2 out of 4 stars
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I've never been as torn about reviewing a book as I am right now with Marguerite Nardone Gruen's The Band 4: The Air We Breathe. It's a book that hardly has a shred of an antagonistic force in it, and while it's so successful with the love side of things it's just as weak with giving the characters unique personalities. The book is almost entirely free of sex - it's only stated that it happened ("then they made love"), making the book safe for any age, but unfortunately that same level of descriptiveness is the standard for most of the book. It's also just under 300 pages, and while I never felt bored or impatient for the book to end, I very rarely felt too compelled to continue reading either. Despite this, however, even reading the (very aptly chosen) title of the book once I've finished it gives me that "awwww" feeling.
Marguerite (the character, not the author) is on vacation in London shortly after the death of her parents. As she sits in a coffee shop she feels the distress a man at another table is feeling, and so she orders an identical coffee to what he's drinking (but decaf!) and puts it in front of him, taking his caffeinated drink away from him. He's worried she's a fan of his at first, but loosens up when she simply goes back to her table and leaves him alone. Chase, the man at the other table, is actually a member of an insanely popular band - the Band 4 (essentially along the lines of 1D but even bigger). He's wanting out of the band, though, just depressed and generally out of it. Her mere presence and their inability to let each other go so shortly after meeting saves them both from all the woes they've ever felt, however, and their love would make Prince Charming and Cinderella feel like a casual fling by comparison.
One of the things that makes this story so unique is that all of this happens in the first chapter (out of 75!) and she even has a key to his place by then. By the time the 3rd chapter ends they're engaged, and by the end of the 8th they're married. Their relationship is magical, the closest they have to an issue when they get together is Peter - the Band 4's manager - being a bit suspicious of her since he's such a famous man. He quickly sees he has no reason to worry, though, and the almost-instant change in Chase is living proof that what they share is real. The day after they meet, for example, the bandmates assumed he'd be telling them he quits, but instead he walks in with a huge smile on his face and coffees for everyone. She even gets along with the band members and their girlfriends immediately, the lot of them acting like a big, close family.
The rest of the story explores their life together. Chase goes on tour shortly after their wedding, and repeatedly throughout the book, either using a webcam or visiting to keep in touch. Their almost supernatural ability to feel one another is so strong they'll even awaken from sleep if the other feels distressed. There are lots of ups and a few downs, but mostly the book simply tells what happens with them.
The issues I have with the book, however, are all related to just how the story is told. The characters are very weak personality-wise - often the whole group of characters laughs at the same time, says the same thing and does the same thing (something like "they all said they wanted more" or "they all sat down and talked", etc). While I feel Marguerite and Chase have some personality, no one else does; all of the other 15+ characters are interchangeable and I would never notice the difference between them. They can be funny, they can be sweet, they can be relatable but almost never in their own, unique way. Almost everyone either laughs or cries nonstop throughout the book, and while there are certainly touching and funny moments, it has the "canned laughter in a sitcom" effect - because everyone laughs or cries so much it detracts from the genuine moments a bit. The fact that there's no villain, no challenge, no antagonist of any sort means that there are only a couple moments that there's the least bit of tension at all and there's no plot pushing the story forward aside from the love the two have for one another and their growing family (both blood-related and close friends/bandmates/their women/etc). The writing is smooth but typically lacks descriptiveness, there's even a point where the book says something along the lines of "he told a joke and everyone laughed".
The biggest, most unavoidable negative, however, was Marguerite herself. She can be sweet and funny and she's a wonderful person, but she's also dreadfully sensitive and offensively dramatic. More than once she falls asleep or passes out when nothing is actually wrong, leaving at least one loved one to worry until she comes around and explains that. She can be very strong and wise, don't get me wrong - emotional sensitivity can be a very good thing, but it's a bit overdone here to my taste. Also, while it isn't unheard of for there to be only one or two main characters in a book, it seems like the other characters have no life outside of Marguerite and Chase - they're almost always around like a good family is, but they never really have their own agendas or their own stories about their day.
In the end, I really just wish there would've been something working consistently against the main characters. The author succeeds in her goal - to make a story that really highlights the love that Marguerite and Chase share - but it didn't feel like much of a payoff as there wasn't anything that made being together and staying together a real challenge. The book is also very well edited - I only noticed 3 minor errors across almost 300 pages! I feel like people who would be interested in a band romance novel of this sort will almost definitely enjoy their time with it, and while I did at times, it was just too lacking in plot and personality for me to make it a genuine suggestion, and I have to rate it 2 out of 4 stars. I believe Marguerite (the author) has some great potential, but this one just wasn't for me.
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The Band 4 The Air We Breathe
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I really liked the cover art of this book and I typically enjoy this genre but after reading the sample I have to say I was disappointed.
Nonetheless, I don't think this book is for me.
