Second chances. Also the second book with Kennedy Reed and Quinn
Hughes.
Quinn Hughes is a professional swimmer. Almost since
childhood, her life has always revolved only around swimming and a pursuit of
one (or more) Olympic Gold. Yet, in high school, she had managed to find an
utterly gorgeous girlfriend in her erstwhile best friend, Kennedy Reed.
The first book, All
the Worlds Between Us, itself was a kind of second chances for this pair
when they had got together in high school. In the first book, as one of the
popular girls in school, Kennedy wasn’t out but her love and passion for Quinn
was undeniable. That however didn’t end well when Quinn refused to give Kennedy
any leeway or a second chance. Quinn rejecting Kennedy with a vague pact of “after
five years” at the end of the first book was devastating.
All the Paths to You is
five years thence.
Quinn is leading swimmer with multiple awards. She is
readying herself for the Tokyo Olympics. At twenty-three her shelf-life in
competitive swimming is reaching its end date and despite all her trophies, the
Olympic Gold in solo events is still eluding her. As Quinn reaches the last
stretch of her training regime for Tokyo, she hears from Kennedy who is in town
(San Francisco) for her brother’s wedding. Kennedy is pursuing her degree in
journalism in New York so being in the West Coast is unexpected. They agree to
meet and spend time together. Quinn takes this as “paths crossing after five
years” and while she is determined to not get diverted from her Olympic
pursuit, she also wants to see what can happen between her and a
more-than-willing-and-interested Kennedy.
While the lead couple is the same in both the books and their
past is referred to often enough in this book, it can be read standalone.
The book is narrated in first person from Quinn’s PoV. She
wasn’t particularly likeable in the first book and doesn’t get much better in
this one. On the other hand, Kennedy is perfect – the perfect friend, the
perfect girlfriend, the perfect human. We’re not sure why such perfection
should be coupled with a borderline jerk, but well, the author is the God of
the world they create. To be fair, while in the first half of the book, Quinn
was a jerk, she did manage to redeem herself (only somewhat) in the second
half.
One interesting thing that Miller brings up is the adrenaline
crash after achieving what one sets out to get. While Quinn was chasing the
Gold, she had reason and fervour. However, in the aftermath of achieving her
dream, she is adrift. This is a little recognised and seldom acknowledged
truth. Which is why many people suffer from a fear or success. Quinn’s internal
struggles and external manifestation were very well-handled. We are
particularly grateful that she didn’t turn obnoxious, cruel and hurtful towards
Kennedy in this period.
Quinn relationship with Kennedy is also rather revealing. It
showcases how a person (Quinn in this case) can be totally into another person
and yet be completely self-involved, absolutely selfish with and unforgivably neglectful
of the person they claim to love. It is there in all the ways Kennedy has been
there for and with Quinn since they were seven and in how little Quinn
understands Kennedy’s struggles with her frequent moves in her growing up
years, in the fact Quinn never reaches out to Kennedy (it is always the other way round), in how
Quinn feels it is okay for her to have slept with a competitor during the Tokyo
Olympics because Kennedy didn’t text her for a couple of days and have the audacity to take the moral
high ground about it. On the other hand, Quinn is expansive in lavishing her
love via material gifts which seems to be her way of loving. Theirs is an
uneven relationship when it comes to emotional maturity and the willingness to
go out on a limb. But Kennedy (sadly) seems to have signed up for it willingly.
While the story is a lot about
life-beyond-achieving-ambition and Quinn getting ahold of herself again, the relationship
trajectory is equally important.
Miller is an excellent writer who writes immersive books
that evoke strong feelings. And we’re happy to say that this is the first book
by this author that didn’t rip us apart, so we’d recommend it.
⭐⭐⭐☆
