SafaeReadsAndLives23

  This song sums up what I felt as I was reading the last pages of this book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpm_B... I read a Diane Chamberlain book many years ago, maybe even 10 years ago. It was a mystery book, so the last book of 2022 was picked randomly, I just picked her book with the most stars and figured I'd like it. The problem is, I didn't realize the book's genre until halfway through, by then, I was confused by the plot, but when I figured out the genre, everything started making sense. The book is from two different POV's, one is Ellie's, in the '60s, a rebel, a brave young woman, with a beautiful heart, who risked it all to fight for a cause, and joined the SCOPE program to help black people register to vote. The other POV is Kayla's, in 2010, who recently lost her husband and is moving into the house they both built and worked on. Slowly, the two stories start colliding, unraveling 40 years worth of secrets, betrayals, and heartbreaks.

  This book had a fantastic start and an amazing premise, as it went on though, it has dragged continuously, and I found myself constantly checking the pages to see when it'll finally end. And what a disappointing end! The story of Addie started when she was a simple girl in a small town, a dreamy girl, unsatisfied with the small life a tiny town might offer, living and dying in the same spot is not something to look forward to. The night her life changed, is when she was supposed to get married, at 23 years, she was already considered an old maiden, and marrying a widowed man with kids was her best chance at life. That night, she made a deal, she asked for more time and freedom, and the price, as usual, was far greater than she was willing to pay. The story follows her 'forgotten' life, through the ups and downs, of a life that had a beginning, but never an ending. I saw myself in both Addie and henry, in Addie as I feel like I'm running out of time, unmarried, unemplo...