Rebecca Lawton (1)

There are things about Becca that draw me to her. In reading her work, I think it’s not only a certain understanding of life that comes with the age bracket in which we find ourselves, but the clear and evident signs of having “been there” many times over. Our love for things environmentally sound is obviously a shared love, as well.

Becca is eloquent and shows beautiful grace as she tells us the story of the valley, the river and the inside, so to speak, of Maddy. She has touched on so many things in this book, and exquisitely so. The environmental viewpoint, forthright Mormonism outside of Salt Lake, the touching stories of both Vietnam and Iraq brought here perhaps accidentally, but perhaps not...

It is a clash of worlds, as some have said, between Maddy and Chris. Those worlds seem to clash in many places, but come together in so many more, as they appear to show each other where their two worlds do not collide.

I loved Junction, Utah. I look forward to more from Becca.
… (more)

Junction, Utah by Rebecca Lawton
I received this book in exchange for an unbiased honest review.

This is a wonderful story about a girl who changes through events that takes place in the book. This book is very well written and you feel like you are in the story with the characters and the scenes she describes. I loved Mad because she is such a relatable character. This book captures the care free nature of river guides and the freedom they have in the wild. The book also captures things that happen in real life like big oil companies trying to hurt our national wildlife parks. This book wasn't my normal genre I read, but I loved it from the characters to the scenes it was a fantastic read. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants adventure romance in the outdoors.… (more)

I loved the scenes that were painted in this book. It was so well described that I could visualize myself on the river, in the canyon, at the farm, everywhere the characters were. There’s a scene where a character falls into the river, and the visualization was so vivid that I realized I was holding my breath with them. I get caught up emotionally in stories and share the characters feelings, but never have I gotten so caught up in the story that I had the same physical sensations as the characters. It was weird feeling, but I liked that I was able to get so attached to this one.

I didn’t think I would get as attached to these characters as I did. I really don’t have much in common with them – as I am not a river guide, farmer, or Marine. Despite the differences I was able to fall in love with Madeline and Chris. There were things going on in Maddie’s life that didn’t involve Chris, things going on in Chris’ life that didn’t involve Maddie, and then there were the things that they were both a part of. I liked that Maddie and Chris weren’t glued to each other throughout the story. It gave me a chance to get to know them as individuals as opposed to as a couple. From the first time they met I thought they would make a good couple. Madeline was a very stoic character. She kind of kept to herself and observe the world around her. Chris wasn’t necessarily an extrovert, but he didn’t seem to close himself off as much.

The story itself was pretty good too. There was a lot to the story, but it wasn’t overwhelming. Each story line played itself out without interfering with the other story lines – well until they all become the same story line. It was intriguing to see how all these different parts were going to come into play. I usually have a pretty good idea of what the resolution to a story will be. But with this one I couldn’t see how all the different parts were going to come together. I love reading books that I can’t predict. There were so many pieces of the story that I didn’t think were going to directly affect each other, so I was surprised when they did. Once all the pieces started falling in place I still had no idea that I would be in tears by the end of the book. The ending really through me for a loop. I honestly can say I was shocked and saddened while also being hopeful and excited.

While there’s a romance built into the story there was also the environmentalist side of the book. I try to be earth conscious, but I’m far from perfect. But even at that I still was kind of appalled at some of the actions taken on behalf of the energy company involved in the story. I’ve never really read anything like it. It made me realize how uninformed I am. I know I can’t change the world, but this book definitely makes me want to do more.

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for a review. This review is my truthful honest opinion.… (more)