Helpful Score: 1
As much as I wanted to really love this book, it left me with no great thoughts. Two exceptionally annoying characters, i.e. Chip, and Maggie's mother really grated on my nerves. His mother would as well, except she wasn't in it as much. The ending was not entirely a surprise.
This was a beautiful book. About hope even when everything seems hopeless. Sad and emotional and happy. Felt very real. And with a message (along with hope) that when you can't do something for yourself, then do something to help others.
Helpful Score: 1
Katherine Center is fast becoming one of my favorite authors since I discovered her. I absolutely love her ability to write a story that pulls the reader in almost immediately and not want to put the book down. The passage about laughing so hard during a time of great sorrow or stress was something I could relate to. The quote from the book is, "and it happened not despite all the sadness, but because of it."
This was a story that kept you hoping. Margaret is a great character. She isn't perfect but you root for her all the way. Things fall apart for her but although she has her ups and downs throughout the book, you keep hoping for that UP in the end. The book is full of great characters-all very fleshed out. It's a story that makes you want to keep reading and reading.