Wow, wow, wow. What a unique and different story. It’s been some time since I’ve read a Pepper book. I have a few sitting on my kindle that I need to get to and the one thing I forgot about her is, she can write one heck of a story! I was drawn in from the first chapter, it was hard to put down so I could go to bed. I loved how we get the past from Ren’s POV and the present from Della’s. Their story spans 17 years and we get stories of survival, family, friendship and love. Navigating through all of that at such a young age had some ups and downs, but those two did it together. Ren made this whole book for me. Della had a few moments where I wanted to shake her but she’s young and trying to sort herself out. The book ended at a good spot. I can not wait for the conclusion of their story. I’m sure it’s going to be a great one.

REN:Ren was eight when he learned that love doesn’t exist that the one person who was supposed to adore him only cared how much he was worth. But then…he ran.He thought he’d run on his own. Turned out, he took something of theirs by accident and it became the one thing he never wanted and the only thing he ever needed.
When I started reading I couldn't put it down I read the book in one day.Pepper is magnifysent writer.I cannot wait to read more of her books.Keep up the great work.You should definitely read this book.I read all of her books.

Holy Cow!! What an amazing book!! Heartbreakingly beautiful. Taboo....but not. Della and Ren will tear out your soul and leave you wanting more. I can not wait for the conclusion. June 5 is definitely circled on my calendar.

Ren was eight when he was sold into slavery. He escaped two years later with a stow away. Unbeknownst to him, he stole something from them – something he did not want, until he did.

From the very first sentence, I became invested and intrigued.

After the first chapter, I needed to take a breath. I was at the edge of my seat, biting my nails hoping Ren makes his escape without harm.

The rest as they say is history – their history. It is messy, beautiful, awkward and full of love.

Ren and Della’s chronicles gave me goosebumps and had the fine hairs on my arms standing on end. The characters are vibrant and burrow right into your heart and soul.

This is a coming-of-age story of survival. Of Life. Of Love. There are no words to adequately describe this book. Pepper pens a compelling and touching story unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s original, enthralling, captivating and one of a kind. The story comes to life right off the pages, it is so real. It is heart breaking, heart wrenching and so full of heart. It is not a roller-coaster of emotion, it IS emotion. You live it, breathe it, feel it. It had my rapt attention until the very last word. This is Pepper Winters at her absolute finest!

After the last word, I feel heartbroken and devastated. Not to mention emotionally wrung out. I’ve felt every gamut of emotion I possibly could from this book.

Although this ends with a cliff-hanger, I, for one, am ecstatic because there is so much more to their story. So much more I want to know. To feel. To love. If I must rate this book with a star rating it would be 5 Stars but, it is so much more than that. It is a universe filled with stars for all the hopes, dreams, love, friendship and heartache we experience. This book is not to be missed.

I was so pleasantly surprised by the boy and his ribbon,in a time where a lot a books are more of the same,this one was a breath of fresh air.
Pepper Winters allow us to experience the full spectrum of human emotion,cruelty,darkness,despair,hope,love,kindness.
This book tugs at my heartstrings,it describes the purest,sefless kind of love,the connection the bond between Della and Ren was simply beautiful, emotional.unconditional.I love their codependency,this bubble they create for themselves that no one could breach..Their love for one another was fierce,stong,possessive and so kind.

This author brillantly succeed to create complex,profond,layered charaters, Ren is by far my favorite fictional male of 2018, he melted my heart,the way he loved Della beyond any mesure made me quite emotional,what a man.
To everyone looking for an intense,real,raw,beautiful story with a love beyond convention this book is for you.
I can't wait for book 2

This author excels at dark, emotional and downright gripping stories. Her characters talk to the reader, they feel so very real that at times it’s just plain scary how vivid they are. I felt so much for Ren as he transitioned from boy to man far beyond his time but could not fault his loyalty, integrity and drive to protect the girl who is his.
We never really know how or why Della came to accompany Ren when he made his escape but right from the start she’s a child that seems older than her years. They are their own tight unit, a family unlike any other and yet the reader is privy to their thoughts, feelings, hopes and fears. So much love and yet always living a lie because if the truth came out they would lose that which matters most, each other.
The author cunningly gives us the story as it happens from Rens point of view whilst occasionally interspersing it with the real time thoughts of Della. Time is both cruel and kind to this couple and it was so painful to realise how many years Ren has just existed without truly acknowledging his own feelings. Della is a more primordial creature, the irony is she felt more wild than Ren and controlled so much of their lives. This is an absolutely riveting read but alas as it ends I realise there is more to come and I for one cannot imagine how the author could possibly top this.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

This book. This god damned book. It gave me anxiety coupled with stress sweats. It is emotional. It is tragic. It is beautiful. It’s filled with relationships that are so unconditional and bonds that are so strong. The story of The Boy and His Ribbon is NOT a simple one. It’s not easy, and it will have even the most open-minded moral compass quivering at times, but Pepper Winters does a flawless job with this story. The book is told in two POV’s, and over the course of nearly eighteen years. I wouldn’t say that this is a “romance” in the traditional sense, but this is a love story mixed with a TRULY UNIQUE coming of age story that leads to the complicated taboo, in conventional theory, romance.

