Sunday, December 23, 2012

Book Review: Once More With Feeling

Author: Megan Crane
Publication Date: December 6, 2012
Publisher: Quercus

She's suffered the very worst of betrayals. And now Sarah's facing a divorce she never expected. With Christmas around the corner, what better time to re-evaluate her life? As she reconsiders every choice she's made, she starts to wonder if her life was so perfect after all. This winter, lose yourself in Sarah's world of unmade decisions, lost friends and old flames...



We, we, we. I felt noble. I nodded along earnestly. He’d cheated on me, in my own bed, with my sister, and yet I sat at the tiny table too close to the busy kitchen and felt gracious. I’ll show him how reasonable and logical I am, I thought fiercely, as if our divorce were a competition and I could actually win it.” – Paperback Copy pg. 16

“I wanted to go home. I wanted that more than anything, with a yearning that seemed to sear right through me. But I didn’t want to maroon myself in that empty house of mine that sat up there on top of the hill – that monument to my completely fake life. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew it wasn’t that.” – Paperback Copy pg. 83

“He moved around the kitchen with that efficiency and grace that I discovered I still found entirely too attractive. I settled myself gingerly on one of the stools next to the granite counter at the kitchen island. He poured me a big mug of coffee and then slapped down a carton of hazelnut creamer beside it, without asking or even really looking at me. When he brought over his own mug and leaned against the counter across from me, he also slid a packet of sweetener and a spoon over my way.” – Paperback Copy pg. 204

“‘Friends don’t let friends cope with the aftermath of a cheating husband’s coma alone,’ Brooke said staunchly, as if she’d dealt with things like this so many times she’d put together some kind of Guide to Cheating Husbands and Comas. It made me smile to imagine it. As if it were a chapter in something she edited, and something brightly lit and fun, and maybe we would all go out for fruity cocktails afterward.” – Paperback Copy pg. 289

This book is one that you will want to grab a warm cup of cocoa and cuddle up with under a blanket for awhile. I read this book in one sitting and I purposefully saved it for close to the holidays. As I read this book I was hit with tons of emotions and I felt like I was facing a harsh winter storm with our main character, Sarah, who has just found out that her husband is cheating on her…with her sister. This book takes readers on a rocky roller coaster ride as we are with Sarah every step of the way, as she tries to put her life back in order.

I experienced Sarah’s tears, hurt, and happiness as it came to her, and I was pleased with how realistic she was as a character. She was fully developed and grew as a person after all the many events and happenings that she has to face in this novel. She lashed out at times and I really enjoyed this because who wouldn’t lash out after finding their husband sleeping with their sister? I know that I would. We walk through everything with Sarah, as the reader, and she welcomes us into her life as she struggles with some tough decisions, like confronting her ex-husband, Tim. I have read several other reviews as well and Sarah is all that people can talk about. She is a real person; someone that you can really picture in your mind and eventually becomes your best friend by the time the book is finished.

Megan Crane has constructed a very vibrant array of characters and has developed a wonderful supporting cast. She took a story/plot that I am sure many of us have read several times – divorce and its aftermath – and made it brand new. She brings all of her characters to life and gives them roles and characteristics that make them seem all the more real to the reader. I enjoyed this book so much because it really makes you re-evaluate your own life as well. Some of the thoughts and processes that Sarah goes through made me question if I am living my life to the fullest or if I could be doing more. Watching Sarah come through this awful time in her life, with the help of some great supporting characters, was very inspirational and very well written. I enjoyed each and every page of this book!

***Thank you to the author, Megan Crane, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review***










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