Housing Elephants Review

Housing Elephants by Eleanor Lloyd-Jones



“… And the greatest of these is love.”

Love is patient and kind… Its strength can build bridges and knock down walls. It can give people hope - a purpose. But there is a side to love that is unforgiving and cruel - a side to love that breaks hearts.

Love can suffocate, and love can turn to hate.

Billy Taylor meandered through life, only ever giving half. Ruled by his father’s grief, he gave up on his own dreams in a bid to keep life ticking along, desperately craving the unconditional love of his parents. It wasn’t until Eve Swallow fell into his life again, rousing his empty heart, that he dared to hope for a chance to live life on his terms.

Never quite good enough in the eyes of her overpowering mother, Eve kept herself locked away inside her own head, immersing herself in her passion for art and music, and doing anything in her power to avoid getting close to anyone. When she connected with Billy’s eyes, that still haunted her dreams after so long, fear kicked in, and all she could do was the one thing she was sure would protect her…

Run.

If two lost souls were to collide and a love so deep was born, it would surely take a herd of elephants to tear them apart…

*Warning: Contains scenes that some readers may find upsetting*

Claire's Review 5 of 5 Stars

When I started this book, I had no idea what I would be stepping into, and had never encounted this author before, but let me just say that I wont hestitate to read further work by Eleanor Lloyd-Jones!

Its very rare that a book coomes along, that brings me to sobbing tears, and this book did just that, and I mean proper shoulder shaking tears! This is a beautiful story of Eve, her life and her relationship with Billy. These two are made for each other from the very beginning, and its so heart warming how patient Billy is with Eve, and how much you can tell he genuinely cares for her. Eve is a fantastic character, who I think everyone can relate to in some form or another, and I definately could understand the reasons Eve acted the way she did.

At points throughout this book, I just wished I could reach inside the pages and give the characters a hug and tell them everything would be okay in the end! Of course life never goes as planned and there isnt always a happy ever after, and I think a happy ever after ending would have spoilt this story. Its raw and hard hitting reality.

I cannot wait until the next installment to this story, and I wont hestitate to dive straight in to see how things will end up.

An amazing debut and I cannot recommend this enough! My word isnt enough, it needs to be read!