*No. of pages: 276
*Average Rating on Goodreads: 4.82/5
*My Rating on Goodreads: 4/5
*Date of Published: April 21st, 2015 by Verona Booksellers
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SYNOPSIS Via Goodreads:
Jay Murchison believes he is a nobody at his high school in Oklahoma. Coming from a conservative family of affordable luxury, Jay has an overwhelming desire to become something great. After a mysterious girl named Saphnie in North Carolina mistakenly texts him, an unlikely relationship develops that affects Jay’s self-perception and influences the rest of his sophomore year. This correspondence leads him to a group of thrill-seekers who provide a grand departure from the quiet life Jay is familiar with and eye-opening experiences to witness first-hand the truth behind the loose morals his fellow classmates have come to know.
In a story filled with injustice, hope, hatred, love, grief, and understanding, readers will ask themselves what it truly means to hear the ocean sigh and learn of the dire consequences that come with its responsibilities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Via Goodreads:
Bryant A. Loney is an 18-year-old growing up in the U.S. Heartland. You can follow him on Twitter (@BALoney) and visit his website at BryantLoney.com. He was born on the 4th of July, year 1997 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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Notes:
This is a spoiler-free review to encourage my blog readers to fully enjoy the pages of To Hear The Ocean Sigh by Bryant A. Loney. Verona Booksellers, the publisher of the book from Tulsa, Oklahoma, contacted me to write a book review of this young adult novel—and I certainly do not regret accepting the offer!
Review:
To Hear The Ocean Sigh by Bryant A. Loney really is befitting for the young adults of this generation who suffer from teenage dramas and conflicts. In this book, you would learn more about the injustice of life, of misunderstandings, peer pressure, depression and of course—you would learn more about the grand schemes of life, of serendipity, of friendship, and of love.
The protagonist, Jay Murchison lived his sixteen years of existence being a nobody. His life was all about going to school and going home, nothing more and nothing less. But everything changed when Saphnie, a popular girl with an adventurous and outgoing personality that lives miles away from Jay, accidentally texted him despite them not knowing each other. With just a wrong sent message that Jay has received, everything changes in his life. He finally has someone to talk to and even though it was not intended, Saphnie became a bridge for Jay to finally make friends and to experience things he never thought he would do.
Jay Murchison is a character that a lot can relate to. A lot of teenagers nowadays suffer anxiety, depression and feels isolated from everyone due to the feeling of being an outsider, an outcast, or even a loner. And although this may be a negative thing, most (if not all), loves an underdog—and Jay might just be one. Yet getting to exchange text messages with Saphnie brought new changes into his life. Saphnie suggested a book for Jay to read, which served as a bridge for him to be friends with Lily, while Lily served as a bridge for Jay to have more new friends and new experiences to add to his boring life.
Truth be told, the story was a bit slow and unprogressive, causing the first few chapters to be a drag. But all of that transformed into something exciting and exhilarating as obstacles and unexpected turn of events happens in Jay’s life. With that obstacle is finding out how his newfound friends admitted that they saw him as what statistics online have been talking about: that in a class, one is bound to commit or attempt suicide—and they saw that one person as him. Then, an opportunity showed up to which he could finally show that he is not what everyone thinks he is. That even though he is quiet, alone, and seen as an outsider, he definitely is not suicidal just because of those.
Everyone misinterprets and misunderstood one another, just how it really goes. Sometimes, just because a person is always alone and has no friends does not automatically mean that he is suicidal and does not see his life as something wonderful and important. Because sometimes, those who appear with huge grins plastered on their faces and has everyone wave at them as they are entering a house party just because they have numerous likes on social networking sites… are actually the ones who are suffering and are the ones who hides behind a façade to which underneath lies the dire need to end what they see as their worthless and fake life.
Saphnie and all of Jay’s new friends teaches him to savor life and every step of it; even to overcome insecurities and to come to an understanding to all of the theories and questions there are about life even though those thoughts started to dwell in your mind due to a newly released book in the first place.
I bet some of you may have heard (if not read!) of All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, and this book struck me the way it did. I am very much not comparing it due to the fact that they are SOOO different from each other but because of implicating the heavy problem of prominent suicidal issues of teenagers nowadays. All The Bright Places may have been obvious of its theme, yet in To Hear The Ocean Sigh, everything that came out small turned out to be actually something big as the story progresses.
After reading To Hear The Ocean Sigh, it reminded me of how Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns by John Green made me feel as I close the book. That was how much the book pulled at my heartstrings and made me rethink and reanalyze my life and the people around me. So if you read any of the said books, you may now have an idea as to what the ending seemed like!
This book is all about:
-Stepping out of your comfort zone and discovering how much it could teach you;
-Having real friends no matter how few is more important than being popular and with a lot of fake ones;
-There is always more to what we see and what we know of a person and of a situation;
-Strict parents create sneaky kids, but no matter what, an individual should always know his/her limits. Because at the end of the day, the choices we make is always ours;
-And of course, a whole lot more!
I encourage you guys to start looking for a copy of Bryant A. Loney’s amazing novel! For I assure you that is jampacked with lessons about life, friendship, and love, and of course, with characters that has such colorful personalities and beautiful thoughts. So join me, read To Hear The Ocean Sigh to find out how does the ocean sigh, and wonder after that if you would ever have the privilege to hear it. 🙂
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Stay tuned for my next blog post: My chat with Bryant A. Loney, the author of To Hear The Ocean Sigh himself!
Follow him on Twitter: @BALoney
And check out his website on: BryantLoney.com
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