USA Today bestselling author Rachel Schurig‘s first novel in her 6-part series, Ransom, is a beautiful new adult contemporary romance story that leaves us with a heart full of hope and a head full of dreams. Where we sometimes feel afraid to open up to the people we love, Schurig reminds us that something good will always come of it. Ransom is a story of love, heartbreak and second chances that stays with us long after we’ve put the book down.
Daisy Harris has no reason to suspect that her day will be any different than usual. She’ll go to class, alone. She won’t speak or make eye contact. She’ll spend her entire day doing her best to go completely unnoticed. That’s what life is like for Daisy now—an endless cycle of loneliness and fear. A life lived hiding behind the walls she so faithfully maintains.
Then she sees it. A magazine, left behind in class. A simple picture—just his face. And it changes everything.
It’s been a year since she’s seen Daltrey Ransome. A year since he and his brothers left town to pursue their dreams of rock and roll superstardom. A year since he left Daisy behind—left her to watch as everything she knew crumbled around her. She’s been running from Daltrey ever since, desperate to keep her secret.
But she can’t run anymore. And now that Daltrey has found her—the girl he’s loved his entire life, the girl he’d give up everything for—he’s determined never to let her go again.
I loved how the story began – told from Daltrey’s POV of when he and Daisy first met at five years old. Without that little event they wouldn’t have a story to tell. It was one of the important moments in both their lives, so I thought it was a great way to start. After this the novel was told in present events, with the occasional flashback of their past together, which meant that you got to see their relationship from the beginning.
All the characters in Ransom were loveable, from the main characters to the secondary characters. They all had great personalities and they each added something to the story. Not only that, but there was a great character arc and development for both Daisy and Daltrey — especially Daisy.
This was demonstrated in part with the message of the novel. Schurig deeper meaning to Ransom was one so true, raw and honest that I would recommend every young person to read the book. The idea that everyone has gone through some bad things in their life, but that doesn’t make you weak — it makes you strong because you got through it. And the people who really love us won’t care.
At one point in the novel, Daisy talks to her friends Paige and Karen about her past and her fears about the one person she loves most in the world not loving her back because of the things that happened to her and what she’d been through. They tell her:
“My point, Daisy, is that people have f****d-up stuff in their past. It doesn’t make them weak, and it doesn’t make them unlovable. The fact that you went through that and came out on the other side makes you strong. The opposite of weak.”
— Rachel Schurig, Ransom
When Daisy was still worried about the idea of Daltrey not wanting her or not being able to love her, Karen told her something that actually made me pause and reflect on. Honestly, her words hit me more than I care to admit, and I think it’s something that is important for all young girls to hear. She said:
“If he disagrees,” Karen goes on, “then he was never worthy of being your friend in the first place, let alone worth giving your heart to.”
— Rachel Schurig, Ransom
This is so important and I cannot express this enough. If someone loves you, and I mean really loves you, then they’ll love you enough not to care if you feel like you’re damaged or broken. They’ll love you no matter what you have been through. They love who you are now, and in a powerful yet admirable way, whatever you had to go through they’ll almost be glad that you did, because it made you the person you are today. The person they’ve fallen for.
Going back to what I said about Daisy’s character arc, you can see this clearly twice in Ransom. The first is after she tells Daltrey everything, and realises he still loves her all the same. She says:
When I tell them about freaking out, and how I told him everything, they both get quiet, squeezing my hands.
“But then it didn’t matter, not really, because he loves me anyhow,” I say.
— Rachel Schurig, Ransom
The second, is when she realises that going through what she did made her stronger.
“Maybe everyone has messed-up stuff in their past. Maybe it doesn’t make me weak. Maybe the point is that I got through it.”
— Rachel Schurig, Ransom
The world can be cruel, but it’s also full of wonderful, beautiful things. Like good friends. Music. Laughing until you cry. The view from the very top of the Empire State Building. Things like love. And as long as we can remember all of those things, we will never lose hope.
Page By Paige 