Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

I was honestly SO excited for this book, and I can't tell you how happy I was that the publisher sent me this ARC.

This book was EVERYTHING i'd hope it would be & more. YOu won't be disappointed.

The story touches down on the idea of fostering, adoption, and more. It shows you that not every placement is an easy one. So many emotions!

Get.this.book.

Heartbreaking.
Warm.
Funny.
Sad.

It's so many emotions that rushed through me reading this... but, i am somewhat glad they got a happy ending together even though the road was though.

Stunning. Reserve judgement going into this at times difficult novel of a woman and her husband Seb who foster to adopt Maresa, a deeply damaged child. Written in some ways as a letter from the unnamed narrator to Maresa, who she refers to as Little One, it details what the couple hoped would be a wonderful experience but what was in fact a challenging, painful, and at times awful one. You can feel the narrator walking on eggshells when things are relatively calm and then kaploeey, they fall apart. I'd not read Howard's memoir and her personal background looms over this novel, which feels more like a memoir but not having read it is not an impediment to appreciating this one. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Those of us who know someone who has struggled with an older adoptee will recognize much of what happens here. You will feel deeply for the narrator, Seb, and indeed for Maresa.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE RISK OF US by Rachel Howard in exchange for my honest review.***

3.5 STARS

When Sebastian and his wife (who narrates and whose name we never learn) decide to adopt seven-year-old Maresa, they think the books they’ve read and classes they’ve taken have prepared them for the challenge. Maresa is more disturbed and her behavior more difficult than they could have imagined. Now, as adoption day draws nearer, they reconsider the commitment.

I interned in a foster to adopt agency and once considered adoption, even taking classes, before ultimately deciding as a single mom I may not be able to handle a child as disturbed as Maresa. Rachel Howard did a spectacular job with the details of Maresa’s likely reactive attachment disorder showing the push/pull of a child wanting and fearing attachment, projecting the pain of trauma and the testing whether her foster-to-adopt parents would accept her.

I had a lot of empathy for the narrator, who hadn’t overcome her own childhood trauma. She said the right things to be approved to adopt, but would have been better served if the social workers can recommended ongoing therapy.

Howard wrote in second person, which became confusing because she changed “you” from Sebastian to Maresa. I would have rated higher if THE RISK OF US had stuck to one you.

This dark, depressing book, was an enjoyable read for me, nonetheless. The ending of THE RISK OF US didn’t live up to the rest of the story for me. I can’t say more without spoiling it.

THE RISK IF US will make readers think about the bonds between family members in this realistic story about parents with all the love to give and a little girl who may be too wounded to accept that love.

I was drawn to the subject matter of this book and was looking forward to reading it. I am glad that it was a short book because I am not sure I would've finished it if it were much longer, except that I wanted to know how it ended. The writing style was distracting and felt very detached and skipped all over the place to me. It took a few pages to figure out who the narrator was- it kept going back and forth between “I say” and “You say” and I never really grew attached to anyone in the story, except the child, Maresa, the only character who had some heart and soul. The therapists were repeatedly called the “blonde bimple therapist”,or the “grey-crowned social worker”, or the “surfer dude” to the point that it was just annoying. Just give them names.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! It was definitely a book that kept you thinking! I would definitely recommend this book to fellow readers. Thank you!

This book is so brilliantly convincing and true to life that I often found myself revisiting the description to check whether it was a work of fiction or a memoir. You felt for the whole family, as well as the extended family (grandparents) etc and I found myself so ferociously wishing for the little girl to settle and feel comfortable as part of the family. Beautiful.