Review: Running Barefoot by Amy Harmon

“Human beings are not designed to be alone. Our creator gave us smooth, sensitive skin that craves the warmth of other skin. Our arms seek to hold. Our hands yearn to touch. We are drawn to companionship and affection out of an innate need.”

I'm on a quest to read all of Amy Harmon books and I only have like 4 books to go. Which makes me both really proud of myself and really sad - because that means from now on I will have to wait for new books to be released. 

I just can't seem to get enough of Amy's writing, of her characters and of the emotions that flow through each and every one of her books. 

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Speaking of amazing characters - I related to Josie on such a deep level that she immediately shot up to number 2 of my "all time favorite female characters list" - number one still being taken by Lark from The Bird and the Sword, yes also by Amy Harmon. 

Josie is a book worm, and not just because she says so (which I find to be the problem with many books that try to portray their characters as bookish, but fail) but because she is truly one. Josie began reading to escape her reality, and she never stopped because books became such a big part of who she was. She didn't just read for pleasure - she read to learn, to discuss, to speculate and to broaden her horizons. I admired that about her the most, as that reminded me once again to read quality books because everything I put into myself reflects on who I am. 

​But I got off track with my bookish views. Josie loves to garden - she loves to feel the soil below her toes and she loves too cook with all of her fresh vegetables - if that's not an image of me, I don't know what is. If Josie Jo was a real person she would have been my best friend. 

“I hated making small talk and avoided people in the grocery store and other places just so that i wouldn't have to think of things to say. I liked people, i cared about them, and i wanted to be a good person, but don't make me chat idly on the telephone or make pleasant conversation just for the sake of being polite." -I've never related more!
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Running Barefoot is a story about young love, but it's also a story of restraint and waiting. Waiting till the time is right, waiting and believing that the person who was meant for you will in the end be indeed yours. 
​The novel starts when Josie is 13 and Samuel is 18 and I absolutely adored the way it was handled. Under the circumstances that could have been the worst, their friendship and love remained the purest.

​Now, sure Samuel is literally an 18 year boy out of the dreamland - besides being a very angry, lost and closed-up teenager, he turned out to be the utmost gentleman.  I loved Samuel's heritage story and how he struggled to fit in, being half Native American and half white. His tribe didn't think him native enough, and his white peers didn't consider him white enough. Samuel was stuck in a limbo of anger and resentment and the way he found his place in the world was truly beautiful. 

And just because I have't met anybody like Samuel in real life, does't mean that boys like him do not exists. For the sake of all the young girls in the world, I hope they do. And I also hope that more girls read this book and realize what they truly deserve and what true love could really be if they are only patient enough. 

“Like a shoe that has lost its mate is never worn again, I had lost my matching part and didn't know how to run barefoot.”

I inhaled this story and I am sure that this is a novel that I will re-read many times in the future. Only thing was that I expected this book to be more emotional to me than it was. Sure I teared up a few times, but having read Amy's other books, I was excepting a full out cry fest. The event that was supposed to leave me in tears didn't because for me there wasn't enough momentum leading up to it.
​But there were many other precious moments, and amazing life lessons that I will cherish forever. 

“You see beauty in things other people just take for granted. You need understanding, and, and…deep conversation, and someone who can keep up with that mind of yours!”