The Boy and His Ribbon (Ribbon Duet Book 1)

This book gripped me from beginning to end. There is a book 2 and I was chomping at the bit to read it. This was one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read. Oh how I wish I could have met this "Boy" in my life... sighs I can guarantee it's a very good read.

What a taboo and freakishly twisted story. The bond between Ren and Della makes no sense. All I can say is poor Ren. He gave up everything for Della. She turned into poison, bitter and hurtful and so spiteful.

The author deserves a five star. Warm, loving, cherished child. Taken good care of from a very abused and orphaned young ten year old boy that had been sold to monster's. Their escape and adventures keep you revited to what happens next.

Bought the book purely because I knew Pepper Winters would write a good book and I probably wouldn’t be disappointed. But this was an absolute joy, so unlike anything ever written. Magical. She took two characters and brought them so alive that I dreaded the end of the book so fiercely. You will fall in love with this book, guaranteed. No point talking about the plot because discovering it for yourself will be the biggest gift to yourself. Book of the year already.

Pepper Winters’s stories are like poetry. She knows how to weave words in such an amazing way that I swear she could talk about grass growing and it would be interesting.

This book is unique from her others. It is not a dark romance. It is a unique coming of age story that will suck you in for a glorious ride. Your heart will break along with the main characters. You will feel anguish and confusion. You will cheer for them. You will want to scream at times, but it is well worth the journey.

No spoilers. Hmm, okay, one spoiler. This duet is one of two. June 5th really can't come quickly enough. Yes, jump on in. And enjoy. Heartbreakingly beautiful. Ms. Winters doesn't know how to tell a bad story.

Wow!!! This book blew me away!!! So tragic and beautiful. So heartbreaking and bittersweet. An incredible story of forbidden love!!! Highly recommend this book!! Cannot wait to read the conclusion!!!!

This amazing story has truly captured my heart!
A tale of love and survival as only Pepper Winters can tell!
From page 1 this book takes you on the miraculous journey that will leave you
begging for more. Looking forward to book 2!

4.5 “Little Ribbon” Kisses

Wow. Wowowowowowowowow. Just wow. I mean…I do have other things to say but like seriously…WOW! Honestly had a really good feeling about The Boy and His Ribbon - I mean, for one it’s Pepper Winters and seriously – she has never failed me…but on top of that, I had heard such amazing things, so I knew I had to experience TBaHR for myself. I didn’t really have any expectations and I think that was the best thing for this book because there is no way to prepare for it…it’s like nothing I’ve ever read or experienced before and I loved that so much. You don’t just get attached to these characters, they grow roots! They’re in my heart, my brain, my soul – it’s an all encompassing experience and journey with Ren and Della and I dove head first and never looked back. It has all the elements that I would expect from a Pepper Winters book and yet it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read from her…I loved that it was so unique but it still had her signature gorgeous writing. Gah…see, told you had other things to say…

Ren Wild…oh boy – well, I maybe shouldn’t say that because Ren actually hates the word boy. There are many things that come to mind when I think of Ren…there is no easy way to describe him. I was instantly pulled to him…he’s magnetic like that. He doesn’t have any particular charm or charisma – I mean the guy hates people so it’s not like he’s winning any popularity contests, but there is so much more to who he is. The main thing that comes to mind is his strength…he was strong in every sense of the word. Physical, mental, emotional…the dude is a freaking rock. Granted, the s$!% life threw at him, he was forced to be strong, the choices were limited – adapt or face the consequences and Ren could adapt better than anyone. I loved his strength…it’s what held him together and given everything he had been through, there are very few people I think that could withstand half of Ren’s struggles. The strongest part of Ren was his heart…he loves two things – the wilderness and his Ribbon…

‘I ducked on my haunches and waited for her to scramble into my arms.
And when she did, I knew I would never let her down again. I would die for her. I would live for her. I would kill for her.
In my ten measly years on this unforgiving, cruel, terrible earth, right there I found home, and no matter where we ended up, I’d always be home because I would never let her go again.’

Della Mclary…Della Wild…Della Ribbon – call her whatever you wanna call her, this girl stole the show and I can’t even be mad at her for it. It was really easy to see how quickly Ren lost his heart to Della because she is so easy to love. I can’t say it’s one thing in particular…but just the combination of everything that is Della…that makes her unique and undeniably sucks you into her orbit. Similar to Ren, she’s very magnetic. I loved her personality…she’s sweet and genuine, so incredibly smart it blew my mind and beyond loyal. I think the thing I loved most about Della is the fact that there are very few characters that I can think of where I’ve been able to fully see them grow and develop as much as I have with Della. I don’t mean that I saw every moment of her entire life, but I got to see the major pieces that shaped her into the person that she is from the very beginning…and that was honestly pretty awesome. She’s a fascinating character, truly one of a kind and I think I fell in love with her because of that process but getting some of the story from her POV from the present fully cemented that love.

