Very cool idea for a book, and an excellent execution of that idea. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Recommended. .

I didn't love the way this book was laid out, I dislike books that do too much foreshadowing and not enough exposition. But there's something about this tale that just got under my skin and gripped me. I'm glad I didn't give up.

This book moved somewhat slowly in the beginning but picked up speed the further along you read. I almost put it down a couple of times but found myself intrigued enough to pick it back up and continue on with the story. I wanted to know what road all these different choices in her life led her on and how they affected the past and the present in combination. Overall, the storybuilding was great. It spanned decades and told a beautiful tale of life and adventure through the eyes of a very human main character. She very often made the wrong decisions or did the wrong things and I liked her for that, though it was frustrating at times.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book. It... wasn't for me and if I don't have nice things to say... then this is the sum total of my review.

Told as a confession to her son who is in a coma, the main character relays her past which regretfully is full of indiscretions.

I tried to hard to finish this book, the plot had potential but unfortunately I just could not get into the writing the style. The author writes in a first person perspective which means we are hearing the story as if we were her son.. it was incredibly confusing and just felt awkward. I got less then halfway through it.

Very fast paced, page turner. While these aren't my go-to type of books, I was in the mood for something Girl on the Train like and this fit the bill!

Eh... I don't think this style of book is really my thing.

Pros: I like the author's sense of language and description. She is a skillful writer.

Cons: I'm not a fan of books written in second person. I think the book might have worked fine in first or third. Having the narrator tell the story to her son was distracting and even jarring sometimes (should she really be describing her sexual misadventures in detail? ew). I also don't care for books that don't flow in a somewhat linear fashion. This book jumped around haphazardly, back and forth, past and present, back and forth, in a dizzying fashion, particularly in the first half of the book. Also not a huge fan of books that save the Big Reveal for later but hint at it for about 200 pages. (Gone Girl is a different story!) I frequently find that when the Reveal is actually revealed, I've either guessed it long time ago or I don't really care by the time we are told because it was too protracted. There are a couple reveals - one is obvious, one was not and made me go "WHAT?!" That was fun, though that particular secret also made me go ewwww (you'll understand if you read the book).

In the end - I just felt like it was one big story about a woman who made and continued to make dumb, dumb choices. She was just so frustrating, frequently pathetic, and hard to understand. And there's a line near the end where she essentially shrugs everything off and says, "Oh well, we all make mistakes but we're all deserving of forgiveness" - and while yes, this is a true statement, the way she said it struck me as callous and selfish and lacking in true remorse, and it made me dislike her even more.

I received an ARC from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks Random House Publishing Group - Random House and netgalley for this ARC.

Sometimes a little thing will affect our lives more than we thought. This is one of those stories