7.06.2026

finished reading

This novel follows AJ Graves and Noah Drew as they navigate their teen years into adulthood.  The story is told in three acts.  In Act I, AJ is working at a video shop when her brother's friend, Noah, begins working there, and they bond over a short-lived space opera television show.  Noah is the latest in a highly successful acting dynasty and he and AJ begin studying improvisation.  Naturally, AJ and Noah develop intense, teenage love.  In Act II, they are reunited on an intergalactic "unscripted" television show.  Their feelings develop.  But things get complicated and messy.  In Act III, it's all about developing a future together. Breaking up.  Making up.  Over and over.

I'm trying not to give any major spoilers.  I enjoyed the book, but it was somewhat repetitive.  I did enjoy the blurred lines between the characters' acting and reality--especially the artistry involved in improvisational acting.  I enjoyed the theme of fate v choice, and maybe it was a bit heavy-handed.  

From the publisher:
From the award-winning author of Songs in Ursa Major comes an epic, decade-spanning love story that blazes through the worlds of acting and comedy, and charts a connection so powerful it might just break space and time itself.

In the summer of 2000, AJ Graves dreams of writing for SNL; instead, she’s stuck working in a video rental store, with slim odds of escaping her Massachusetts small town and large family. Then in walks Noah Drew, the enigmatic and intense scion of the Drew acting dynasty, and her life changes forever. Despite wildly different upbringings, the two forge a deep, cosmic bond first as friends, then as acting partners—until one day, Noah disappears without a word.

Seven years later in New York City, AJ is shocked to find herself cast in the same intergalactic TV production as Noah, by then a well-known Hollywood heartthrob. As their on-screen characters grow closer every day, the lines between reality and acting begin to blur. Unable to stay away from each other, AJ and Noah are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago—and the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart, even as fate continues to draw them together.

Blending unforgettable characters, explosive chemistry, and devastating emotion, Into the Blue is a journey unlike any other—one that asks: What does it mean to diverge from the script to forge your own story?

No comments: