I had never read a book from Sally John before and was not sure what to expect. I saw that this was a book in a series (Side Roads) and sometimes I am trying to figure out where the other books have taken me before I picked up the one I am reviewing. Not so with this book. I was pleased that this was a stand alone story.
The book is about a family Teal, her daughter Maiya and her step father River. After an earth quake hits Los Angeles, CA Maiya is determined to find the identity of her biological father. For some reason Teal is VERY hesitant to let that happen. She has never shared this identity with anyone not even her husband River or her own family.
After a rebellious streak with Maiya, Teal decides to take her back to her home town for some mother daughter bonding and the story unfolds.
At first I was a bit skeptical with names like Teal and River starting our story. I was expecting a sort of cheesy story. Not so in the least! After a few pages I was hooked until the very end! And I am actually sad that I am finished with it and might just have to look up more of Sally John's books.
What I enjoyed about reading this book was the shortness of the chapters. Being a mother of 3 I don't often have long periods of time to tackle a book. I loved being able to pick it up for a few mins at a time and be at a perfect place to pause. This story has a lot of figuring things out and keeping you interested so the pauses were perfect to keep me focused and not lost when I came back to the book. That set up was great.
Being a fictional book, I don't want to give away any of the plot or story but I will say I immediately handed the book off to my mom because it was just that great a story! The Characters were very relate-able. The plot was very real and not far fetched lovey story typical. It was one you felt was "real".
Great book. I highly recommend it. And I most likely will be picking up more from this Author.
I received this book free for review from Tyndale Media Center and I was not required to give a positive review.
Sounds like it is an interesting book to read. Happy birthday to Tristan. Caitlyn's birthday was on the 22nd, but it was her party today :-). She turned 5.
ReplyDeleteHow is the guitar practising going? I'm keen to learn too, but don't know if I'll manage. My friend Paul taught himself to play and he has written nearly 300 songs to date. You should check out his Youtube channel - paulforstermusic. One of his best kiddies song is Day Dream Town and I love his cover versions of some of the Elliott Smith songs.
Oh Thanks for the reminder! I want to check him out on youtube! My fingers hurt today! I practiced a ton and plan to keep it up. Slow and steady right?
DeleteWhew.....I was afraid you were going to give away the ending and I am really getting into the heart of the book right now.
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