I am not the audience for this book but I can see how well-received it would be with the right one (I think my mom might enjoy this one). The premise was interesting and is what initially attracted me to the story but it was too wordy and I didn’t feel a connection to the characters. Though parts of the story are heartbreaking - tw: loss of a child/parent.

I'm finally giving up on this one. Despite a super compelling description, I just can’t get myself to pick this one up. Abandoned 30% through.

Thank you to Netgalley & Katherine Slee, for my copy of The Book of Second Chances, for an honest review. Emily, the main character is living a very solitary life. She lost her parents to a terrible accident, where she was hurt as well. In a wheel chair and in need of mending, she is sent to her grandmother’s house. It seems to be the perfect place to recovery, body and mind. But as the years pass and she walks again, she doesn’t leave the house. Her grandmother and her, create a cute children’s book. When her grandmother dies, Emily’s world crashes in. Her grandmother sends Emily out into the world on a trip, that chronicles her grandmother’s life. Emily is so angry. She misses her grandmother, she does not want to be traveling and she has no idea of how she will live, whiteout her grandmother and her money. It is a very charming novel. Most people can relate to trying to find your place in life. Emily is a flawed character that, I did come to root for. I enjoyed the progression of the story and even liked the ending. This is my first book by Katherine Slee and it won’t be my last. Her writing is very good. It was a m4 star read for me. I shared this on my Instagram page and shared my review on Barnes & Noble. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

THE BOOK OF SECOND CHANCES is a delightful read. It combines so many things that I love...books, a character's self-discovery, and a quest that propels the story forward.

Shades of Elinor Oliphant, Emily's deceased grandma sends her on a hunt for a missing ,manuscript. I liked pushing Emily out of her comfort zone, something we can all use at times.

I found this book a bit hard to get into and then struggled with finishing it. I wanted to see what happened at the end and loved when the traveling started. The traveling was fun especially since I read this druing the pandemic.

This touching story follows one woman’s journey as she solves a puzzle of sorts left by her grandmother.

Full review to come.

I read Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine with the book club that I co-host and when I saw that this book is recommended for fans of Eleanor, I had to read it. I am so glad that I did. This book is a wonderfully uplifting tale of love, loss and finding your way. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, one that I will purchase so that I can have it on my shelves.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of The Book of Second Chances in exchange for my honest review.

The Book of Second Chances
by Katherine Slee

This book felt so magical to me reading this with all the symbolism as the book and Slee celebrates books, bookstores and power of imagination in dealing with love, loss and family. Emily has suffered the loss of her parents in a tragic car accident and now with her grandmother gone, she is just so grief stricken and unable to move on. Her incredible grandmother Catriona has set up a will where Emily has to fulfill specific tasks to inherit the house. So it's either be homeless or set out on this forced adventure. The story was sweet and completely uplifting where it takes our main character Emily into a journey not only of of self - discovery but also through London to Paris and to Italy.

This definitely was an escape read for me. The writing was easy to read, immersive, and had me in all sorts of tearful and happy emotions. This is a wonderful story and a well written novel I highly recommend.

I’m judging a 2020 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile.


There was another picture in her head too, of a little girl seated in a wheelchair with a cockatoo perched on her shoulder. She was whispering to him, gently stroking his breast and watching as ripples of colors passed from the bird and onto her skin. For no matter the pictures that EMily was asked to draw her imagination always seemed to bring her back to Ophelia, the iconic character her grandmother had created all those years ago.

A beautifully written and poignant story. A grandmother takes her granddaughter on a remarkable journey through her past life, loves and friendships so her granddaughter can rid herself of being trapped in the memory of her 13 year old self. She teaches her granddaughter to take a leap of faith and set herself free.

Oh my heart! This book...Emily is such a deeply constructed, absolutely astounding character. Bravo to Ms. Slee for such an engaging story of loss and love and hope.

This novel has everything that I love to read in a story. It was emotional, it was powerful, it included travel, and everything from the atmosphere to the writing was beautiful.