‘I might have been raised differently from so many kids. I might have missed out on things and probably lived through events that others would baulk at, but I was luckier than anyone because I had Ren.
I was never lacking for love.
I never felt unwanted or hurt or scared.
He was my entire universe, and he treated me like I was his in return.’

Della and Ren…the bond they share is absolutely one of the strongest I’ve ever read or experienced. They are the only constant thing they have in their lives…Della knows no other life other than one with Ren and through her, Ren learned so much. They’ve both made unending sacrifices for each other…because of their love, because they care for each other so much. It’s so hard because I don’t want to spoil any details about their relationship but there is no real way to completely describe it and do it justice. You have to experience it for yourself because it’s something that took 17 years to establish, cultivate, bloom and thrive and part of the joy of this book is living that with them. Nothing about what they had to go through was easy…they faced so many battles, could have given up a million times, had so many difficult decisions and yet all of it was made easier because they had each other…and in the end, that’s all they needed.

‘How many times do you think a person can survive a broken heart?
Any ideas?
I would like to know because Ren has successfully broken mine, repaired it, shattered mine, fixed it, crushed mine, and somehow glued it back together again and again.
Then again, I don’t need an answer to that question.
I’m living proof that a heart can be broken a thousand times and still function, still keep you alive — desperately hoping that it won’t happen again, all the while knowing it will.’

Pepper Winters…good gravy, this woman never ceases to astound me. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book by Pepper and the second I started reading The Boy and His Ribbon all of the reasons why I love her books came flooding back to me. I loved just about every decision she made with this book…the level of detail was out of this world, brilliantly executed, I’m just in awe of all that was put into TBaHR. Pepper has such a grace and an elegance with the way she weaves her stories…it doesn’t matter what she is writing about, the words she uses and the way she composes everything is just captivating and beautiful and pulls you in almost effortlessly. I love the way she describes things…even the most mundane things, she can put a unique description on it, something I’ve never even experienced before, that just makes it sound so much better and more interesting. Her characters slay me…so complex…so deep and she builds them layer by layer until you’re completely surrounded by all of their magnificence and you never want to escape this world that you now live in, with them. And the emotions…it doesn’t matter if she is sending me to the pinnacle of happiness and bliss or gutting me with angst or torturing me with some on-the-edge-of-my-seat suspense…every moment is captured with such clarity, it’s the literal best thing ever. Everything she writes is interlaced with emotion, there is no way to extract the two and being the emotional reader that I am, I love experiencing that with her books. Reading a Pepper Winters book is an all encompassing, breathtaking experience and I forgot how much I crave it.

‘I looked at her, wanting to burn her with the truth. “I’ve never had anyone. I had no love until you taught me what it was, and even as I slowly learned the opposite of hate, I’ve known all along that love would end up hurting me the most.” I laughed sadly. “I was right.”’

So…The Boy and His Ribbon is the first book in The Ribbon Duet. I knew going in that that probably meant a cliffhanger ending. I am the rare breed of reader that loooooves cliffhangers – I know that sounds weird and I feel like I have to disclaimer it by saying I love good cliffhangers – they need to be well timed, not just thrown in for the sake of drawing out or extending the drama. A good cliffhanger can serve great purpose and The Boy and His Ribbon might be going down as one of my favorite cliffy’s that I’ve ever read – definitely in the top five. It was extremely well orchestrated with the line of the story and it serves a clear purpose. I both hate and love what it’s doing to the characters, the angst that it’s putting me through (yes…I’m an angst lover too – Bring on the pain!) and it definitely achieved the goal – I am D-Y-I-N-G for The Girl and Her Ren. I need to know the rest of their story, I’m beyond invested and I’m so flippin’ excited to see what Pepper has in store for the rest of this story. #ILoveAWildBoy

What a beautiful story. Such beautiful characters. Ren and Della will forever hold a piece of my heart.
It is a simple love story yet it is the more complicated I have ever read.
Thanks you Pepper for writing it. You are truly my inspiration

Ren and Della start off with a father/daughter type relationship even though they’re only 9 years apart. She’s so young when they are first together that he literally has to do everything for her. That grows to more of a brother/sister type relationship when she becomes more self-sufficient. They both go through all the stages of growing up and from that comes complications neither one of them wanted or saw coming as young innocents.

I can’t explain my complete love for this book but I’m going to try. The author brought to light a type of relationship I’ve never really thought about before. When one person is literally you’re everything how do you differentiate love from being in love? How do you teach someone the different types of love when you don’t even know yourself because you’ve never had either? Ren is so sure his love is purely brotherly and I do believe it started that way. He raised her and there was never any indication that love was inappropriate when they were younger. They fought and loved like brother/sister or father/daughters do. My point is that he’s so sure it’s still brotherly love when they get older but I believe with his dreams his subconscious is trying to tell him differently he just doesn’t understand because he’s never had that type of love.

