Redeemed (Dirty Air, #4)

by Lauren Asher

It takes one second for my world to crumble around me. One second to realize my life has ended before it ever truly began. One second to wish I could take it all back.

😭😭

A hollow space takes up the spot in my chest where my heart once belonged, matching my missing appendage.

Hate is something I can remember when all else fails me.

I wish to find someone who appreciates my presence instead of destroying it.

i’m so glad that chloe immediately cut her mom out of her life in the beginning, i don’t think i could take a whole book of her realizing she won’t change.

Awful parents aren’t something two teens should bond over, but our survival instincts called for it. And together, instead of allowing our circumstances to ruin us, we supported one another through the darkest times.

trauma bonding isn’t always bad 💕

Apathy is my battle armor in my harsh new reality. Because

“Next time you think I looked at you with disgust, remember that kiss. I’m not a unicorn because I’d much rather be a dragon in the story. They’re more badass anyway.”

The more people say it, the more I believe it. But there’s a reason people say be careful what you wish for. I just haven’t figured out why yet.

“There’s something beautiful about chaos.”

“Because those who see beauty in chaos also see flowers instead of weeds, and that’s a gift in a world like ours.”

i mean this man has so many one liners already i can’t keep up

Personally, I don’t care if it takes you a minute or an hour to get up. All that matters is that you do.”

My list of flaws continues to grow while the redeemable parts of myself shrivel into nothing but distant memories.

noooo 😭😭

Sorry, Santiago Alatorre. He might be the King of Lies, but I’m the Ace of Spades. And that only means one thing for him. Game over.

“Because some people in life are worth the extra effort.”

Some kisses stoke a passion. Some kisses heal the soul. Kissing Chloe is a combination of two—the sweetest medicine that leads to a lifelong addiction.

AHHHHH

“Because music is food for the soul, and mine feels like it’s missing.”

“Because we all have weaknesses, Santiago. You believe yours is how you’re missing a leg, and I think mine is my crippling loneliness and preference for wishing instead of doing. I make wishes to combat the emptiness I feel from all the disappointments in my life. Wishes are the closest thing I have to magic.”

She’s like the moon who shines bright despite the never-ending darkness. And she makes me want to wish that daylight never comes again.

seriously how does this man find something new and beautifully poetic to say about her in every chapter!!!! i can’t keep up😭😭😭

It hits me that playing guitar isn’t the only music that feeds my soul anymore. Chloe’s laughs are the sweetest melody, a harmony of sounds that can’t be recreated by any strings or notes. They fill me with a warmth, banishing the darkness that grew and festered over the years after my accident.

santiago could wax poetically about chloe the entire book and i will still eat it all up

While the grumpy version of him was tolerable, a joking Santiago is rather addictive. One so beautifully toxic, I wouldn’t mind overdosing from the experience.

“Because you make me want to live in the present rather than kill myself by focusing on the past.”

And nothing can stop me from accomplishing what I put my mind to. Not even a grumpy, six-foot-something male who seeks to be invisible when he’s meant to shine.

“Life is about creating the memories that matter, while forgetting the ones that don’t.”

lauren asher i hope your pillow is always cold and you never go bald

She’s my kaleidoscope in a world of gray.

🤩😭😭🤩 this man ain’t real!!!!! wdym she’s his kaleidoscope im going insane

Chloe’s hand covers mine. “I just want you to know I’m really freaking proud of you right now.” A blush creeps into my cheeks. “It’s just a game.” “It’s more than that.” “How so?” “This is your redemption.”

hell yeah brother

Chloe didn’t just steal a piece of my heart. She carved her initials into it, branding me for life.

“Honestly, yes. I think we owe it to ourselves to unapologetically love who we are no matter what. Because if you don’t love yourself, then why do you expect anyone else to?”

ok i didn’t know i was getting therapy while reading this book

Chloe is old enough to make decisions on her own without either one of us playing God. There’s only one man calling the shots from upstairs and he does a fine enough job screwing up everyone’s life without us interfering.

💯💯

I wish that Chloe Carter falls in love with someone worthy of her eighties-loving heart. That she finds that soul-crushing, heart-mending, passion-fueled love. A love that leaves her desperate for more because nothing that amazing should ever be done in moderation. The same love I found with her.

And secrets have a way of destroying the loveliest things, and I wonder if mine is the most deadly of all.

“Nothing is more tragic or cruel than feeling like I gained a father only to lose him in the same week,” I snap.

oh gosh i could really feel her pain in these scenes😓

“Seriously? Are you always going to be this perfect or will it wear off like a car’s warranty?”

I didn’t even need to make a wish for it to come true. All I needed was Santiago—a man set on proving the magic isn’t the wish itself, but the people who make the dream come true.

stop it i can’t😭😭😭😭

You might be the hero in my story, but you’re the legend in theirs.

“I won more than a Championship. I won a woman who makes me appreciate every day how lucky I am to have survived that crash in the first place. Because I couldn’t imagine never meeting the one person who completes me. I never believed in soulmates before you, but I’ll be damned if you didn’t make me a dreamer with your wishes and wildflowers and smile that could make any bad day instantly better.”

i will never be the person i was before i read this book 🥲