Friday, March 10, 2017

Abby's Journey (Review and Giveaway)

**This post contains affiliate links that I may make a commission from, though all opinions are my own.**

It's my birthday! While I could give you a meaningful post, I'm going to put that on hold and instead give you a book review. Not just a review,  but a giveaway too. Good luck, lambs!

Abby's Journey - Steena Holmes 
Twenty-year-old Abigail Turner has only known her mother, Claire—who died shortly after she was born—through letters, videos, postcards, and journals. Abby’s father, Josh, has raised his precious daughter himself, but his overprotectiveness has become stifling. Abby longs to forge out on her own and see the world after a childhood trapped indoors: she suffers from bronchopulmonary dysplasia, which means a case of the sniffles can rapidly escalate into life-threatening pneumonia.
But when Abby’s doctor declares her healthy—for now—her grandmother Millie whisks her away to Europe to visit the Christmas markets that her mother cherished and chronicled in her travel journals. Despite her father’s objections, Abby and Millie embark on a journey of discovery in which Abby will learn secrets that force her to reevaluate her image of her mother and come to a more mature understanding of a parent-child bond that transcends death.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Steena Holmes offers a tender and heartfelt exploration of parental love and a daughter’s longing for connection in the poignant next chapter following Saving Abby.
It had been awhile since I've read Saving Abby, and I wish I had more time in my review schedule to have read that and then this one so it was back to back, but alas... life had other plans. I am such a fan of Steena Holmes anyways so I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed. For anyone who has lost a parent, particularly the same sex parent, I think this book is going to grab at your heartstrings. In this book, Abby has been declared healthy enough to explore the world essentially, she takes the first chance she can to go with her grandmother to learn about her mother. Not just that, but Abby is hoping that while learning about her mother she discovers herself and maybe find the connection with the mother she never knew. I guess what pulled at me was that while reading her mother's journals, Abby feels like her mother had an unfulfilled life, a sadness, an emptiness. In all, I kind of related to her mother in a way and reading this made me wonder if my daughters would feel like Abby as an adult? I don't know. But as we work our way through the book I was so worried about the ending (or specifically, the ending after Claire dies) and it's good. I felt so much better about the entire story, like there was a point to the trip, all of Abby's unsure feelings about her mom, and I think in the end it was the best thing for Abby's relationship with her father, too.

Overall I'm giving this book 4/5 stars. I really liked the book and it's such a great follow up to the first book, and I am so glad we got the answers about Abby's mother and I totally get why it warranted its own story. Well done!!

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday!! Thank you for your review and for reading Abby's Journey!

Heather J @ TLC Book Tours said...

I'm glad we get to know more of the story about Abby - what a life she has had!

Thanks for being a part of the tour!