Is it possible for them to have a real romantic relationship when they started off the way they did? I’m personally hoping for yes and some people may think that’s sick or taboo. It didn’t happen overnight. As they got older and changed and their hormones came into play she started to feel more than brotherly love towards him. He is literally the only thing she’s loved for so long and that’s why he wants her to go to school and find other things in life. He thinks she deserves more from life then just him. Of course he doesn’t believe he deserves the same because of his past. I loved their protectiveness of one another. They love each other deeply and are both so afraid of life without the other one. Both of them are just easy to love and I was rooting the whole time for them as a couple in the end yes but as individuals as well. They deserve happiness even if it’s living in the forest away from civilization. They’re not going to make it easy. They’ve already put each other (and us haha) through such heartbreak without even meaning too. Hurt causes her to act defiantly and confusion causes him to be cold and it just boils over from all these little incidents that add up.

He goes through so much as a young boy and then there’s this little girl that he was in no position to take on and definitely didn’t want to but he does anyways and it becomes the greatest gift. I read the first half of the book with butterflies in my stomach. I could feel the heartbreak coming and there was a lot of angst when they’re growing up. Especially when he starts to become a teenager with all the normal teenage boy issues while she’s still just an innocent little girl who wants to keep him to herself. I could have gone without Cassie (haha) but I get it. She was actually a critical part of the story because she brings out unknown emotions in both Ren and Della that they need to go through for the story to feel complete. Even though what happens happens, I love how loyal Ren remains. I was worried it would totally change him and his relationship with Della. It has effects but nothing catastrophic. It wasn’t heart for him, just hormones.

Anyway I cannot wait for book two and I’m sad that June is so far away! I guess I’ll get to read this book again before the second one releases so I can have a refresher ;) I’m not at all surprised by how it ended because it kind of foreshadowed it. For those who don’t like them, it does end on a cliffhanger! I normally don’t like them either but I loved this book so much I can’t say anything negative just because of that. It’s part of the risk we take as readers when we get invested in a book. It’ll be so worth it though when book two comes out. I have faith this author will give us the ending these characters deserve!

Infinite stars for this love story, unique, emotional, tragic, tender, amazing, heartbreakingly beautiful. I sincerely missed the epic stories of Mrs. Winters, but it surpassed everything I expected and more.
Literally left me speechless. I've been trying to find the words to write this review because I do not have the words to do it justice. Ren and Della will stay in my heart forever.
This is a complete and unconditional love story, but nevertheless it is not a traditional romance, a hard, tender, but not simple, unique story.
Ren is a sweet boy with a completely innocent soul, but distrustful, hermit and with an external armor, due to all the violent and hard situations that happened as a child next to the people who should have given him protection and love, and instead of that only got violence and punishment from them. It was so hard to read certain scenes that Rem had to go through, it broke my heart a million times for him, I wanted to get into the book, hug him and never let go. Della is a beautiful sweet and tender girl. I loved the way Rem protects Della, always sweet, protective, responsible, goes beyond his possibilities and his own well-being to provide everything she needs and wants. I loved him completely.
Ren and Della are in a complicated relationship, they love each other completely and unconditionally, but as they grow up the feelings they have get tangled and mixed and both characters begin to feel confused and what seemed innocent begins to feel forbidden. As the story unfolds and the characters spend more time together, they both question what they feel, and ethics and morals are involved behind all the love that starts to feel forbidden, and what seemed so logical all of a sudden already it is not, it confused me so much that at certain moments I questioned my own moral and ethics. The feelings are palpable through the pages, it mix, and fly off the pages so perfectly that at certain moments it was impossible for me to breathe.
The author does her magic and weaves her threads and as always brings us a completely perfect story, with complex characters, turns that can not be seen, and gives us a completely unique masterpiece. Provocative, amazing, epic, very different from what we are accustomed, but equal or better than her previous stories, is so beautiful, so evocative that I fell completely in love with the story and the characters.
If you like dramas, what are you waiting for, this story is perfect for you.

Hands down... this is the best series I have ever read. This story will stay with me for many years to come and definitely one to re-read. I was so drawn into the story that I didn't want it to end.

This book diet totally blew me away !! It has everything to keep you reading it has love , suspense , fear, loneliness, family and there sorry just came to life in the words Pepper Winter wrote . Pepper you out some yourself in the Ribbon Diet Books

Finished “The Boy and His Ribbon” and also “A Girl and Her Ren” last night and let me say….WOW……just…..there really are no words. Book hangover of your life. BEST OF 2018. It has been years since a book gave me all the feels that this one did and these words still feel inadequate to describe this book…..so Ill just say this…..This book sneaks its way into your soul, grabs a hold, rips it out, and doesnt let go. I can tell it is one of those books that stays with you literally FOREVER.