Julianne MacLean’s The Color of Heaven features Sophie’s narration of her life events as they unfold. She talks about her first boyfriend and how they lost touch, and moves on to how she met her husband and how they fell in love. They were so much in love, it seemed nothing could ever break their bond, which became even stronger when their daughter was born.

As the awful saying goes, all good things must come to an end. And so it was for this couple, as one tragedy after another struck, and it was all they could do to keep their family afloat.

As Sophie narrates on, secrets are revealed, concealed truths are unraveled, and epiphanies are realized; Sophie seeks to uncover her true identity and answers to unresolved issues, all through the mist of pain and heartbreak that surrounds her.

The Color of Heaven is a painful, heartbreaking, joyful, and satisfactory read all at once, a book that stays with you way long after you’re done with it. It keeps you up almost all night, invades your thoughts when you wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, when you wake up in the morning, and all through the day as you go about your duties. It’s that kind of book that your mind keeps going back to, reliving the words you read, reliving the emotions of the characters, their pain, their love, their loss. I was very touched by this book, and I did find my eyes welling up a few times as I read on.

There were a few areas in the book I felt dragged on for a bit. I thought there were a little bit of time (and words) wasted on some chapters, unnecessary parts that didn’t have to be in the book, or didn't have to take so long to narrate. But I suppose it can be the way with the narrative voice in some instances; it takes its time when narrating every little detail.

I learned a lot from the book, but one major thing I took from it that I’ll likely not forget anytime soon is that there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. There’s always a bigger plan in spite of the pain or heartbreak that we may be experiencing at the moment. We might not see it right away, maybe not for six months, or a year. Or two. But it will come. And it will be a very bright light, one that will illuminate your whole being, swallow up the darkness surrounding you, and dull your pain an inch.

A very, very good read. I recommend it to every book-a-holic who likes a good, cozy read.

RATING: 9/10
GENRE: Romance/Inspirational
VIOLENCE: None
COARSE LANGUAGE: None
SEXUAL CONTENT: Moderate
MATERIAL CONNECTION: Purchased for reading pleasure only