I think many could relate to the character of Emily with her fear of beginning to truly live after existing a certain way for so long. Maybe readers won't relate to the exact situation or circumstance that Emily is in but the aspect of moving beyond fear is relatable to all.

I loved that as much as there was a romance in the story (more than one actually) it wasn't the purpose of the whole novel. The romance, as enjoyable as it was, sat quietly in the background while the main story held centre stage.

Aside from my enjoyment of the overall novel, I really loved the bonus material that was included at the end of this ARC and hopefully is in the finished edition. There was Book Club resources included along with question and answers from the author. I felt this additional information added to my understanding and made the story that much more meaningful.

***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

The Book of Second Chances by Katherine Slee
Source: NetGalley and Forever
Rating: 3/5 stars

Emily’s life has been turned upside down and right side out to an extreme extent twice in her young life. The first time her life went sideways, so did the car she was riding in and it took both her parents’ lives and years for Emily to physically recover. The second time, Emily’s life went sideways, her beloved grandmother died after a long struggle with cancer. Alone, afraid, and rather helpless (or so she imagines), Emily has no idea what she’ll do for the next decades of her life, but she is certain it doesn’t involve leaving her house.

In the years since her accident, Emily’s grandmother has loved and cared for her, all while becoming one of the world’s most beloved children’s book authors. Emily’s grandmother was responsible for the words, but Emily has always been the illustrator. With half the dynamic duo now gone, Emily isn’t at all sure what she’ll do for money.

Good thing for Emily, her grandmother was clever, caring, compassionate, and generous. In secret during the months leading up to her death, Emily’s grandmother put into motion a plan that will not only break Emily out of her comfort zone but help her heal from both her past and present hurts. The plan involves a scavenger hunt which will take Emily on a long and cathartic road towards her future. With the help of a very old and trusted friend, Emily reluctantly sets out to discover what it is, exactly that her grandmother wanted her to learn.

Emily’s hunt is filled with hurt, anger, sadness, and even fond memories, all of which lead Emily from one step to the next. At each stop, Emily encounters a person close to her grandmother who has a package waiting for Emily. The packages are the clues as well as diary pages from her grandmother’s past. As any elder will tell you, the key to understanding the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the present is often rooted in the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the past. Each diary entry gives Emily an incredible insight into her grandmother’s world and life before Emily came to live with her. Emily discovers in the pages a free-spirited woman who loved fiercely, travelled widely, and gave it all up to raise her daughter and granddaughter, alone.

The Bottom Line: I found this book to be somewhat overwhelming in its sadness and – if I’m honest – despair. Emily has been allowed to live a secluded and isolate life for so many years, that once her grandmother dies, she has no idea how to fend for herself. Additionally, in order to receive her full inheritance, Emily must complete an emotionally challenging – to say the least – scavenger hunt that comes very close to breaking her, permanently. While I completely understand the purpose of Emily’s quest and her grandmother’s intentions, it didn’t make this book any easier to read. This is an emotionally challenging book that I can’t say I loved, but I did like. Of particular interest was the past (diary pages) blazing into the present to help Emily endure and better understand her grandmother and the monumental tasks ahead of her. I won’t go so far as to say, “Move this to the top of your TBR immediately!” but I will say give it a try, especially if you are a fan of big emotion books.

Hmmm. I am not sure I have ever been so torn about a book before. There were points in this book that I wanted it to never end. I loved Emily's story but then there were parts that I felt flowed way too slow and I felt like there was information missing from the story.

This is a book about a girl who experienced an unimaginable loss which obviously and rightly so impacts the rest of her life. Her grandmother, a famous author, raises Emily and together they write and illustrate a series of children's books that are beloved by children all over the world.

This is a book about friendship, love, sacrifice, and healing.

A sequel if you will to For Emily, this is Emily’s story after the death of her grandmother Catriona from cancer, and Catriona’s final lessons, in puzzle form, meant to provide Emily with the courage, strength and ability to move forward and become her own person. After she was horribly injured in a car accident that claimed the life of her parents, Emily went to live with her grandmother in a small Norfolk cottage by the sea. Closing themselves off for the most part from the world, and allowing Emily to lock away her memories as she worked to illustrate what would become a very successful series of children’s books penned by her grandmother, Emily has stagnated. Now after her death, and rumors of a “last” story, Emily’s grief and her grandmother’s last will and testament offer her choice. Follow the trail of clues to get her bequest: money, the cottage and the security she knows, or head off following the trail for one last puzzle to work out. In ten days. To a girl/woman who’s not left the village .

Emily had been allowed to push away her grief and her memories, but with the reappearance of her first childhood love and friend Tyler, also on his own sort of redemption tour, the two use a combination of photographs, books, scattered diary entries and plenty of travel to unveil Emily’s last lessons from her grandmother. From London where Emily remembered a visit with her parents, to the bookshop in Paris where her grandmother met and made lifelong friends and loves, through Italy and through monumental steps in learning, remembering and understanding the ties that bind, and the pain, grief, legacies and lessons that exist simply because of the connections made. Emily is slowly, and not without reluctance, discovering the life she led is nothing like a life lived: her grandmother’s true desire for her.

A bit slow to develop, and Emily does get frustrating: but there’s the core of someone special here. From her fascination with birds (and in many cases, seeming to be the bird whisperer) to her artistic talents, the way she ‘frames’ a picture with words, and the secrets she hides within each image –most not revealed until she’s accepted enough memories to come forward and reveal themselves to her. Emily is truly one of the more uniquely developed and drawn characters I’ve ever encountered: and with the connection to books, stories, their creation and their genesis, the references and gentle unfolding of the story up to ‘crisis points’ for Emily when she feels overwhelmed are beautifully created and brought forward: allowing readers to experience the poignancy of grief, loss, friendships and memories, and just how those elements become and fill a life – making it one well lived although never entirely comfortable or without pain. I loved the book, the birds at the start of each chapter, their meanings from folklore and the growth as Emily finds a new footing with her memories, her talents and her own dreams.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aI7/”>

This was a sweet book about grief and finding your identity in yourself, not based on others. I loved the diary entry parts!

Emily has lived a sheltered life and is forced to go on an adventure after her beloved grandmother passes away. Catriona Robinson was a world famous author and Emily was the illustrator and inspiration for the series of children's books. Emily must go way beyond on her comfort zone to save her home and in return learns a lot about her grandmother's past and herself.

Special thanks to Read Forever for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

This one sounds magical, wonderful & like all the great things. Unfortunately, I started crying during the first chapter. I'm just not in the right headspace to read about a Grandmother's death. This is definitely due to my personal circumstances & no fault of the author.

I may try to read it in a year or two.

Thank you for the opportunity to be an early reader.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not sure how I would categorize The Book of Second Chances by Katherine Slee. It is part coming of age story, part scavenger hunt, while at the same time a bit of a family drama. The book tells the story of Emily, a young woman who was badly injured in a car crash that killed her mother and father. After the car crash Emily's Grandmother Catriona becomes her caretaker and only friend. Together Emily and Catriona produce a highly successful children's book series. When Catrion passes away her will states that Emily will inherit everything, but first she must follow the clues that will lead her to a final resolution. And so the book follows Emily on a quest through Europe where she learns more about her Grandmother's life as a young woman and meets many of her old friends.

The book was beautifully written with a lot of imagery and imagination. Emily is an artist and illustrator and a lot of the narrative is told through her eyes. Her imagination centers around bird imagery and drawing pictures in pictures that have a deeper meaning. I found this aspect of the narrative to be really interesting. I also enjoyed learning more about Catriona.

I did feel like the book got a little long and drawn out. My caveat to that is that mentally I'm in a strange place right now with a limited attention span so this could very well be a case of the wrong book and the wrong time.

I would recommend this book to people who love character driven fiction. The book has an almost lyrical undertone with a lot of magical imagery without really delving fully into the fantasy genre. We are looking into the mind of an artist picturing the works of an author and bringing that world to life. If you like action packed books with a solid plot line with a firm resolution at the end, this is not the book for you.