Only You Review

By Celeste Daniels

TW: Racism, death

Hello, audacious readers!

Summer is here and we are in a season of celebration. Happy 7th anniversary to Audacity Magazine & Events! Let’s bring luck, joy, truth and even more audacity into this next year. Last month, we experienced the epic tale of stealing your own destiny in She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. This month, we’re exploring how love defies time in Only You by Celeste Daniels (yep, that’s me).

Dani spent her entire life dreaming of doomed lovers every time she went to sleep. Although odd, Dani doesn’t have time to think about it as she tries to focus on getting her music degree at Howard University. However, her life turns upside down when she means a studio guitarist named Jones.

Dani quickly discovers two world-shifting truths: 1) her ‘dreams’ are actually past memories of her and Jones and 2) she’s falling in love with him again.

Dani and Jone first meet in 1880s Paris as the daughter of a wealthy landowner and a lieutenant ordered to protect her; then, in 1910’s London as strangers trapped together in the Great War; and soon after in 1940’s Detroit as an underground boxer and doctor.

Though their love is undeniable, their story always ends tragically. Now that the cycle is starting again, Dani and Jones don’t want history to repeat itself. However, they can’t deny the connection between them. As the memories come into focus and the stakes get higher, Dani and Jones are forced to ask themselves the ultimate question: Is it better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all?

This is probably the hardest review I’ve had to write for book club because this is my own work. It feels odd to try and approach it like a regular review. So, I won’t! Instead, I will answer a few common questions about the book:

What inspired you to write this novel?

I was writing another novel about two people ruining and fixing their relationship in two different lifetimes, but I wasn’t enjoying the toxicity of the romance, so I restarted but kept the multiple timelines. It felt like too interesting of a concept to ignore so I expanded on it.

How did you research each time period and location your characters were in?

A lot of research was done online and very chaotically. I often found myself researching when certain tools and appliances were made and looking up clothing styles as well as day-to-day culture of different cities. It got very confusing when editing but, lucky for me, I had a developmental editor that was very insistent on being as accurate as possible. Still, this is a fiction story, so some liberties were taken.

Tell us about the publishing process. Less than 2% of books actually get published so I imagine there’s a lot of red tape. 

There is red tape in traditional publishing, but more than that, there’s a lot of waiting. Generally, there’s only a few steps to getting published: First, you have to finish the book. Then, you have to edit the book. Then, you have to get an agent, who then has to find a compatible editor and publisher. After that, you edit the book with the publisher. Finally, you market and release your completed novel.

The first two steps alone often take years and that’s where a lot of writers stop. Not to mention that most writers have to write more than one novel before they get an offer from a traditional publisher. I remind eveyrone who asks me that this career is a marathon. And to be published, especially as a black woman, is truly an accomplishment worth celebrating every time I remember that most don’t make it this far.

This story isn’t just time travel, it’s also the endurance of Black love through the ages. Why was that important for you to share?

Black love has always been around and has endured some of the biggest cruelties of humanity. Yet, so often it’s reduced to “struggle love.” While that does exist, it’s not the defining feature of Black love. When it comes to love experienced through the unique hardships of our history, I often find that the love is easy; the world isn’t. That’s ultimately the message I wanted to keep central to the story.

Music is a big component of this story. Are there any songs that you used for inspiration?

 Plenty but here are a few:

“Before Love Came to Kill Us” by Jessie Reyez

“Heaven Can Wait” by Michael Jackson

“Remain” by Christian Kuria

“Do 4 Love” by Snoh Aalegra

“In My Arms” by Johnnyswim

(You’ll be able to check out the full playlist soon.)

I hope you enjoyed Only You. Stay tuned for our June read. Make sure to check out Audacity Book Club merch and get your “Not ya mama’s book club” hats today.

As always, make sure you read audaciously!