactions and possessive moments, especially Killian’s ones. He can get very jealous sometimes, which pleased me immensely. I connected so much with Skylar in terms of emotions, fears and uncertainties. Her ups and downs, aspects she is not 100% sure about, reminder me of myself and I wanted to reach out to her, to tell he it’s OK to feel this way.

Sam Young managed to reach my heart with this story, and even if there were parts when I felt emotionally drained, I loved it and would read it again if I had the chance. This book can be very enlightening, because the depth of the feelings has a great impact on the readers and leads them towards an emotional roller coaster. You never get tired of feeling, even if you connect with Skylar’s grief and lost or with Killian’s rage and emotions, you are constantly feeling and trying to understand and connect… Exhausting, but extremely satisfying at the end of the day. Love it:)