Indie O’Connell embraces her genetic blemishes and turns them into flawless works of art. She’s loved and admired in her family. A place colored with freedom and safety. Indie’s twin, Royal, stands by her side as a best friend, protector, and her light in the dark times. When Royal finds his happiness in Camden, a fellow college student, Indie gains a new confident but loses a bit of Royal.
Kai, Camden’s roommate, fights his own demons. He shields himself from his own pain through swimming, majoring in something he believes will make others proud, and finding friendship in the least likely of places; his teammate, Royal. The complication comes when he makes a move to make himself happy, and he finds himself seeking shelter in Royal’s sister. A girl who asks him for nothing but makes him want to be a better man. A man she can trust and rely on as his own world falls apart.
I knew diving into Johnson’s work the themes and topics would follow the tropes of difficult choices, situations, and taboos most authors shy away from penning. Johnson once said, “This work might upset her following as it contains the least amount of sex of any of her works.”
I disagree. Indie and Kai develop as two lost souls and search to find the key to those flaws they see within themselves. They each desire love, commitment, and trust. Deep down within each of them is an innocence they work hard to cover up to the outside world; An innocence which needs fostering and molding by the best artists. Artists who know it takes time developing perfection and dance with purpose through the process.
I made the mistake of finishing reading Seven Shades of You while in my classroom. Johnson’s words moved me in ways only her works are capable. She showed me the layers of violets, reds, blacks, browns, blues, yellows, and more which breathed life and passion into every word of this prose. She touches on mental illness, deadly diseases, suicide, and self loathing while building the backbone of the series which relies on truth, trust, and an open heart for viewing others and oneself in a light of joy and depth which destroys the naysayers and builds only the bridges of love, light, rainbows, and happiness. In the end, Johnson checks off one more incredible work which opens the doors for taboo subjects and healthy discussions and solutions for all walks of life to enjoy.
Seven Shades of You (A Twin Heart Series Standalone Novel)
❤︎ Release Date: June 13th
❤︎ Buy link: https://geni.us/pj0V
♥︎ BLURB ♥︎
Her world was color. Canvas and paint.
Indie O’Connell lived inside her head.
Her voices the muse.
And as a freshman at St. Peter’s College, all she wanted, was to create a name for herself with the brush in her hand.
His world was over.
Despite his humble upbringing, Kai Carter seemed to have it all.
Captain of the swim team and a full scholarship. His golden boy status a mask he had to wear to keep his dream and his family afloat.
All the pieces of his life dangled precariously from his fingertips.
Forced to fight a battle he’d never signed up for, Kai’s loyalty turned out to be his undoing, and like a good captain, no matter what the cost, he’d gone down with the ship.
They never planned for their worlds to collide.
He was her brother’s best friend.
She was supposed to be invisible.
Off limits.
Being together, regardless of how much they wanted it, was a line they’d never cross.
But when lives get messy, lines get blurred, and in love, nothing is ever black and white.