Review: Kyland by Mia Sheridan

Title: Kyland
Author: Mia Sheridan
Series: Sign Of Love

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepo

Dirt poor. Hillbilly. Backwoods hick. Mountain folk.

Tenleigh Falyn struggles each day to survive in a small, poverty-stricken, coal mining town where she lives with her sister and mentally ill mother. Her dream of winning the college scholarship given to one student by the local coal company and escaping the harshness of her life, keeps her going.
Kyland Barrett lives in the hills, too, and has worked tirelessly--through near starvation, through deep loneliness, against all odds--to win the Tyton Coal Scholarship and leave the town that is full of so much pain.
They're both determined not to form any attachments, but one moment changes everything. What happens when only one person gets to win? When only one person gets to leave? And what happens to the one left behind?
Kyland is a story of desperation and hope, loss and sacrifice, pain and forgiveness, but ultimately, a story of deep and unending love.

“I do go to hell. Every day. For you.”

This is the very first book I read by Mia Sheridan and the very first book that shattered me this year. Kyland will always stay with me!

Born and raised in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, Tenleigh and Kyland are just two young people who live in a very poor community, where nothing is taken for granted. Devastated by their conditions, they both seek a way out, each for their own reasons. Their only hope: a college scholarship.

Tenleigh is a young girl who promises much. With the help of her older sister, she’s trying to take care of her sick mother ever since their father abandoned them. Tenleigh dreams of becoming a teacher, helping children like her, inspiring them and convey her love for books to them. She dreams of seeing the ocean, owing more than a pair of shoes, a bed and ultimately provide for her sister and her mother.

On the other hand, there’s Kyland. Kyland has lost everyone in his life. His brother and father died , his mother abandoned him and has never looked back. Kyland knows that as soon as he wins the scholarship, he’ll escape from this place that gave him nothing but misery. As soon as he wins, he will become an engineer, do something great in his life but mostly, he will never have to go hungry to bed again.

Little do they know that life doesn’t always come out the way we want to.

Their fates cross and Tenleigh and Kyland steal each other’s heart. They both know that their love is doomed from the beginning but they can’t help themselves and fall irrevocably in love. In the end they both know that they will have to choose.

The book had me in tears from page one! That’s right. I was crying throughout the book. It’s not often that we see someone, especially in their circumstances, selflessly sacrificing the only chance they have so that they give that chance to their other half. Actually, I think that nowadays no body sacrifices anything for anyone, which is sad but nonetheless true.

The author does an excellent job describing both Tenleigh and her family, Kyland, their community, the society in which they try to survive, the bond between the two main characters. Nothing’s missing really. Tenleigh and Kyland are already mature enough but their relationship isn’t rushed. Instead their relationship progresses slowly but steadily. I can’t imagine how strong someone must be to survive through such circumstances.

You can’t not fall in love with this book and its characters. An emotional book about a selfless love, a true love. It will break your heart, make you cry, make you wish you had stayed away but in the end, you will know it was worth it.

Highly recommended!