Book Review: The Reality of Everything by Rebecca Yarros

The Reality of Everything (Flight & Glory #5) by Rebecca Yarros

Pages: 470
Publish date: 388
Publisher: Entangled: Embrace
ISBN: 9781649370211
Purchase: – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Nook – Kobo

Two years after the man she loved was killed in Afghanistan, Morgan Bartley is trying to put the pieces of her life back together. The reno on her dilapidated beach house in the Outer Banks might be just the distraction she needs to keep her debilitating anxiety attacks at bay and begin to heal her heart…if she can ignore the ridiculously handsome guy next door.

At twenty-eight, single-dad Jackson Montgomery’s life revolves around his five-year-old daughter and his job as a search-and-rescue pilot for the coast guard. He’s no stranger to saving a damsel in distress, and though his gorgeous new neighbor is clearly in distress, she’s no damsel. She’s stubborn as hell with walls a mile thick, and the dog tags hanging from her rearview mirror give him a pretty good clue as to why.

It doesn’t matter that their attraction is undeniable―she swore she’d never fall for another pilot, let alone a military man. There are some wounds time can’t heal, and some fears too consuming to conquer.

She’s a barely breathing heartbreak on the edge of recovery.
He’s a crash waiting to happen.
Together they could have it all…if they can endure the coming storm.

The Reality of Everything:

I received an earc of The Reality of Everything by Rebecca Yarros in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about this book.

I just want to make a quick note, there will be spoilers from previous books in this series, especially Hallowed Ground. I tried to keep spoilers from this book minimal though.

The Reality of Everything follows Morgan Bartley as she tries to move on with life. She is trying to put all the pieces back together after losing the man that she loved. But the ride hasn’t been easy, not even a little bit. When Morgan moves to the Outer Banks, she wants a start fresh. But the grief she still feels two years later is consuming. And then she meets single father, Jackson Montgomery. She doesn’t want to fall for him. She can’t. But sometimes life isn’t always that easy. Especially Jackson is another pilot and Morgan swore she was going to stay away from them.

Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash

Morgan is such an easy protagonist to get along with from the start. I don’t know if it’s because readers have known her from previous books. Or that she is such easy to like. But I love that we finally got her book – though it did hurt. A lot. 2 years after the events of Hallowed Ground, Morgan is still reeling with grief. She doesn’t know what to do with herself. But moving might be the answer. And while she does feel a little more free, her grief still consumers her. However as the novel goes on, the reader can see Morgan grow and learn. She starts to let go. I adored seeing this character growth in Morgan, especially from the first few books.

Jackson was such a fantastic make protagonist. Seriously. Like all the males in this series, they have a lot of passion and that worked in Jackson’s favour. I think Jackson has become one of my favourite male protagonist in this series – ah! He was just so nice. If that makes any sense at all. I can’t even explain it properly, I just enjoyed reading him.

Jackson wasn’t expecting Morgan to come into his life. He has his beautiful daughter and a job that he loves. But the spark between the two is present from the start. But Jackson understands that Morgan has been through a lot. He understands. Morgan doesn’t want anything to do with Jackson, but both he and his little girl have wormed their ways into her heart. There are many ups and downs between Morgan and Jackson throughout The Reality of Everything. And while there was a little miscommunication, it didn’t upset me like it normally would. I adored these two together, they understood one another without even realising they did.

Photo by Jared Lisack on Unsplash

Family and friendship is a massive part of The Reality of Everything. I love reading single fathers in romances and Rebecca Yarros was able to do it exceptionally well here. The relationship between the two was adorable and I loved not only the scenes between Jackson and his daughter but also Morgan. They all fit together so well.

This was a hard read not going to lie. I cried for most of the book. If there is one thing that I can say about this book is that Rebecca Yarros knows how to write grief. She knows how to dig deep and make you feel everything that the characters are feeling. One of the things that I loved about The Reality of Everything and Morgan’s grief was that it wasn’t fixed by love. Morgan had to work to get past the grief and breath a little better. Love didn’t fix anything, but it helped Morgan strive for more.

Grief and friendship are explored throughout The Reality of Everything, but there are a few scenes that stick out to me. They were not easy to read at all. I could feel all the pain from each of the characters. And because Morgan kept a lot of her feelings inside, when they did come out it was…explosive and gosh I just wanted to hug them all. The tension between Morgan and Paisley was raw and real and damn it hurt. Both of them didn’t talk with one another and that was the cause for a lot of the tension. I do wish we were able to see them connect just a little bit more though.

Like a classic Rebecca Yarros, there are some pretty intense moments throughout The Reality of Everything and the intensity was high for sure. But she can write them so naturally that it doesn’t feel out of place.

Photo by Joe Yates on Unsplash

Overall The Reality of Everything by Rebecca Yarros was a fantastic read. I cried, I laughed and I smiled. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions and written exceptionally well. It’s the perfect way to end this series and wrap up all those ends that we wanted to know. The Reality of Everything explored grief, family, and friendship. It looks at moving, falling in love, and remembering.

If you haven’t picked up the Flight and Glory series, please do. They are tough to read but they are also beautiful military romance series that explores the good and the bad.

Have you read The Reality of Everything by Rebecca Yarros yet? What did you think of it? Will you read this one? Have you read the rest of the series? Let’s Chat!