Member Reviews
This story is full of long lost secrets, terrible situations, and love and hope. Maisey is a single mom to Elle who is 12. Maisey feels she has never measured up for her mom as nothing she has ever done is good enough. When Maisey has to go home because of a family emergency, memories pour over her. As Maisey takes care of things at home, her life spirals out of control. Elle's father makes things even harder on Maisey as he they share custody of her. Maisey is much stronger than she ever thought she could be as all the secrets come to light. This is a story of love and family, and deep dark secrets. I loved the characters in the book as they were so very real. I highly recommend this amazing book! I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing. All opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed this story. There are some tough topics in this story that pulled on the heart. We can learn so much from our parents. I loved the women characters as well as Walter and Tony. The author did a wonderful job on character development. The scene at the Cemetery at the end of the book where Elle (wise beyond her years) helps her Mom and Aunt recognize the strength this family of women display and how they have persevered really stood out for me and pulled everything together.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and this review is in my own words.
I wish I could give this book more stars, five are not enough! The compassion this writer writes with gets me every time. I will be buying this book as gifts for the women in my life. I think every woman will see a piece of herself in these characters. I liked this book so much when it was over I wanted to turn around and read it again.
In her childhood, Marley talked Maisey into adventures for which she abandoned Maisey to take the blame. Maisey’s mother told her that Marley wasn’t real, even though she was as real as her mother to Maisey. In her third decade, raising her daughter Elle by herself, Maisey continues to be scatterbrained and unfocused, and has never been normal according to Elle, who wants her to stay that way. Elle is 12 when Maisey receives a phone call that her mother is dying, circumstantial evidence pointing to her father, a man she has always known as a gentle buffer between her mother and herself, as the cause. She must go home and untangle the ugly mess, uncovering a mystery in the process. This sets her off on an adventure to uncover her mother’s secret, revealing much about herself and their relationship in the process. The love interest has his own secrets, and Maisey is the catalyst for his family recognizing his trauma and helping him to move past it. As the EMT / firefighter responding to her family’s emergencies, he is woven into her story as an eventuality.
King brilliantly sets up family dynamics that clearly show the repressed fear of the mother and the compensating kindness of the father, and how secrets create chaos and confusion in relationships. There are a couple of slight distractions from the story: Maisey throws up or feels like it a LOT; Whenever the love interest appears, he’s described in Harlequin Romance hunky terms. Despite this, the story moves along at a brisk pace, with the mom’s backstory presented through her journal, an intimate medium that elicits sympathy. It’s a very human story full of complex emotions and motivations, a must-read!
I was fortunate to receive an ARC through NetGalley of this wonderful book.
I posted this review on my blog, Facebook, and Twitter. I will post the review to B&N on launch date.
A mystery, a family drama, and a love story all melded into one fantastic book! This book gave me all the feels! The writing was unusual and beautifuk anf creative and I highlughted several passages. I LOVED the empowerment of (and Elle) and triumph over adversity.
Whisper Me This was such a good read. It was filled with pretty much every emotion and tells the story of secrets and all the problems such secrets can create.
Maisey was an interesting character that at times I wanted to hug and other times I wanted to ask her what she was thinking. Elle on the other hand, was so lovable. She was a seemingly unflappable old soul in a 12 year old's body. She behaved throughout with so much spunk, I guess is the word I want, just stepping up to whatever challenge was happening at the time and working through it. She sometimes felt like the mother while her mother sometimes seemed like the daughter.
Heartbreaking choices are a given in a story such as this and they were terribly tough choices. Where a person starts, I have no idea, but they had to be dealt with and so, they were. This is ultimately a story of family. I would definitely recommend this to fans of women's fiction and family centric stories.
Thank you very much to Lake Union, Ms. King and Netgalley for the ARC
I thought this was an amazing book! Maisey receives a phone call that changes the course of her life - her mom is in a coma and her kind, gentle father is under scrutiny for possible abuse. Maisey and her precocious 12 year old daughter, Elle, head to Maisey's childhood home to get to the bottom of the events that resulted in her mom's coma. The story that unfolds is a mix of heartbreaking abuse (both physical and emotional) and what a mother will do to protect her children. I loved that parts of Leah's (Maisey's mom) journal was interspersed throughout the book so the reader could get her point of view as well as why she did some of the things she did. I highly recommend this book! I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley - my opinions are my own.
I would give this novel 10 stars!
Maisey has to make a heartbreaking decision to allow her Mom, Leah to move on to Heaven.
That is only the beginning.
Leah has been loved by so many, and especially her dear husband Walter, but the secrets she carries need to be released in some way to explain her decisions past, and die in peace. “I am who I am, and I have done what I have done."
This book will keep you on the edge of your chair,make you angry, break your heart and yet scream for joy at times.
I found myself in love with Elle a twelve year old, who has heart and an “old”soul. She has spunk, grace and wisdom far beyond her years.
I can not say enough good things about Whisper Me This. It is something I will be reading again and will be sharing it with others.