This is my first Pepper Winters read, but I’m going to assume that anyone reading her work isn’t looking for safe and cushy. This book is anything but. It’s heartbreaking, breath-taking, unbelievable while still making you think “is this at all possible?”

Is it June 5th yet? I need the conclusion to this story NOW.

I’ll just be off devouring the rest of this talented authors catalogue!

Holy. Hell.

As I sit here typing this, it is mid-March, and so far 2018 has not been a very good reading year for me. I have DNF'd at least a dozen books and among those I did finish and enjoy, I have not felt compelled to write a single review for any of them. Until now. The Boy and His Ribbon has finally broken my dry spell and left me with a massive hangover that I know is going to last me for days!

The blurb for this story drew me in as soon as I read it, and I assumed this was going to be an unrequited love story. However, once I started reading, I must admit that I almost put this one down. The first third or so of the book requires a certain level of suspended belief that as a critical reader, I usually can't muster up. A realistic storyline is a requirement for me and there was a whole lot about the initial premise that just screamed "impossible!" BUT....there was something about the writing that sucked me in, and even through my doubts, I found myself turning page after page. I am so glad I didn't quit because this book was quite simply AMAZING!

Ren's tragic story starts when he is only 8 years old and his mother, too poor to keep him, sells him to a farmer named Willem Mclary, who buys unwanted children to use as indentured laborers on his farm. He is abusive and treats the kids terribly - starving them, beating them, and molesting the young girls. One day when he is 10 years old, Ren escapes with only a backpack filled with meager supplies. He runs as far as his legs will carry him before stopping to hide. Once he knows that he is no longer being chased, he opens his backpack to assess what he was able to take and realizes that unbeknownst to him, the Mclary's baby daughter, Della, somehow crawled into the bag. Knowing he can't go back to return her, he initially decides to find a family to leave her with, but soon realizes that the people he picked have no intention of keeping her. Fearing she might end up in the hands of a monster like Mclary, he goes back for her and decides he has no choice but to take her with him.

This is where the believe-ability of the story was a bit iffy for me, but I won't go into detail because I don't want to give too much of their ordeal away. This book is a page turner, and even if you find yourself questioning the probability of their survival like I did, you will still find yourself unable to stop reading. The five years Ren and Della spend living as transients forges a bond between them that is unbreakable. They depend on each other for everything and only have one another for companionship. Their plan is to keep moving around indefinitely, until one day they get caught sleeping in a barn and are offered the opportunity to live there. 15 year old Ren, who is distrusting of people and genuinely likes living without the rules of society, does not want to stay but knows that 5 year old Della needs schooling and the basic necessities that he cannot provide for her, so he agrees to work for the farmer in exchange for Della's care, and they spend the next eight years living with the family, who believes they are brother and sister, and welcomes them into their home. The daughter, Cassie, is the same age as Ren and the son, Liam, is only a year older than Della, so at first they seem to be a good match as friends for Ren and Della, but as they all get older and start changing from children into adults, jealousies and complicated feelings start to arise that expose that fact that Della and Ren are not siblings, and they once again find themselves on the move.

The coming-of-age part of this story is riveting. The author does a really great job of articulating the struggle that both Ren and Della face as their sexuality's awaken. Ren, needing an outlet for his frustrations, turns to Cassie and for several years they carry on as secret lovers until Della is old enough to realize what is happening and struggling with her own new urges starts to see Ren as more than a brother/father figure. The internal struggles that both Ren and Della deal with as their feelings for each other change was very well articulated, and although those feelings could be construed as cringe-worthy, we as the reader are able to understand them and sympathize with the characters.

Everything about this story was breathtaking, heart-breaking, and tragic. It made me feel deeply, and as quickly as I turned the pages, I also did not want the story to come to an end because it was that good.

Now, anyone who follows my reviews knows that I almost exclusively read stand-alone stories. I am not a fan AT ALL of cliffhanger endings, however there have been a few exceptions in the past that turned out to be phenomenal reads for me. I am hoping and praying that this duet is among those rare exceptions because right now I am counting down the days until I can read the rest of this story!

5++ stars for The Boy and His Ribbon!

The Boy and His Ribbon such an AMAZING read, but even the word amazing isn't enough to describe how fantastic this story was. I was captivated with this story from the very beginning and honestly stayed that way until the very last page. I was no where near ready for the emotional journey that this book would take me on. This story is truly unlike any story I have every read before. It's truly hard to write a review for a book when you don't have the exact words to describe how remarkable a story is. I've read previous books from this author and I thought that there was no way that she could top those books but man was I wrong. One hundred percent wrong! As I read this story, the scenes played out in my mind as if I was a part of the journey these characters went on and everything they went through. I absolutely loved and adored Ren, and there is no way to not love Della just as much. I was so happy when Ren and Della finally got a break with the Wilson family but nothing great has ever lasted for them. There were definitely laugh out loud moments within this story; especially the part with Liam and Della and the "worm". This is one story that will make you laugh, make your heart race, and have you desperately wishing for the one thing that is forbidden. I absolutely loved this story! If I had to recommend one book from this author to start with, this book would be it. I CANNOT wait to read the final book in this series. This one has definitely taken the number one spot for the MUST BE READ book of 2018 and I'm more than excited to see what happens next.