Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: La Vie en Bleu
SERIES: Lacuna Chronicles #5
AUTHOR: A.M. Daily
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 650 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 15, 2017
BLURB:
“My mother named me Miel. Grandmother used to laugh because she couldn’t believe anything sweet could ever come from my mother…”
Born in a turbulent age of violent political upheaval and societal collapse, and thrown to the streets of Zenith as a prostitute at a tender age, Blue yearns for a better life and learns to survive by following a simple piece of hard-learned advice: don’t trust anyone.
Heartbroken and embittered, Blue is convinced that love and friendship are unattainable, until a chance meeting with a charming but reckless gang initiate and a passionate affair with an enigmatic Mechi cause him to question everything.
But nothing lasts forever and a cruel twist of fate leads to the loss of love and the birth of an empire in this story of heartache, danger, and hope.
**Trigger Warnings: Dub-con/Non-con, rape, drug use, prostitution, abuse, graphic violence, explicit sexual content**
REVIEW:
So, real talk time: I don’t usually like books featuring sex workers. It doesn’t matter how good the reviews are or how many people have personally recommended it, I just never like them. Period. So, when Bleu was introduced way back in the first book of the Lacuna Chronicles Series, I was prepared to put up with his presence but that was it. As the books progressed, however, the absolutely most shocking thing happened; I found I actually liked Bleu. And, moreover, I actually began looking forward to his parts in the books more than I did any other character. No one was more surprised by this than I and by the end of the third book I knew that I wanted so much more from Bleu than what the author had already given me. Needless to say that when I learned Bleu was getting his own book, I was ecstatic! Before getting into the bulk of the review, however, please take special note of the warnings; there are some serious triggers listed for this book (with good reason!) and I wouldn’t want anyone to read something they are in no way prepared for or that would cause serious emotional and/or mental anguish.
Bleu’s story is broken up into five parts and actually starts years before the first Lacuna Chronicles book takes place. Things that were only briefly mentioned or alluded to are shown, sometimes in great detail, as you follow Bleu from when he first ended up on the streets to where he ended up present day. Because of this, anyone that has read the previous books of the series are going to run into some familiar scenes and information but as its all from Bleu’s perspective, it put a nice new spin on events and people I already knew about. Despite how much I enjoyed getting to know Bleu more intimately than I’d had a chance to previously, however, I’m not going to lie and say this was an easy read all the way through; Bleu’s life was hard and even though he did have some good times and memories, it was the difficulties and harsh realities of how he was forced to live that made him who he is. Again, the warnings given in the blurb are there for a reason and while not as graphic as I’d feared, there is enough in the story to be wary of when reading.
While the majority of the book is basically taking you through events that already happened in the series (again, with a focus on Bleu instead of on Micah or Caden) the last section of the book is all new material that takes place after we last saw Bleu back in book three. When I realized exactly what the author had done with the book in general while reading this part I think I just stopped and processed for a minute. Sneaky author was sneaky but in the best possible way! I won’t lie and pretend I hadn’t been hoping for more of a glimpse of Bleu’s life from when I’d last seen him in the series but this…was near perfect. After everything he’d been subjected to I was more than ready to see him get his happy ending and while not picture perfect, I think it suited Bleu all the more because of the still lingering difficulties.
After all the heartache getting to the ending I finished Bleu’s story with a smile and was thoroughly satisfied with what I’d read. My only complaint? I still want more Bleu! (I’m just greedy that way and refuse to apologize for it.) This book was amazing; from start to finish I was engrossed in it and the ending is still making me smile hours after finishing it. If you’ve read the Lacuna Chronicles and were at all interested in Bleu’s character I can’t recommend his story enough, I really can’t.
RATING: 
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