ARC Review: Black Box by Cassia Leo

Title: Black Box
Author: Cassia Leo
Publication: Jul 31 2014 Random House UK, Transworld Publishers
Genre: NA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

Three fateful encounters....
♥️ Two heart-breaking tragedies....
♥️ One last chance to get it right.

From New York Times best selling author Cassia Leo, comes an epic love story about rewriting destiny.

Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on three separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.

Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.

Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he's never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he's never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn't even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he's never felt like his life had any purpose... until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.

When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.

-- My Rating --

3/5 Oscars: Liked It

-- My Thoughts --

     I had no idea what to expect when I started this book. The premise sounded unique in the blurb, so I requested it. I have been in quite a reading slump lately, but I flew past this book in only a couple of hours. Hurray!
     Mikki and Crush have had two chance encounters. But when they meet for the third time in Terminal B of the airport, none of them know who the other person is. But it's easy to notice the chemistry between them. And in the course of a couple of nights, their lives will be changed forever.
     First off, I knew that this book would contain a lot of dark subjects. Heart-wrenching ones. But I was never prepared for all the brutal aspects. It felt so real and I could have cried for the characters -both of them- and their pain. I felt like I would never survive so much pain if it had happened to  me. And I admired them for that.
     Then, there are the characters. Mikki was definitely not my favorite person, at first. I didn't like how stubborn and cruel she was. I guess with a past like that, you turn into another person. But  overtime, I grew to like her a lot and admire her bravery. Then, there's Crush; the guy was like a dream come true. The swoon-worthy, sexy, bad-boy and mysterious NA love interest. I fell in love with him (it was so easy to!).
     The romance was not my favorite aspect. I kinda felt like it was insta-love, and I didn't like that. But after time,  I understood the difference. These two people already know each other, even if they didn't know it. And they saved each other. And even though the i-love-you-confession was a bit too soon, it still sounded reasonable, given the circumstances.
     The few ending chapters were the only reason why I didn't give this book a higher rating. They were made to sound sad and mystical and all about how our fates control us. But, it just sounded very unbelievable to me and I didn't feel scared for the characters at all. Aside from that, I liked the note on which this book ended. And even though this is not my favorite NA romance, I will definitely be looking forward to more books from Cassia Leo!