Review: The Dividing Line and Heart & Seoul by Victoria H. Smith

The Dividing Line - Victoria H. Smith Heart & Seoul - Victoria H. Smith

 

Books 2 and 3 and Ms. Smith's Space series. Book 2 picks up with Lacey and Drake in Paris. They are together now and Drake follows Lacey to Paris to be with her while she persues her dream of becoming an opera singer. Her gig has landed her here and she is becoming famous in her own right.

 

But Drake who has left his family and their money behind in the states is struggling to not so much with his girlsfriends fame but more I thought with things in general. He left school so he can't really find work and the work he does find is underpaying. Lacey I felt really didn't help in thier situation attempted didn't make Drake feel better kinda like in a way threw her fame and money in his face. Which is why I felt Drake didn't move in with her while they were in Paris. It was this and besides the fact that Drake didn't know exactly what he wanted to do with his life at this point.

 

So they head back to the States, but Lacey will be returning to Paris. Drake landed a job at the mechanic shop Lacey's cousin Derrick works at. While Drake is back in the states he meets up with other asian young folks around his age and they all become fast friends.

 

But the distance between Lacey and Drake is putting somewhat of a strain on their relationship. Lacey is having to deal with the attraction of a fellow castmate (who we find out isn't really interested in Lacey other an a friendship) and she's also having unexplained dizzy spells and things of that nature. My issue with this part of the story was Lacey inability to explain to Drake her friendship with her male castmate. Yes, Drake was a little too much in his jealousy but I totally agreed with him that if Lacey had just mentioned it in the first place then things would not have gotten as bad as they did.

 

I also didn't like how Lacey and her family/friends treated Drakes relationship with Natalia, she is one of the asian friends that Drake met and hangs out with now. Yes, Natalia liked Drake but she wasn't disrepctful of his relationship with Lacey. She never overstepped the bounds that Drake had her in. I just felt they weren't very understanding of Drakes feelings of needing to belong and find out more about his culture. He found this in Natalia and her friends and I think this is why he didn't pay attention to the way Natalia looked at him at times. The man was in all sense and purposes in love with Lacey and her jealousy of his and Natalia relationship also put a strain on theirs.

 

Lacey wanted Drake to understand her thoughts and feelings but I felt this was a one-sided thing when it came to their relationship because she was never understanding of Drakes thoughts and feelings. This I felt made Drake a much more mature character then her. While he developed character wise...to me she didn't.

 

This strain also led to Lacey keeping a secret from Drake and this secret was her getting in contact with her father. This leads to Lacey getting into a terrible accident because people from her fathers past believes that she has the funds to get him out of whatever debt he owed to them (her father at the beginning was using his new found relationship with Lacey to attempt to get her to give him the money).

 

While Lacey is recovering, she and Drake find out what her mysterious illness was and she was pregnant but had lost the baby in the accident. This leads Lacey into a deep depression and Drake who remains strong in front of her and his family breaks down as well. This gets him back into contact with his mother who is there for her son in ways that she should have been in the beginning. But we all grow when we realize that we messed up and Drakes mother grew in leaps and bounds.

 

Lacey and Drake recover from their lost and they both gain relationships back with their parents. Well with Drake it was more of a relationship with his mother. His father is still himself although he now realizes that Drake will be with Lacey whether he accepts it or not.

 

Book 3 mostly takes place in Seoul, Drakes birth home. He has decided to look for his birth mother and is now looking for her. This is a novella and it is the most heartbreaking of the series IMO. This is also the conclusion of his and Lacey's story, it's also told from Lacey's POV.

 

Drake finds out so much about his birth, I didn't think the man was going to last much longer with all the information he found out. Lacey grew in leaps and bounds in H&S. If not for her support of Drake, I believe he would have given up.

 

In the end Drake does find his birth mother and develops a relationship with her. Lacey and Drake come full circle and have the family that they both were seeking.

 

Ms. Smith hit the ball out of the park with follow up and conclusion of Drake and Lacey's story. Both books were well written and the character development as well as the world building was excellent. Job well done Ms. Smith. She covered so much in both stories....hope, lost, friendships, relationship issues accross the board and mainly racial issues. I really like that she covered racism within our own races...how we treat each other in our communities is something rarely touched upon so again, well done.

 

Another highly recommended book or books :) and I do suggest you read this series in order. Lovers of not to angsty NA tales will love this.

 

Source: http://www.salaciousreads.com/2014/07/sunday-book-review-na-dividing-line-and.html