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4.1

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Blair Fell

Longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize When a young DeafBlind man learns the girl he thought was lost forever might still be out there, he embarks on a life-changing journey to find her—and his freedom.Arlo Dilly is young, handsome, and eager to meet the right girl. He also happens to be DeafBlind, a Jehovah’s Witness, and under the strict guardianship of his controlling uncle. His chances of finding someone to love seem slim to none. And yet, it happened once before: many years ago, at a boarding school for the Deaf, Arlo met the love of his life—a mysterious girl with onyx eyes and beautifully expressive hands which told him the most amazing stories. But tragedy struck, and their love was lost forever. Or so Arlo thought. After years trying to heal his broken heart, Arlo is assigned a college writing assignment which unlocks buried memories of his past. Soon he wonders if the hearing people he was supposed to trust have been lying to him all along, and if his lost love might be found again. No longer willing to accept what others tell him, Arlo convinces a small band of misfit friends to set off on a journey to learn the truth. After all, who better to bring on this quest than his gay interpreter and wildly inappropriate Belgian best friend? Despite the many forces working against him, Arlo will stop at nothing to find the girl who got away and experience all of life’s joyful possibilities.

Romance

Lgbtq+

Humor

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More Details:

Author

Blair Fell

Pages

416

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

2022-04-05

ISBN

1982175974 9781982175979

Community ReviewsSee all

"Well researched and obvious effort put into writing dialougue and interpretation accurately. Pacing felt slow and dragged a bit towards the end. Last 50 pages or so were incredibly hard to read as it immediately took on a rapid, shoddy pace to wrap up very late stage action that could have been left out, or included earlier. The change in tone and shift to a final act rom com motif was cringe inducing to read for me, given the serious topics and care they were given earlier in the book."

Jamie

"Absolutely loved this book!! I loved the way they described how to express the different signs. I may be slightly bias since I also am an ASL interpreter, but I learned so much and now I want to work more on my tactile signing and protactile! Beautiful story and awesome writing. "

Kathryn Neuffer

"I love second chance romances, especially when the story just fills your heart whole, and you can’t get enough of the characters. <br/>It’s not often you come across a novel with a main character who is deaf, and I love how inclusive this novel is. <br/>Arlo is on a mission, on a mission to find a love he once knew. After being sheltered his whole life, and may have been (definitely was) told a few lies in his life, he’s ready to take charge of his own life, and make his own decisions. With the help of some friends (whom are just the best!) <br/>A journey of self discovery, finding inner strength and self confidence. <br/>A wonderful story of second chances, and wonderful friendships."