Beyond What is Given by Rebecca Yarros review

I don’t entirely know what it was about this book, but Beyond What is Given didn’t hit the way that I was hoping it would. Was it still good? Yes. But I didn’t feel as invested in this book as I was in the first two.

After meeting Grayson Masters in Eyes Turned Skyward, I had a sneaking suspicion this book would be about him. I was very excited about this because it was clear that there was something lurking beneath the surface of his character; he was too closed off to not have something going on in the background. But I can’t say that I was entirely on board with this one.

Let me see if I can try to explain.

Grayson is a painfully complicated character. What we know is that he is quiet, and he doesn’t share much and frequently heads back home for an undisclosed reason. He’s determined to be better than the others, wanting to fly Apache helicopters and so that he can be the best that he can be. He’s mysterious but in the sense that it’s hard to get a read on who he is as a person and that makes it difficult to get attached to him at the start.

As the book opens, we are introduced to Sam, Ember’s friend, who moves in with Josh, Jagger, and Grayson after failing out of college. We join her as she tries to figure out how to make her new home be “home” and trying to come to terms with what’s going on her life – namely the harassment that has followed her from Colorado with no plans of stopping. While getting herself settled in, she finds herself in her new home alone as the guys and Ember have gone out for coffee, but Sam wants coffee right that moment. She makes her way to the kitchen where she has a very unfortunate encounter with Grayson who automatically assumes that she’s sleeping with Josh or Jagger.

Cue on of the cringiest miscommunication moments I’ve read in a while. Turns out that Grayson thought “Sam” was a guy, and now he’s suddenly facing a very unexpected roommate situation.

This story leans heavily on the close-quarters/forced proximity trope with Sam and Grayson having to learn how to live together. Sometimes there’s a buffer, sometimes there isn’t. And of course there is a lot of trauma involved on both sides.

Sam has a messy past with a married college professor she was taking a class with. She didn’t know he was married until it was far too late. Grayson, meanwhile, is fiercely loyal to his awake, but vegetative girlfriend, Grace, who woke up from a coma after a car accident, but cannot speak or react. Yeah. It’s that complicated.

The core of the story is “will they, won’t they,” as Sam and Grayson navigate their tangled feelings. Neither of them is truly ready for a relationship, but somehow they also are – with each other. Sam spends a lot of time swooning over Grayson, questioning herself, and eventually spiraling when she finds out about Grace. She starts to compare herself, wondering if she’ll ever measure up, all while Grayson tries to convince her that she already does. But then Grace has a miraculous recovery.

In true Rebecca Yarros fashion, the moment everything starts to fit together, we’re thrown a (predictable) curveball. Grace recovers and she’s suddenly back in Grayson’s life. And that throws everything into chaos.

There are several heavy subplots in this book – Grayson’s family, for one, is incredibly intense (and not in a good way). They’re very close to Grace’s family with high expectations once she recovers. They don’t realize what exactly it is Grayson is doing and that he’s working towards becoming an Apache pilot which leads to his dad actively working against him, and while the reasons why eventually come to light, it was draining. Sam’s family issues are complicated too – her mom is frequently deployed, and while Sam is used to military life, she struggles with not having her mom around. There is so much emotional weight in this book that I felt like I was being pulled in five different directions at once.

And I think that this is probably what turned me off most.

I am all for deep, messy, dramatic stories, but this one felt overloaded. And that’s almost saying a lot when considering the complications in Eyes Turned Skyward. Between Grayson’s unresolved guilt, his toxic family, Sam’s trauma, and the whole Grace situation, it became too much. I didn’t like the Grayson’s family, and I found myself skimming through as fast as possible to avoid sticking around for too long. And while I get that this chaos is very real for some people, it made for a tiring reading experience. By the time we finally reached the happily ever after I was very worn out.

I really wish that this particular book had gone in a different direction, and for that, after thinking about it, I need to adjust my initial review of four stars to three. This wasn’t the best and it wasn’t entirely memorable. I’m glad there eventually was a happily ever after, but I shouldn’t have been so tired waiting to get to it.

Until next time.

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