Sidonie has dreamed of the day when she could be royal and special and forget her difficult past of abuse. When Virgil, President of the Black Wings M. C., brings her into his life she believes—she convinces herself—that that day has finally come. But as the months ride by she begins to discover that hurt people hurt people and this dangerous world is just another way to hurt herself.
Ultra blue encapsulates the rawest of human emotion and desire in a fast paced and gritty bikers fairy tale. Sid is the club's spoiled princess, and demands that respect- but as lies are revealed, secret plans unfold, and hearts are broken her world is thrown into chaos amidst the company of a notorious gang and an already abusive relationship. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who wants to go for a ride along with those who love to live fast and loose.
At first I thought this was a romance and in many ways it was. But it was a lot more than that too. One of the biggest parts that really spoke to me, as a girl, as a woman, was the weird nastiest that females carry around for other females, and how we easily blame other women for our problems and insecurities instead of just being real and kind and dealing with the actual problem instead of trying to hold each other down or hurt each other. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it properly here, but as I was reading it I related to certain aspects......in both good ways and bad ways. This novel had a lot of messages though, and a lot of opinions, which seems rare nowadays. Overall I'd say they were positive messages even in a really, really dark setting.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of Ultra Blue. My reviews are always honest and never influenced by the authors.
There is a lot in this book. It's a hard story, and it's a story that a lot of people won't want to hear, but I think hard stories are important. Endings aren't always happy, and sometimes small voices make all the difference.
Sidonie broke my heart. I had to keep reminding myself that she was just eighteen, that she was just a kid trying to figure things out. I remembered how hard I was trying to figure things out when I was eighteen, how hard things were, and I didn't have anywhere near as hard a life as Sid did. There were so many times I wanted to pull her aside and go "No, kid, come on." You just want to protect her. She was doing her best, but she didn't get a fair shake, and our experiences often define the choices we think we have. She didn't know she had better choices than what she got.
If I had to give one critique, it would be that the prose was very literary in style, almost to the point of purple prose or sounding unnatural in first person perspective in some passages, but that's only my preference, not a value judgment. There's nothing wrong with literary writing, and it doesn't affect my rating.
If you enjoy books with heavy themes and don't need your stories to have a happy ending, this is one to read. The last handful of chapters were my favorite part of the book, and the ending was remarkably strong. It took me some time to get through it, partly by my own fault and partly because of the complicated nature of the subject matter, but it was one of my more valuable reads of the past year. I definitely recommend it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Sid is a beautiful woman, she doesn’t look broken, in fact, she looks normal…on the outside. But looks can be deceiving. Deep down she’s really messed up and lonely, and has been that way for a long time. When I was reading this book, I sometimes felt like reaching in, grabbing Sid by the neck and strangling the living life out of her. But as the story progressed, I realized that every character isn’t supposed to have a perfect life or supposed to be faultless. Not every girl is supposed to be a princess and every story isn’t supposed to be a fairy tale and have a happily ever after. I thought this story was going to be another sappy romance like I’ve read a hundred times before, but I was wrong. This story is so much more. Towards the end, I truly felt as if Sid was going crazy, or maybe she’s been all along. The author really brought this one home. Great writing and a fabulous story. I especially liked the alternate universe section at the end. If only…
This was a difficult book to read. Like Dette Chambers' Death Journal, ULTRA BLUE goes to some very dark places. And listening to Lana del Rey while reading the last third was probably not my best choice - but if I say that it's the most fitting possible music for this book, you'll probably start to get an impression of the book's tenor.
This novel covers abuse, rape, humiliation, despair, addiction, fear, entrapment, obsession, darkness, friendship, and female strength. It's pretty much all fucked up, the whole way through - and the writing is amazingly powerful. I couldn't put it down - the characters drew me in. Because even though the protagonist is difficult, self-centred, and she keeps making the same mistakes, she's very, very real. I don't think it's possible to have had any kind of history of abuse and not see the bars around Sid, and feel the impulse to keep going back to your captors, because it's all that you know; and we as readers desperately want for the character to be able to subsume her situation and fly free.
A few years ago, I saw a film at the Mexican film festival, La vida precoz y breva de Sabina Rivas (the early and brief life of Sabina Rivas). It's about this girl who has gone through an almost unimaginable series of destructive events, from rape to incest, violence and prostitution. And I'll never forget this one scene, wherein Sabina is crossing the border from Honduras to make better money for the night. She's violently raped by the border guards, but afterwards, they let her shower. Her simple joy at the warmth of the water, this moment of innocence and freedom - it was an intensely powerful scene. And that's the kind of power that I see again in ULTRA BLUE.
I highly recommend this book. I read it and thought it was a great story. I can't wait to read more story from this author. I give this book 10/10 and a 5 star review. I hope everyone who buys this book enjoy it as much as I did. Thank you for the great read