3.5
This wasn’t a perfect book by any means. It is actually my least favorite of the Kristin Hannah books I’ve read, though admittedly that number is low at just 3 so far. However, there is something about Kristin Hannah’s writing, stories, and characters that just gets to me.

This is set in the Seattle area. As a PNW girl, born and raised, I appreciated a setting that I was really familiar with.

The story itself is probably the weakest element. I really liked the dynamic between the sisters. Estranged but trying to be in each other’s lives. I also liked the story with Joe. However, I do feel like there were elements to this story that were portrayed in a very melodramatic manner. At times it felt like I was reading a soap opera script.

There is also a serious case of insta-love that really bothered me. They end up being a really sweet couple, but I can’t imagine being a single mom and agreeing to marry a dude I met at a bar a week before. That’s not responsible parenting. Sorry, not sorry.

I wish the relationship between Joe and Meghann had been a little stronger. They have a one-night stand and immediately can’t stop thinking about each other. They never have just a regular conversation throughout the course of the entire book that doesn’t revolve around sex or the fact that they are damaged people. Again, I liked both of their characters, and I feel like they could’ve been a great couple. But it was just a little too quick.

I guess my main critique of this book is that I felt like it lacked focus. There were just too many things going on from the sisters’ relationship to their romantic relationships to their complicated past with their mother to Meghann’s feelings of inadequacy concerning Claire’s father to Meghann’s disillusionment with her job...it’s a lot.

That being said, the last 25% definitely got to me. I wasn’t expecting it to go in the direction it did, and it hurt.