Fighting Silence (On the Ropes, #1)

by Aly Martinez

[EBookObsessed]

Till Page met Eliza Reynolds the night he climbed through the abandoned apartment window and found it was already occupied. Till was just looking for someplace to hide from the harsh reality of his life and he found a fantasy world where he could just be. Eliza was also escaping her reality by coming to the apartment where she set up a lamp and some cushions so she could be alone and draw. Each night from the time that they were 13 until they graduated from high school, Till and Eliza would be sneak out of their homes and just spend their evenings together where no one hurt them or demand things of them. They did homework or simply spent time with someone who actually cared about them.

It was after high school that Till knew he needed to face reality. Eliza had graduated and was going to college. Till had been working two jobs to make up the rent money for his deadbeat parents. He hadn’t had enough credits to even graduate high school. He needed to face reality and give up the reality world where he lived with Eliza. He walked away from her, leaving her devastated.

When Till is betrayed by his own father, he tries to literally climb back into the window of his fantasy world…or more to the point, through Eliza’s window. Eliza is done with fantasy and wants to face the real world with Till, side by side and until he is ready to do that, she has locked her window to him.

Till wants the peace that being with Eliza brings him but he doesn’t want to sully that with the reality of his working too many jobs which barely pays the rent and the harsher reality that he is going to lose his hearing. Till has to decide if he can let go of his fantasy world and claim Eliza as his in reality and begin a new future that might not be bright, but they will be there together.

THOUGHTS:
I just loved these characters. I was drawn into their struggles, from Eliza and Till’s neglectful parents to their hard work to provide basic necessities for themselves and Till’s younger brothers.

Although Till seems a bit delusional in his absolute need to crawl through Eliza’s window, rather than using a door, you really can understand it because being with Eliza is pretty much the only break he gets from the harshness of life. She makes him twice-baked potatoes and after endless meals of Ramen noodles, this is like manna from Heaven to him.

You also understand Eliza’s frustration. She wants to be part of the reality of Till’s life, to be with him and stand beside him. He and his brothers are her entire world and if she forces Till out of his fantasy and demand he accept her as part of his reality, she risks losing him and his brothers as well. These men are part of the family she made but in order to get more from Till, she has to risk losing everything.

Just when we start seeing a brighter future for them, Till’s hearing loss hits rock bottom and he has a serious and life changing choice to make. He can either stay deaf and accept his fate or he can get a cochlear implant and hear again. If he gets the implant, he can’t fight anymore and will lose the only chance he has to provide for a real future for Eliza and the boys.

This story just drew me in and I am glad I already have a copy of Fighting Shadows rather than having to wait to see what happens, except there is no audiobook version of that one yet so I have to figure out how to squeeze it onto my bursting TBR list. :(