The Reality of Everything by Rebecca Yarros Review

Do you hear that noise? Do you hear it? That high pitched squealing, kicking your feet in the air noise? Yeah. That’s me after finishing The Reality of Everything, the final book of the Flight and Glory series. After getting through Hallowed Ground this was precisely what I needed, and it was a fantastic way to end this series. It’s not the Will Carter love story I hoped for, but it is the love story that is very much deserved in this book. It ties so much together, and oh my goodness…let me dive right in.

The Reality of Everything brings us into Morgan’s world two years after losing Will. She’s still grieving, but after receiving money from his secondary life insurance, she makes the decision to start over. Enter: a rundown beach house in the Outer Banks. She figures if she’s in pieces, maybe fixing the house will make her feel whole again.

The book opens with a humorous moment as Morgan, Sam, and Grayson’s sister Mia stand outside her new home as the exterior proves its point and quite literally falls apart. As they take a look around the house, the three women become fixated on a man as he comes out of the ocean, admiring the mysterious stranger as he then goes on a run, giving them a passing, “Afternoon, ladies” as he goes by.

In an unexpected moment, as Mia and Sam venture out to get pizza and drinks, Morgan worked on figuring out how to turn on the lights in her home. Learning that one of the breakers is in her new garage, she makes her way outside, and as she jumps down on the landing of the stairs, she finds herself in a very awkward and slightly dangerous position as she crashes halfway through. Her savior comes in the form of a little five-year-old red headed child named Finley, nicknamed Fin, who lives next door, who runs to get her dad to help.

Entering the scene now? Jackson Montgomery. Yep. The ocean guy.

Morgan, still stuck, mortified, and sporing Hello Kitty underwear, realizes very quickly that the man helping her is that man and he’s just as embarrassed as she is. But Jackson handles the situation like a true gentleman, getting her out safely and gently.

From here on out, it’s the Morgan and Jackson (and Finley) show, and it is equally as sweet as it is heartbreaking. Morgan has a lot of baggage that she needs to work through, but Jackson is there every step of the way. The only problem is he has a big secret that might ruin everything. This is especially so as Morgan progresses through intensive therapy to help her cope with the loss of Will. If Morgan finds out the truth, it could set her right back to where she started.

Can you take a guess at what this big secret is? If not, let me tell you. He’s a helicopter pilot in the Coast Guard as search and rescue. Because of course he is!

The good news is that despite this, he doesn’t necessarily have to worry about being deployed because there are enough people who can go out. He’s already been told he can stay home because he’s more or less a single dad because baby mama decided her acting career is more important, so everything is fine. Morgan doesn’t like the idea of it, but hey – Jackson already told her he’ll be home!

Well, dear reader…let me remind you that we’re reading a Rebecca Yarros book here. Let’s think about how this is actually going to go for a minute. It should be a given that we know exactly where this is going.

Jackson has to deploy for three months in the height of hurricane season in place of one of the members of his unit who broke his leg. This leads to Morgan ultimately ending things with Jackson after he says all of the wrong things. Sam steps in to make Jackson see the error of what he’s said in an attempt to help him fix things before he leaves. This leads to us having a moment where Jackson tells Morgan that while she might be single, to him, she’s still his girlfriend because he plans to be patient and give her as much time as she needs.

And Jackson does that. He steps back to give Morgan space, he ultimately deploys, but he works hard to show her just how loved she is despite being apart. It’s sweet and it’s exactly what she needs as she continues to work through her therapy plan.

You would think this would be our conflict, but no. Our conflict comes when the Outer Banks is set to be hit by a hurricane. Jackson believes that everything is okay as Fin’s absent mother finally decides to return for a little bit, and would be far away. Morgan is away in Washington D.C., so he doesn’t have to worry about her either. Until we find out that Fin’s mother actually decided to pursue an audition and left her with her grandmother – leaving Fin right in the middle of an intense hurricane. In a twist of events, Fin calls Morgan who learns of the situation at the same time Jackson does and immediately sets into action to make sure that Fin and her grandmother are kept safe.

It’s the ultimate act of sacrifice and makes Morgan realize her feelings in the end. After denying it for months, she knows that she loves Jackson and she would do anything to make sure that his daughter Finley is kept safe. I won’t spoil the rest, but it is well worth the read.

After how rough Hallowed Ground was, this was refreshing. It was raw as we worked through Morgan’s emotions and her grief, but it was hopeful and inspiring as we watched her heal and grow. It also helps that Fin is the perfect addition and Jackson isn’t so bad himself.

The final installment of Flight and Glory earns five stars from me.

As for what series is next? I’m not sure. After breezing through one series in less than a month, I fear that I might complete this challenge way sooner than intended. I didn’t write this in my first entry, but the original plan was to read one book a month to pass the time between the fourth book of the Empyrean series release.

Now it’s looking more like a challenge to see how many Rebecca Yarros books I can read before Lucas comes home.

Oops.

Until next time.

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