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Assembling Ella
Can you still have a future if you forget your past?
Senior year. For most high school students, it's something to celebrate. For Ella, it's a reminder of what she's lost. A car accident cut short the life of her brother Jack before he made it that far. Now her fear of outgrowing her big brother is putting her at odds with everyone. And it's stirring up some really terrible dreams.
No one seems to understand what Ella is going through, not her parents or her best friends, or her favorite art teacher. The only person on her side is PhiTau, and Ella doesn't even know he exists.
As a tender in the realm of the Dream Lord, PhiTau's job is to take care of Ella's dreams. But when he crosses the line from caring to meddling, he causes Ella to do what she fears most-forget.
To repair the broken pieces of Ella's memory, PhiTau will need help from two gods and the one person who knows Ella better than he does. But saving Ella's memory may require PhiTau to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Ella's story will change the way you think about grief
"Nobody wanted to hear her story. Nobody wanted to talk about her dead brother, or her refusal to take Driver's Ed, or the fact that every school day brought her one day closer to the end of senior year and the yawning black hole that was her future. Sometimes she didn't even blame them. Ella didn't want to talk about it either.
"Everyone was happier pretending it hadn't happened, that Jack had never existed...It made her angry. That's how she felt. Angry. And nobody understood. How did you sculpt anger? How could you draw it?"
The companion novel to Nothing's Ever Lost
Senior year. For most high school students, it's something to celebrate. For Ella, it's a reminder of what she's lost. A car accident cut short the life of her brother Jack before he made it that far. Now her fear of outgrowing her big brother is putting her at odds with everyone. And it's stirring up some really terrible dreams.
No one seems to understand what Ella is going through, not her parents or her best friends, or her favorite art teacher. The only person on her side is PhiTau, and Ella doesn't even know he exists.
As a tender in the realm of the Dream Lord, PhiTau's job is to take care of Ella's dreams. But when he crosses the line from caring to meddling, he causes Ella to do what she fears most-forget.
To repair the broken pieces of Ella's memory, PhiTau will need help from two gods and the one person who knows Ella better than he does. But saving Ella's memory may require PhiTau to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Ella's story will change the way you think about grief
"Nobody wanted to hear her story. Nobody wanted to talk about her dead brother, or her refusal to take Driver's Ed, or the fact that every school day brought her one day closer to the end of senior year and the yawning black hole that was her future. Sometimes she didn't even blame them. Ella didn't want to talk about it either.
"Everyone was happier pretending it hadn't happened, that Jack had never existed...It made her angry. That's how she felt. Angry. And nobody understood. How did you sculpt anger? How could you draw it?"
The companion novel to Nothing's Ever Lost
Unknown Binding
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About the author
Emma G. Rose
7 books29 followersEmma G Rose is a Maine author of contemporary fantasy and mythological weirdness. She intended to become an intrepid girl reporter like Nellie Bly. Then she spent Christmas Eve on a riverbank waiting for rescue divers to pull a body from the water. That's when she stopped waiting and wandered off to explore the world instead. She believes that stories can blaze a trail through the darkness and lead us back to the light. What you do when you get there is up to you.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 24, 2021
With “Assembling Ella”, Emma Rose builds her series with subtle grace. We don’t see Book One or Book Two as subtitles because her stories could be read in any order. However, to enjoy the full impact of her story world, I encourage you to read “Nothing’s Ever Lost” and “Near Life Experience.”
Fantasy starts in the mind of the protagonist, and we feel close to Ella. But some of the other main characters come directly from the world of fantasy. More accurately, they come from the universe of Mythology.
This blending of the everyday world, fantasy worlds and vast mythos takes the reader far from the familiar around them while keeping the challenges Ella faces very real, very human.
Most of all, Emma Rose delivers a message of hope, renewal, life and light. Although we may easily feel as the characters do in their despairing hearts, it’s their passionate struggle to take control of their lives and emotions and solve their problems that ignites our own flame of hope.
In the end, the redemption comes (not a moment too soon) and Good Characters redeem themselves while Bad actors suffer their just fates.
