📘 Saving Each Other
by Stacy Mitchell
Genre Fiction ◦ Romance
Publication 2017
Format & Source Print ◦ For review
Dates Read June 27 – Jul 6, 2018
Rating ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
📝 My Review
Saving Each Other is an emotional roller coaster that you’ll enjoy being on.
A tragic night involving a drunk driver brings huge loss to two young people. Dani loses her husband in the same accident that Ean loses his pregnant wife and son. Both see the same grief counselor who sets them up on a healing experiment. Knowing that they both experienced the same loss, they are each given a special phone and each other’s first initial. They are to text each other for emotional support without giving personal information or details, and they’re not to meet. The two suffer through their losses together, holding each other up and surviving the ups and downs of incredible grief and loss. Though the rules state that they’re never to meet or know whom the other is, fate has other plans as these two form a remarkable bond via text over their shared grief.
As you can see, this book is quite a heavy hitter. We’re entrenched in the losses and depths of despair as these two cope with the initial loss of their loved ones. The unbearable pain is evident, but so is the progress they slowly begin to make as time passes and wounds begin to heal in just the slightest. We see them at their lowest, and then we see them start to dig themselves out too. We see moments of hope, of clarity, of joy, as they realize they can laugh again and even live again.
This book was a really quick read for me, which is always a good thing. It had a “new adult” feel to it, which I don’t read often but find myself enjoying. With such a unique premise and characters I cared about, I was able to fly through the story. I was engaged and interested from the start and couldn’t wait to see what would develop from the heartbreak and pain. I was rooting for them the whole time, and cringing anytime there were missed opportunities. I couldn’t wait to keep reading so I could see what would happen and if they’d finally – finally! – meet.
Despite really enjoying the story itself, I have some minor complaints. I felt the writing could have used some improvement. The chapters alternate between the two characters, and I didn’t find their voices to be distinctive enough from one another. I also thought some of the dialogue was a bit contrived and unrealistic, and also caught some small errors (ex. “too” and “to” used interchangeably). I definitely think these issues can be improved upon though, and I certainly have plans to read the author’s future works and look forward to continuing on with the series.
All in all, this really was a beautiful story about recovering from loss and tragedy. It shows that you should always have hope, and that second chances are always lurking around the corner even when you least expect them. Despite some minor setbacks, I was still able to thoroughly enjoy the story.
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