Book Review: Dear Me by Anthony Maria

Ah love. It’s an emotion that can make you feel like you’re that delicious maraschino cherry on the top of a mountain high ice cream sundae. On the other hand, love can be so heart-breaking that it is like a disease that slowly eats away at you, with an insatiable smile, until there is nothing left, but an empty soul.

In the novel, Dear Me, written by local author, Anthony Maria, he speaks of a love that you would think only exists in the romantic’s handbook, but in fact, we've all felt it. Mason Gallo has fallen deeply in love with a mysterious woman named Keats Cameron, while on a trip to Niagara Falls, but is devastated when she disappears from his life, only sending cryptic letters, and making brief phone calls to him, which makes him feel like he is on the brink of insanity.

Copyright: Anthony Maria

Returning back to Windsor, where he left the old days behind, Mason hopes to find answers. The recollection of how they first met and all the feelings that flood Mason every day because of Keats sudden disappearance are told to us. She’s his addiction, plain and simple. He is on a quest to find his beloved Keats, at any cost, at any length, even if that means he will search for her forever. 

Meeting many colourful characters along the way, he is faced with agonizing realization that not only the love of his life is slipping away, but there are far more skeletons in his closet that he could have ever dreamed of.

👉My thoughts:

A little on the twisted side, yet brilliant authors like Brett Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk, better take some notes because Anthony’s stylistic writing takes it to a whole new level.

The book is well-written, with subtle poetic sentiments that fill our hearts with hope, yet also laced with intense rawness and explicit language and subject matter, but will still send shivers down your spine.

I also love the fact that Windsor is the main focal point, where Caesars (in this book, known as Casino Windsor) is a prime location, along with Riverside Drive, Victoria Avenue, Hiram Walker, etc. There are also some highlights from our neighbouring city, Detroit Michigan, that are mentioned here, like  the Renaissance Centre and Joe Louis Arena.

I won’t mince words here. You’re in for a psychological mind-fu*k that keeps your heart pounding through every page. In the end, when you think that you are losing something so dear to you that you can’t seem to go on, remember that the truth is out there, you just have to be prepared to find it.

💜Anthony’s book is available online: Dear Me

💜You can also purchase his book by contacting him through IG page

 or by email: anthony.henry.joseph.maria@gmail.com