Kendra Smith arrives on the blog today with a multi-generational story of potential: lost, found, filled and hoped for with
Take a Look at Me Now
Maddie has hit the doldrums: empty nest, not really seeing her husband as a partner, worries for her aunt-in-law and her failing health, feeling adrift and not a little nostalgic for the “Maddie that used to be”. All topped off with a reunion where she ran into her first love, felt a ‘zing’ and never really moved forward from that point. Meanwhile, Olive, her husband’s aunt and Maddie’s favorite of all his relations is in a care home near to their house, and Maddie is seeing her deterioration into the confusion of dementia: something she went through with her own father and isn’t interested in it again.
Much of this story, although I wanted to find something new and hopeful was a re-hash of Maddie’s what-ifs list: and her desperately (and often clumsily) attempting to ‘regrasp’ something she felt she lost. And that’s great – if there is some emotional component to the moments – but the only truly heartfelt moments are with Olive and her belief and caring for Maddie- the rest of the time feels very “overview from a distance” without much context that brings new issues to focus or light. And when we add in Maddie’s rather childish fantasies of moments with her first love, the desperation and grasping for that “connection’ even though none seems apparent, there wasn’t much of Maddie left for us to hold onto.
It was pleasant if repetitive, glossy without real tangible depth, and while the moments with Olive and the struggles as yet another person is “leaving but still there” for Maddie, there was not much else memorable or particularly moving. It’s best described (for me) as a beach read – easy to leave, easy to pick up, little investment required or asked of readers. Sad, because I had heard great things about this author’s earlier works and was hoping that this would compare. For me, it didn’t.
Title: Take a Look at Me Now
Author: Kendra Smith
Genre: British, Contemporary Woman's Fiction, Family Saga, Friendship, Grief, Romantic Elements, Second Chance
Published by: Aria
ISBN: 9781789541885
Published on: 16 April, 2020
Format:eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Pages: 349
Rated:
Heat:
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Maddie Brown has spent most of her life putting everyone else's needs above her own. But with her marriage crumbling and her son away on a gap year, Maddie is finally ready to start thinking about what she really wants. If only she knew what that was...
In with the... ex?
At a university reunion, Maddie meets Greg. He was the love of her life – and the one that got away. Some things never change, and neither of them can deny the feelings that linger between them. But there are so many reasons they can't be together... not least the massive secret she has been keeping from him all these years.
Maddie is SO ready for a brand new start. But what do you do when the past just won't stay in the past?
A copy of this title was provided via Publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
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