Suzanne Redfearn

I listened to the audiobook. Nola Zandry did an awesome job reading this book.
Domestic violence is a difficult topic for me. Those who know me, know I lived it. Listening to this was difficult. I can’t count the number of times I was taken back to that time while listening to it. Even now, writing this, I want to throw up, cry, and my breathing is heavy. That is how realistic this was written. That I listened all the way says a lot about the story. The author captured the emotions of show more domestic violence. The narrator gave it life with her performance.
There were parts that I felt were added for dramatic effect. I’m not someone who expects complete reality in a fiction book so it didn’t bother me. I mention it because I know some readers want the story to reflect real life. The abuse was enough reality for me. I was good with things being too easy on Jillian at certain points in the book. I know the struggle. It rarely wraps up quickly or easily. I enjoyed the dramatic parts. I do wish the author did a better wrap up with the people who helped Jillian and the children.

*A personal message about domestic violence. The question I was asked was why did you stay. There is no single answer to that. The answer varies from survivor to survivor as well as from those who didn’t make it. The one thing I think the answers have in common is that they are layered. For me, I was afraid to go and afraid to stay. The victim always knows the danger they are in. (I am trying to be gender neutral because the victim can be either gender just as the perpetrator can be either gender.) Please trust them to know how the abuser will react. For me, I knew staying would mean I would be hurt. I also knew leaving would harm my children. I left and, after tearing up the restraining order, he put a gun with a bullet in it in my child’s face and pulled the trigger. He added a bullet for each child then fully loaded the gun for me. (My children, 9 months old, 3 years old and 10 years old, survived but have memories.). He played a game of Russian roulette with them because he knew I would never risk it again. I stayed until they were grown. I live far from him but the scars remain. I startle when someone comes up behind me, I throw up with certain smells, I cry when my name is said in a certain way and the click of a gun destroys me. But we survived with help along the way. If you know someone who is in this situation or someone who has left it, please don’t ask, why did you stay? It’s a judgment. If you care, offer to keep a bug out bag in your house for them, offer to help them get to a shelter, offer to help pick up the kids from school, invite them over to enjoy a safe place to play, or just be there to listen. Call the domestic violence hotline to get professional advice on how to help but please don’t judge them. You may think they should just leave, (which is the most dangerous time), or that if it were you, you would do x,y,z. Unless you have been in that situation, you really don’t know. Final point, abuse comes in many forms. Words do damage that lasts an unbelievable length of time. Without intervention, all forms of abuse will escalate. There may be quiet times or good times but it will happen again and it will get worse with time. If you are in the situation, there are good people who can help you. You can get out. You are strong enough. Call a shelter, the hotline or a counseling center. You are worth it. show less

Finn, her family, her parents best friends and their daughter, and Finn’s best friend, Mo, set out on a skiing vacation at a remote cabin that once belonged to her grandfather. There is an accident that leaves them hurt and stranded in severe cold and a snowstorm. The accident is not really the story, though, the story is how each of these people reacts to the accident. We see the best and the worst come out in these people and the inevitable consequences of choices made in this life and show more death situation. Raises the question of what do we really know about anyone until the stakes are high.

When they heard a story of cowardice or cruelty, they would have shaken their heads and tsked and thought, Never, not me, unaware that at any given moment, all of us are capable of doing what we least expect, them included.

The book was fast-paced and held my interest. There is one creepy character that I wanted to pulverize, and in an afterward the author explains that this character is based on a real person and an event that occurred in her own life. I’m sure that is why this situation feels real; in some regards it was.

If you have ever trusted your child to someone you felt you could rely upon, you might think again when you have finished this novel.

I grapple with this. Is goodness only true if it is at a personal cost? Anyone can be generous when they are rich; anyone can be selfless when they have plenty. show less

This is your modern day Thelma and Louise story, and you cannot help but love these two moms as they run from the law and the same man who has made both of their lives miserable. One is a new mother with an accidental criminal past, and the other a woman who is fleeing from an abusive husband. You cannot help but cheer for them to get away, as you can tell they are not true criminals, just two free spirited souls trying to survive out on the open road with their kids. I loved reading how the show more author is a big fan of the original Thelma and Louise (I am a big fan of country singer Pam Tillis, who is good friends with the author of Thelma and Louise. Fun fact, the author based her character Thelma on Pam), and I found myself wanting to country line dance with Grace in the bar (exactly something my best friend and me would do together). There is plenty of drama and sadness mixed into this story, but it was one heck of a fun ride with two women who finally realize they need each other more than they'll ever know. Thank you NetGalley for this fun, unputdownable read. show less

My Scars Remind Me That The Past Is Real. Wait. Sexton. You're quoting *Papa Roach* to title your review of an emotional women's fiction tale? I mean, you've done some crazy shit in your reviews over the years, but come on, dude. Really??

Yes, really, because ultimately this is a tale of scars and the beauty and pain of healing from them - and of allowing them to get you stuck in the first place. Pretty well everyone in this tale has lost loved ones. For many of the perspectives we live in show more through this tale - a family who recently lost one of their youngest members - the scars are on the inside, and are eating them alive in various forms. For another of the perspectives we live inside in this tale, the scars are much more open and visible, though even these hide just as many internal scars.

And yet, with her usual skill, Redfearn once again turns in an excellent story of healing and hope, even in some of the darkest times unfortunately far too many face. Hopefully, you, the reader of my review, won't actually have these *exact* scars and thus the exact particulars here won't resonate *as* much with you. Read this book anyway, as it could well provide at least a touch of catharsis and magic for even your own scars, no matter what they may be.

And if you *are* one of those who happens to have some remarkably identical scars to our characters here... you have my sympathies and condolences. Read this book anyway as well, and perhaps find at least a modicum of healing and hope in these fictional words. Hell, maybe even learn a lesson from our family here and use this tale as a catalyst to talk to others about your pain and perhaps heal even more from that.

No rooms ever got particularly dusty while I was reading this tale, but I'm also not one who has suffered these particular kinds of scars. Still, the overall quality of the tale and the writing of it is Redfearn's usual excellence, and ultimately the story is truly quite good on so many levels. Very much recommended. show less