This series is either a I'll read it or people would avoid it due to the content in the book as currently school shootings and shootings in the US is rife at the moment, so this book hits a bit closer to home for some people. Myself, I have always loved reading the edgier books and school shootings have always fascinated me as I was 11 -12 when the Columbine school shooting happened and for my 13th birthday, my Aunt brought me a copy of the book Rachel's Tears which was the journal based on Rachel Scott - one of the victims from the shooting. In Stillwater Rising, it was similar to a book I had read in the past and it had made me question whether I had already read this one but looking on Goodreads, I hadn't. This book starts in the aftermath of the shooting where parents are grieving their children who were killed by our shooter Gabe Berry - Gabe walked into a primary school one morning and shot 11 students. The school principal Jordan was hailed as a hero but he has a dark secret and it has been eating at him, what happens when the secret is revealed to his wife Charlotte - the mayor of Stillwater? Jennifer is grieving the loss of her son and seeing the news that the school has re-opened has made that wound feel raw again now she is ready to campaign to have the school shut down and then we have Julia - she was the mother of Gabe and is having to live with the consequences of what her son did and is being tormented from the inside and out. Can Julia still be shown that there are people in her small community who don't blame her for what happened? I did love this book as it showed the aftermath by focusing on the smalltown and the families and trying to move forth without focusing on the killers' perspective. I am now looking forward to reading the next two books in the series. Stillwater Rising by Steena Holmes is the perfect read for fans of Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, The Hate List by Jennifer Brown, and Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong.

This is actually the second book in this series, the first being a .5 novella that tells the beginning of this story. I am glad that I started with that novella, but could have just as easily picked up Stillwater Rising and enjoyed it just as much as I did.

Steena Holmes is tackling an incredibly sensitive and real subject. The sad truth is school shootings are becoming too common. This story is so heart wrenching yet heart touching also. It shows how families, whether they lose someone in the shootings or not, manage to find a new normalcy and go on with life. In Stillwater Bay the citizens are awesome. They support each other and pull together to support the sisters, brothers, and other children that were affected by the happenings of their town.

I loved the small town feel of Stillwater Bay. The small town shops, the small town diners, and the small town fairs. Everyone knows everyone, there are no secrets (except for a REALLY big one), and yet there is very little judgment. I love this feeling. This is the type of town that I grew up in.
I cannot rave enough about this series. Start with the novella and continue on with Stillwater Rising. The next book in this series cannot be available soon enough.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

After losing her son in an elementary school shooting that devastates the tight-knit community of Stillwater Bay, Jennifer Crowne finds herself unable to settle back into her role of perfect stay-at-home mom and committee organizer. Meanwhile, her best friend, Mayor Charlotte Stone, struggles to keep the town together, and Charlotte’s husband, the school principal, may not be the hero everyone thinks him to be.
As they try to heal from this irrevocable trauma, Jenn and Charlotte find themselves at a crossroads—within the town and within their friendship. For Jenn, broken and grieving, there is no going back, and she demands that the school be closed so that she can bury the past. Yet Charlotte is equally desperate to hold the town together, fighting the school closure and helping the shooter’s mother regain her place in the community. Jenn and Charlotte’s relationship is put to the ultimate test as each weighs her own interests against the bonds of their friendship.

I had read a lot about Steena Holmes' fiction and, when I saw the opportunity to give this book a read, I thought I would give it a go. And I was pleasantly surprised.

In short, this is a novel about the resilience of a community after a school shooting. At the heart of this book is three women - Jennifer, the mother of a murdered child; Julia, the mother of the perpetrator; and Charlotte, the mayor of the town. As the story unfolds, the friendship between Jennifer and Charlotte is tested in many ways, and Julia goes into hiding as the guilt becomes overwhelming.

The one thing that a story like this needs is strong characters and this book knocked that requirement out of the park. These three women bring this story to life and the reader can't help but get attached to at least one of them. On top of that, the community of Stillwater Bay is such a believable setting - in that, I can picture the coffee shop and the main street etc. Easy to fall into a story when the setting is great too.

My one issue, and the reason it failed to hit a 5-star was the actual shooting. I know, I know - we don't need the grisly details but I felt a little disconnected from the story to start as it felt like the most important part of this story happened "off-camera" - I just think a few pages as a prologue could have been enough to really put us there with Jennifer (in particular) and Charlotte.

Overall, a seriously good story that deals with a very tough subject.


Paul
ARH