Title: Fine Again
Author: Michael S. Vassel
Publisher: BookBaby
ISBN: 978-1543930467
Pages: 300 pages
Genre: Romance
Reviewed by: Erin Nicole Cochran
Hollywood Book Review
“I would sell my soul to have you back.” Author Michael S. Vassel’s fictional romance Fine Again will reel you in with its earnest words. Vassel creates a world so in-depth it starts to become a land which is no longer fictional but all too real in the mind of the reader, or at least in the mind of this reader. The central character is Mike, a man who has lost the love of his life, Amy. The author skillfully weaves in and out between the threads of time. He writes about the encounters of his youth, pre-Amy and time spent with other women in and out of relationships, as well as the times spent with Amy adding diary entries which mark the present period. Most of the experiences which are related in the book are the ups and downs that come with a new relationship; a few ending disastrously. Which is why when the main character meets Amy it feels like he’s finally getting the woman he is deserving of, although unfortunately it’s known that it is not to last.
It is impossible not to be affected by Vassel’s writing. It reads at such a steady quick pace that readers will likely fall down the rabbit hole with his character Mike; into the fathoms of their own memories of dead and buried relationships. The pitfalls of love as well as the varying degrees of like, obsession, and infatuation surrounds the characters like land mines always lurking around the corner. But it was the true physical loss that really captured me. The blow toward the end of the book was like an icicle falling from a building and going right through the mind. It was powerfully devastating. It was an end that I’m happy to say I didn’t see coming at all, but will no doubt have lasting effects on anyone who reads this book.
Michael S. Vassel knows how to elicit all human responses in Fine Again, from sadness, to joy, hope and love. His dialogue is expertly authentic. His approach to writing is direct and passionate without coming off feeling too over the top dramatic, which is hard to pull off, but he does it well. For anyone who is doing their best to cope with any kind of loss, whether it be a death or a heartbreak I would strongly recommend Fine Again, to help them find their way back to themselves.