Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend's daughter ends up in her class. Determined to have the future she's always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands.
On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she's married to a wonderful man, and together they're raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately, Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.
As the anniversary of their tragedy looms and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them, but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover they need each other more than they knew . . . and that in the recipe for true happiness, love always comes first. (Pub Date: Jun 28th, 2016)
Thanks to Netgalley, this ARC was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Losing their brother many years ago still affects Josie's and Meredith's lives. While one suspects it to be the only glue to her marriage, the other does the best to deny it as a reason she hasn't been able to build a family. Above all, it certainly has been the friction to their fraternal ties.
The book is narrated in the present intercalating points of view from each sister, albeit a prologue from their mother's view telling about the time the brother died.
I have known Emily Giffin since Something Borrowed some years ago but I didn't read another book from her until this one. I was disappointed, for I expected a tone more similar to chick lit despite the tragic summary. My fault, I know. At the same time, I had been pleased with the prologue. Even though it stated I had been wrong when it came to the genre, it also proved me right when it came to the author. In the beginning, the story glistened to be heartwarming and with a tint of a mystery—we are not informed of Josie's whereabouts during the fateful night, and we know they matter.
Mostly, the prologue was the last of a 4-star—or even 5-star—deserving book. The characters never really did it for me. I thought Josie's parts fun to read but shallow, to a point I had to agree with Meredith. And Meredith's parts were so boring, never leading anywhere, I was angry any time I caught myself taking her side.
I feel this could have been a good story and, in hopes of the author having some explanation up her sleeve to that slow pacing, I endured. The ending was nice like a Hallmark movie, so at least Giffin didn't drive the book off a bridge. Still, to the end, the story, which seemed so emotional in the beginning, was hard to relate when you couldn't care less about the characters.
I do think certain questionings were valid. Overcoming a beloved one's loss is just the one on the surface. I feel the point really centered on finding a midterm between the pursuit of happiness and acting selfishly. Even if you have a happy marriage, don't you still own the right to be happy yourself? Do you really need others to be fulfilled? Friendship, family... those are some of the interesting topics upon which Giffin's story made me reflect.
Perhaps, I'm not the aimed audience, and older women will be able to better understand the conflicts. I don't think that, past age-oriented genres like young adult, a book should really have limitations on age, so my rating does not reflect this afterthought.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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