I enjoyed the real-life, high school scenes as much as the bizarre fantasy realms. One minute we are working to understand the strange fields of dreams, the next we’re watching Ella struggle with the pains of growing up.
Emma Rose is a gifted author who captures the shifting emotions of her characters well. The settings are as changeable and vast as the mind, the threats terrifying, and the redemption just.
Fantasy starts in the mind of the protagonist, and we feel close to Ella. But some of the other main characters come directly from the world of fantasy. More accurately, they come from the universe of Mythology.
This blending of the everyday world, fantasy worlds and vast mythos takes the reader far from the familiar around them while keeping the challenges Ella faces very real, very human.
Most of all, Emma Rose delivers a message of hope, renewal, life and light. Although we may easily feel as the characters do in their despairing hearts, it’s their passionate struggle to take control of their lives and emotions and solve their problems that ignites our own flame of hope.
In the end, the redemption comes (not a moment too soon) and Good Characters redeem themselves while Bad actors suffer their just fates.
I enjoyed the real-life, high school scenes as much as the bizarre fantasy realms. One minute we are working to understand the strange fields of dreams, the next we’re watching Ella struggle with the pains of growing up.
Emma Rose is a gifted author who captures the shifting emotions of her characters well. The settings are as changeable and vast as the mind, the threats terrifying, and the redemption just.
January 8, 2022
I'll be honest, at first while I found the story entertaining and myself wanting to finish it..it felt slow. But looking back I am very glad for the build up, slow or not, because it was necessary and made the story better. I have not read the companion book to Assembling Ella, but the story was still 100% understandable as a solo read. I do intend to go read Nothings Ever Lost though.
This was a beautiful story that merged the mythical world with the human world. Its a story about loss and grief, and working through that in your own way. As someone that has lost someone, it explains so well that difference in how each one of us grieves in our own way and how that is perfectly normal. Reading about Ella's journey through that process is heart wrenching and you just want to reach out to her and help her. There was a chapter, where her anxiety felt so real to me I literally could not stop reading until the chapter was finished. I had to make sure she was okay.
I intend to recommend this book until my lips turn blue.
Now I leave you with a quote that I loved from this book.
"We shape ourselves, and when we do, we shape the world around us."
This was a beautiful story that merged the mythical world with the human world. Its a story about loss and grief, and working through that in your own way. As someone that has lost someone, it explains so well that difference in how each one of us grieves in our own way and how that is perfectly normal. Reading about Ella's journey through that process is heart wrenching and you just want to reach out to her and help her. There was a chapter, where her anxiety felt so real to me I literally could not stop reading until the chapter was finished. I had to make sure she was okay.
I intend to recommend this book until my lips turn blue.
Now I leave you with a quote that I loved from this book.
"We shape ourselves, and when we do, we shape the world around us."
September 26, 2021
Insight to mourning
I never heard of this book before I met the author, Emma Rose. I just finished reading it and will always remember how Ella dealt with her loss. I've dealt with the loss of my grandparents and a cousin my age from cancer, but no one in my immediate family, although I've dealt with my sister's cancer diagnosis (now in remission). Emma did a great job showing how the character felt about a traumatic loss and brought in supernatural elements in to help make sense of her feelings. Couldn't help but think of the animated movie, Inside Out. Very well done! I look forward to reading Emma's other books.
I never heard of this book before I met the author, Emma Rose. I just finished reading it and will always remember how Ella dealt with her loss. I've dealt with the loss of my grandparents and a cousin my age from cancer, but no one in my immediate family, although I've dealt with my sister's cancer diagnosis (now in remission). Emma did a great job showing how the character felt about a traumatic loss and brought in supernatural elements in to help make sense of her feelings. Couldn't help but think of the animated movie, Inside Out. Very well done! I look forward to reading Emma's other books.
March 11, 2022
Absolutely beautiful story with a focus on mental health, loss, and acceptance. The pace was a bit slower than Nothing's Ever Lost, but I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews