I enjoyed this book about DNA findings. Siblings, parents...connections. I especially liked the fact that there was no language....unique to find a good book that the author has chosen to write without including obscene words. The story is character driven, and even though one doesn’t fall in love with a character, the story moves along. Surprise ending. No clues. Try this one...

This book was okay. In my opinion, there just wasn't enough driving the story forward and many things were dragged out. The characters were mostly interesting, but I had a lot of trouble keeping names straight at the beginning.

Caroline and Sela are sisters but do not know about each other until the DNA test result comes back, showing they are related. Caroline is shocked to discover this information. When she confronts her parents with this knowledge, her world begins to crumble, and her life is altered.

Caroline is married to Walt and the busy mother of three children. Meeting Sela, who desperately needs a kidney, opens up old wounds and leaves Caroline questioning her past and grappling with a moral dilemma.


Told from both Caroline and Sela’s point of view, and moves fluidly between events in the past and present day. Well constructed plot with great characters and plot twists.


I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I found myself sucked into the family drama, and on the edge of my seat until the shocking conlusion .Niec

This book was so good!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It’s about Sela who has failing kidneys and decides to do an DNA test searching for any possible half siblings.
Caroline finds out she has a half sister and that’s just the first surprise. You can’t help but feel sadness for both characters and what they go through.
The book was engrossing and I found myself wanting to stay up late lastnight to finish it but I didn’t.
I really enjoyed the story and was kinda surprised at the ending.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

I haven't read Jessica Strawser before! A Million Reasons Why revolves around the results from a mail-in DNA kit. I learned a lot about kidney disease in this book, it was evident that Strawser had done research and it made it interesting.

The story of the sisters is one that I couldn't put down until the final page. Author Jessica Strawser grips you into the story so much that I literally found myself asking the same questions as the protagonists. The name of the book itself, A Million Reasons Why, makes you ask yourself a million whys while you're reading. Definitely recommend reading this book! It was an unexpected favorite.
-HeyitsCarlyRae Book Club

A Million Reasons Why is a well written book that will hook you from the first page. The characters are interesting and the plot moves beautifully throughout. My first book by Jessica Strawser, but will definitely not be my last! Definitely recommend!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I give up. I am 50% of the way into this book and I just can't.
This is too boring, the characters too contrived. The story plods along at a snails pace.
I just can't get into it.
I gave up when I was flipping through the pages just wondering if she will get the kidney or not.

I truly loved this story!
ONE test result will change many people!
Secrets that have been hidden for years, now will be hunted out and the truth will be revealed!

Caroline has always wished she had a sibling to share clothes, secrets and fight with/for.
When her whole family take a DNA test, it is truly only just for curiosity and to use the gift they all received.

Sela, takes a DNA test to appease her family.She will eventually need a kidney transplant.
Not sure what she will learn,. but-- who knows? Miracles happen!
AND... the roller-coaster ride begins!
This is a great, well written novel of family, secrets, mental illness, love, and hurt!

You will want to put this book on YOUR book list! ***** stars!

Thank you Jessica Strawser, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this free copy. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinions.

I enjoyed this book because it was a very emotional and moving story about a realistic situation that most likely happens in the real world more often than people realize. Jessica Strawser did a fantastic job portraying how each character felt in their unique situations, and I felt like I got to know them throughout the book. I could see how both women felt and why they felt the way they did. I could understand their inner turmoil and love how Strawser elaborated on their feelings. What an amazing emotional roller coaster ride that will leave you feeling moved with both sadness and joy.

Sela and Doug are living as if they are divorced, but due to Sela’s health conditions, they are still legally married. Doug knows that if they legally get divorced that Sela will lose her health insurance, and given her poor health conditions, she needs the coverage now more than ever. She’s experiencing kidney failure and hasn’t been able to find a match. Even though they don’t live together, Doug feels guilty for their divorce-like situation, and does everything he can to try to help her find a match. He attends lectures, seminars, and posts on social media to try to find a match for her. Although she’s initially unwilling to do anything that Doug does, she finally takes a DNA test to see what information she can find out about her absent father. She never knew him as a child, and her mother made her promise that she would never try to find him. Now that her mother is dead, tragically at a young age, Doug convinces Sela that if her mother had known how dire the situation was she would’ve wanted Sela to try to find him.

Sela has a young son, and does her best to juggle taking care of him and working, but she knows what the future holds for her if she’s unable to find a match. Her best friend is sympathetic, but also discovers that she is unexpectedly pregnant, and is struggling to accept the pregnancy. She also feels guilty for complaining about the unexpected, and somewhat unwanted pregnancy, knowing that Sela most likely would’ve wanted more children if things hadn’t turned out the way they did with her marriage and kidney failure. Sela can’t help but to still love her ex husband, and struggles with her emotions about him. At times she’s overwhelmed and frustrated with his actions, but at other times she misses him and hates the arrangement they have of sharing custody of their young son (and dog). She never had the “normal” relationship with her mother when she was a child, but they were very close in other ways and she desperately misses her. When she finally decides to reach out to a half-sister that she never knew she had, the results opened the floodgates of every possible emotion.

Caroline and Walt have a happy marriage, and Caroline prides herself on being able to do a great job at work and still meet the demands of her three young children. She is happy with her predictable and successful life. She has always been a very logical person, and is easily able to recognize that as a trait she received from her father. Her mother and father raised her in a stable home, and she is proud that she and Walt have been able to raise their children in a loving and stable home as well. At Christmas Walt wanted to give unique gifts to the members of his and her family, so he gave each of them a kit to send off to learn more about their ancestry, genetics and history. Caroline inwardly frowned on the gift selection, but she went along with it because she was genuinely touched that Walt had gone through the effort of helping her.

When packing up to leave work one day, she is surprised to see an email from a woman named Sela who claims to be her half-sister. She blows if off and assumes that it was a mistake that the DNA company made. Despite her certainty that it had to have been a mistake, she cant shake it off and tells her husband what she discovered. They log into the accounts she created for each of the family members when Doug gave them the kits. They have to switch a default that her father had set on his account indicating that he didn’t want to know if there were relatives he didn’t know about. Instantly a notification comes up that he is the father of Sela. In a moment of panic, Caroline and Walt realize that an email notification was most likely sent to her father’s email address and realize the potential for disaster. Caroline doesn’t want to confront her father and ask him directly because then she’d have to admit what she found out and that she’d been going through his account, but at the same time she knows that he has more to explain as she does. She can’t shake off the feeling of unease and decides to stop by her parents house when she knows her mother would be out to see if he appears any different. She calls her work to let them know she’s running late, and is shocked when her mother answers the door looking ragged and tear stained. Her mother’s reaction is very abrupt when she opens the door and her father isn’t there as she’d expected he would be. When her father shows up her mother yells at him that she told him to leave. Apparently she was the one to discover the email. From that moment all of their lives are changed in ways that no one could’ve ever imagined.

This book is very thought provoking and really makes you consider the things you would do for loved ones and family. How far would you go to protect your loved ones and family members, and how far would you go to help a stranger who you unpleasantly realize is part of your family? How would you react to the circumstances that your life was different than what you had always believed it to be, and that the family you had always knows wasn’t as you had always believed it to be?

I was a little confused about the title since the cover said A Million Reasons Why, but the inside title said Too Much to Ask. Either way, the book was a great read. At first it was a little challenging because the sentence structure included sentences that seemed quite long, but I was easily able to get used to it and it did not take away from how much I enjoyed the book.

Thank you so much to Jessica Strawser, the publisher (St. Martins Press) and NetGalley for an early read, for my honest review.

THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT!!! The subject matter that the author brings to the table, is something that more and more people are coming to terms with and realizing that there might be other family members that your family might not have ever wanted to be revealed.

The way the family eventually comes back together not only have the secret is revealed, but after a health scare, shows that the author truly understands how to tackle and write emotion so that the reader can feel what these characters are going through.

Thank you again!!!

A dna test a half sister discovered part of the whirlwind excitement of this page turning novel.A book that will lead you with much to think about ,Characters well written an excellent book for book club discussions,#netgalley#st.martins press

I ha lve loved all books by Jessica Strawser and was super excited to get an ARC for her next new book. Unfortunately, for me, this book just didn't pull me in. I understand the dilemmas she was portraying and the internal conflict that come from secrets and the best of intentions Outside of these plot points, I just didn't feel for the characters and it took me a long time to get through this book due to lack of interest. I still look forward to reading more books from this author and hope her other books pull me in like they have in the past.

This is your classic "slgn-up-for-a-DNA-test-find-out-your-dad-fathered-a-half-sister-you-didnt-know-about-and-find-out-she-needs-a-kidney-transplant" type of book.

It's really just about re-evaluating the relationships with everyone in your life. Caroline realizes that her father and her mother aren't the people she thought they were. What seems idealistic is, upon further examination, pretty complicated. She has to learn how to come to grips with who her parents really are and how to let this new sibling into her life.

Sela has always been independent, but is now desperate to find a connection to save her own life. Caroline and Sela's relationship is, perhaps surprisingly, comes together easily and both sisters are quite likeable. "A Million Reasons Why" ends up a nice story about family, with alternating stops at "happy" and "sad" along the way.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance reader edition of the book. I’m not sure it the title will be “A Million Reasons Why” or “Too Much to Ask” so I’m including both here. This is the second novel that I’ve read by Jessica Strawser and difficult subject matter and families with secrets might just be her pattern. This is the story of Caroline and her newly discovered half-sister, Sela. Caroline appears to have the perfect life: married, three kids, two loving sets of grandparents for her kids, and a satisfying career. Things take an unexpected turn with the revelation that her father’s affair around the time of his marriage to her mother has resulted in a DNA match through a genetic ancestry site. Sela emails Caroline with the big reveal, but Sela, unlike Caroline, didn’t submit her DNA on a whim via a Christmas gift. She was looking for a relative that might be able to help her as she’s dying of chronic kidney disease; a match and a kidney would change Sela’s life as she’s not got much time left to be helped. Caroline comes to question so many things that happened in her life and what if things had been different. Can she accept this stranger into her heart and what is she going to do about her parents’ secrets that sent her life in the rather wonderful life that it is? A solid story about the power of family to unite, divide, frustrate and offer love in the ways that they can under circumstances they don’t always make clear.

Oh my goodness, this books rips your heart in two. Caroline and Sela are so easy to connect with and to love. I felt so much for all that Caroline dealt with for getting information regarding a half-sister.. I have to say at that start of the book, I was prepared to hate Hannah (Caroline's mother). Fred....oh Fred. He just wanted to love his wife and daughter the best way he knew how. My heart just hurts so much for Sela and her health. I loved Walt and Caroline. This book gave me so many feelings. I have to say I have very happy with the resolution and how everything ended.


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of the book. All the opinions expressed are my own.

I throughly enjoyed this book. It is not my typical genre, but maybe it should be. Realistic, emotional, makes you think about what you would do if you found yourself in the characters positions. I definitely recommend!

Thank you again NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reading this advance copy for my honest opinion!
My opinion is this is a 5 STAR read~ 2 thought strangers...2 completely different life styles eventually come together after one is diagnosed with kidney disease. One looking to find her family through DNA testing!! It brings together all the many variables that go to show how much we all need one another . Well developed characters and beautiful writing!
I highly recommend this book!
5 full stars

In Jessica Strawser's A MILLION REASONS WHY, two half-sisters are thrown together in adulthood by the surprising results of a DNA test, sending seismic ripples through their own lives and the lives of their loved ones. Book clubs and fans of Jodi Picoult will devour this beautiful and complex novel about the shifting bonds of family and the impossible questions life poses to all of us, at one time or another. Through richly drawn characters and a few satisfying plot twists, Strawser handles difficult questions with thoughtful, page-turning prose. A must-read!

A good, heartfelt novel. A DNA test as an unwanted Christmas present leads a woman to realizing she has a half-sister. One’s life looks perfect as the other one’s life is in need, literally. Characters were well-written and likable through this plot with twists. This book definitely pulled at my heartstrings and made me wonder “what would I do?”.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.