I will probably get a lot of heat for this (lol). I did not like this book. Maybe I really should stop listening to audio books. I can't seem to find a narrator that doesn't sound extremely dramatic. However, that being said, I also can't seem to find a book where I like any characters anymore. So, here is where the heat comes in, I am sure. So, the story revolved around a family, Maddy, (the mother/wife) Ben (the husband/father) and their three kids, Gracie, Caleb and Emma. The reader learns almost immediately that Ben has an anger issue...no physical abuse, just yelling and impatience. However, I thought the author portrayed Maddy as irresponsible and the kids as spoiled. I thought during certain incidents in the book, (not ALL), "No wonder he's mad." Then, in a nutshell, there is a horrible automobile accident, where Ben was driving and Maddy is severely injured to include a traumatic brain injury. I felt that the older daughter, Emma was spoiled and became even more disrespectful after her mother was injured and I know that's to be expected, but it was allowed to go on and on. The younger children, Gracie and Emma were, for a lack of better word, "fake" even before this tragedy. Maybe the author was being accurate at making this young generation where the parents are friends, not parents and the kids are allowed to run amok. There is something else that Ben does in the book (which I won't spoil here) which is really inexcusable, but that and the accident turn Maddy into the martyr of the year, and that is something I cannot stand in any character. Once again, a book with characters I don't like and characters who don't speak the way real people would in real life. I am being harsh I know and as I sit here thinking back on this book, I really wonder if I would have liked it better had I not listened to the audio book. Maybe the way the reader performed was my problem. Thoughts? I would love to know, especially if you listened to it as well.
