Jessica Pack

Robbie, the child, is like any boy...active, loving, ornery. Robert, the young man, is mentally ill and in the throw of it performs a heinous act, and pays the ultimate price. This act affects so many lives. Told mainly from Amanda (his Mom) perspective but other voices are added in and intersect and help in Amanda’s healing. Robbie could be our child, his victims could be ours, and we could be Amanda.

This book will rip your heart out and put it back in. Have tissues handy! A unique storyline that is brutally honest and will make you think. The author does an excellent job of looking at a difficult storyline from all sides. I look forward to her next book!

Thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.… (plus d'informations)

4.5 stars.

As Wide as the Sky by Jessica Pack is an emotionally compelling journey of healing and new beginnings.

Amanda Mallorie is grieving the loss of her son, Robbie, whose time on death row has finally come to an end. After her son decides not to file any more appeals for his conviction, Robbie's sentence has been fast-tracked and his sentence has been carried out. Now it is time for Amanda try to repair her tattered relationship with her daughter, Melissa. Finally going through Robbie's possessions as she prepares to move, Amanda's discovery of someone else's class ring piques her curiosity and her resulting search for the ring's owner is life altering.

In the years since Robbie's inexplicable act of violence and incarceration, Amanda has become increasingly isolated as she continues to support her son. Understanding why he committed such a horrific act of violence is impossible, but Amanda still loves Robbie very much. She is quite reflective as she tries to move forward and she finally allows herself to look back on happier times. Compelled to return the ring to its owner, Amanda is hoping the story of how the ring came into Robbie's possession will provide her with another positive memory to hold close.

Although mainly narrated through Amanda's point of view, there are numerous chapters written from other characters' perspectives. These chapters provide an interesting peek into the lives of the people who have affected by Robbie's crime and the continuing ripple effects his actions have on their lives. However patience is required since some of the connections do not become clear until closer to the novel's conclusion.

As Wide as the Sky is a very touching, thought-provoking novel that is deeply moving. Jessica Pack presents a compassionate look into the struggles family members experience as they continue loving and supporting their loved ones in spite of their crimes. This beautifully rendered novel is poignant, heartfelt and brimming with strong emotions. A tear-inducing yet ultimately uplifting novel that I absolutely loved and highly recommend.… (plus d'informations)

Whatever It Takes by Jessica Pack is a recommended story about relationships, a health crisis, lies, and seeking answers.

Sienna Chadwick, 25, is estranged from her husband, Tyson, and living on the family ranch with her father, Mark, when she finds a lump in her breast and is facing a cancer diagnosis. She refuses to tell anyone about it. She does question her father about her mother's cancer. Sienna has always been told that her mother died from breast cancer when she was a toddler. Her father, Mark, however, is evasive about the details of her mother's death and Sienna is wondering why there are all these gaps in her knowledge of her mom. She doesn't want to push her father, who is recovering from his prostate cancer, but clearly there should be more information about her. All she has is the stories her dad tells and the letters that were supposedly written by her mother for Mark to give to their daughter on certain big moments and times of Sienna's life. Tyson, who is living in London, learns about her cancer and returns to Wyoming to help.

The story is mostly through Sienna's voice, with a few chapters from Mark, her father, and her grandmother's point-of-view. Some of the letters that are supposed to be from Sienna's mother are interspersed between chapters. Whatever It Takes is an okay way to pass some time but is nothing special. The problem is it is poorly plotted/imagined. The narrative starts out with an immature young woman facing a health crisis via denial until she is forced to deal with it. She refuses to do the mature thing and tell people about it. Hiding it seems nonsensical and, quite frankly, a bit ridiculous. Sienna is not a very appealing young woman and the constant introspection included after or before all the dialogue, does not make her any more appealing. Then the whole story morphs into a mystery about who was Sienna's mother. I'm sure the breast cancer was a way to have Sienna ask about her mother's cancer in the plot, but to be realistic, she could/should have asked about it anyway for a family medical history.

I'm recommending the novel because once it commits to being a mystery, it is more interesting. The twisty ending helped.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Kensington.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2019/06/whatever-it-takes.html… (plus d'informations)