Well this was ultimately a delightful read. I really got a kick out of following Ginger, Sam, and Callie. I thought it was an odd writing choice that had Kelly go back one month before their birthdays and then jump forward again. Other than that, I enjoyed this book and found Ginger to be the character that I felt for and wanted to read more about. That said, I still enjoyed the characters of Sam and Callie.

"The Year Everything Changed" follows Ginger, Sam, and Callie, on their 30th, 40th, and 50th birthdays and the year that follows.

Ginger is 30 years old and has never been kissed. She's a larger woman who no matter what she tried has never been able to find a man to be with. Now she's a bridesmaid in her best friend's wedding and hoping that she may meet a man that can be the one.

Sam is expecting her first baby after years of thinking she would never be a mother. Turning 40 has her feeling older and even though it's her first child, not ready for her new baby at all.

Callie is dreading her 50th birthday party that her husband Jason is insisting that they throw. She's constantly fighting with her 14 year old daughter Poppy and has started taking a Xanax to deal.

So Ginger's story is wonderful. Working for a newspaper where she rocks her job, she wishes she can be just as strong as confident outside of work. She also has a secret at said job which I got a total kick out of too. When she overhears her so called friend talking about her weight and her clothing she decides to she is going to make some changes to her life. There is some romance that Kelly interjects that I thought worked quite well in the story. I also loved Ginger's family, especially her great aunt.

Sam....hmmm. Honestly it took me me a while to warm up to her. I initially liked the character, but it took a little too long to get to where I already knew Kelly was going with her character. And her suddenly blaming everything on her mother just made me tired after a while.

Callie also took me some time to warm up to. We definitely see she has her head in the sand about her marriage and her family's wealth. And when we get to why she's estranged from her family I was looking at her sides-way. But then Kelly smartly develops this character and her bratty daughter and I found myself rooting for them. Callie had the most transformation I think from the beginning of this book until we get to the ending.

I think the main reason why this book works is that Kelly smartly doesn't have the three women meet up right away. We follow them on their separate paths and a few times one of them will reference the other character (without knowing them) and we eventually get to the meeting point for these women further along in the story (around the 80 percent mark or so). The flow was great and Kelly balances out each story. I am almost always disappointed when an author tries to focus on multiple characters because usually what happens is that one person takes up the bulk of the book with the two other ones not really being in it. Or all three stories lose something by the author trying to balance everything.

The ending was very good and I loved how Kelly tied up all of the loose ends. I wouldn't mind another book following these three women. ( )

Predictable romance. unbelievable plot coincidences. only just passed as nocturnal walk accompaniment ( )

I love Cathy Kelly books, they always make me feel warm and squidgy inside; but they're not all sunshine and rainbows, as the characters have to go through some tough times to come out the other side stronger and happier. Cathy's writing is as bubbly and effervescent as a bottle of Prosecco so I couldn't wait to get stuck into her new novel: The Year that Changed Everything and I positively whizzed through it as fast as a cork shooting out of a bottle.

Three women, unknown to each other, celebrate milestone birthdays on the same day and it's certainly a day they will never forget: Callie is 50 and her house is raided by the fraud squad as she is hosting her birthday party, Sam is 40 and goes into labour on her birthday, and Ginger is 30 but selflessly spends the day celebrating her friend's wedding rather than her birthday. All three characters are strong and unforgettable with the common thread of unconditional family love running through their stories.

I really identified with Ginger and felt my jaw drop when I read a line about her not wearing heels to comply with the unfeminine persona she had created to protect herself from heartbreak. Although I do wear flat shoes because I have a problem with my back, there are occasions where I could wear heels but refrain from doing so. I asked myself why and the honest answer is that I believe I'm not attractive enough to wear heels, so why would I want to draw attention to myself? I reminded myself that beauty is in the eye of the beholder so treated myself to a new pair of heels. Not plain black, oh no, but sparkly Wizard of Oz style 'look at me' heels. Gulp! Thank you for giving me the courage to buy my fabulous new shoes, Cathy Kelly. I will need to summon my inner Ginger to have the courage to wear them!



There are quite a few pearls of wisdom in The Year that Changed Everything that I could liken Cathy Kelly to my personal Dalai Lama; I certainly felt unexpectedly enlightened by some of the passages in the book. Take the quote that Joanne gave to her sister, Sam, for example:

"You can't change other people: you can only change how you react to them."

So simple, yet so very true. I'm definitely going to remember this and repeat it like my personal mantra. I admit that I'm not a people person, so people do often annoy me but I'm going to practise changing my reaction to them.

The Year that Changed Everything is a fabulous, unexpectedly enlightening book that did more for me than any self-help book has ever done. The warm and effervescent writing of Cathy Kelly will make this a firm favourite among her many fans, myself included.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. ( )

Three women, three different situations, three crises occurring on significant birthdays. A manipulative husband, a worried mother with a new baby, a large and unfit woman betrayed by a friend....

The story is told in alternating viewpoints, starting with the crisis stories, then filling in some background by backtracking a month, then returning to the main storyline. I found the women mostly believable and likeable, if a bit frustrating at times. But that's because they got under my skin; a sign of three-dimensional people.

Good writing, and about the right pace, if a tad introspective in places. It's light-weight women's fiction, which would make good holiday reading. Recommended if you like this kind of thing.

Full review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-year-that-changed-everything-ca... ( )

There's an awful lot of dialogue in this book so must admit didn't find it a great read. Gives you an insight into lives of people in the 21st century - mainly from a woman's perspective - but not all. Found it to be quite empowering and there are some nice happy endings. ( )