Review by Booklist Review
The latest family drama from best-selling Green (Saving Grace, 2014) centers on a woman engaged in a lifelong struggle for sobriety. As a teen, Cat drinks to be comfortable in a crowd, but at 29, she begins to recognize how very destructive this behavior is when she wakes up in bed with a sympathetic recovering alcoholic named Jason. Cat is relieved to learn that they did not have sex and immediately takes an interest in Jason, even though she is annoyed by his insistence that she join AA. Cat manages to stay mostly sober for a while, until her mother tells her that her father isn't the austere Englishman who raised her but an American artist who lives on Nantucket. Cat jets off to see her newfound family despite Jason's concerns about her drinking, and sure enough, she soon falls off the wagon, with disastrous results. Years later, a now-sober Cat returns to Nantucket to make amends. Fans of Green's novels will feel at home in this compelling story of a woman struggling with addiction and seeking forgiveness. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Launched with a hefty initial print run and an extensive publicity campaign, Green's latest will draw bring in droves of readers.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Even though her life as a journalist in London includes fancy parties and plenty of imbibing, Cat has never quite felt like she belonged. When she finds out that her mother had an affair and that her father is an American she's never met, she thinks she's finally found the missing puzzle piece. But when she goes to Nantucket, MA, to meet her new family, her visit quickly sours when she drinks too much and betrays her half sister. Despite Cat's destructive behavior, she marries the love of her life, a recovering alcoholic himself, who she believes will help her change. Ultimately, it takes hitting rock bottom and losing all she holds dear to begin healing-and the final stop on her road to recovery is Nantucket, where she will to try to make amends. VERDICT Although Green's (Tempting Fate; Jemima J; Family Pictures) latest has the requisite shopping, gay best friend, and kissing scenes, the theme of alcoholism running throughout lends it a more serious tone. The story line and flawed characters will give readers something to think about when they bring Green's latest to the beach. [See Prepub Alert, 11/24/14.]-Anika Fajardo, St. Paul, MN © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Before sobriety, Catherine "Cat" Coombs had it all: fun friends, an exciting job, and a love affair with alcohol. Until she blacked out one more time and woke up in a stranger's bed. By that time, "having it all" had already devolved into hiding the extent of her drinking from everyone she cared about, including herself. Luckily for Cat, the stranger turned out to be Jason Halliwell, a rather delicious television director marking three years, eight months, and 69 days of sobriety. Inspired by Jasonor rather, inspired by the prospect of a romantic relationship with this handsome hunkCat joins him at AA meetings and embarks on her own journey toward clarity. But sobriety won't work until Cat commits to it for herself. Their relationship is tumultuous, as Cat falls off the wagon time and again. Along the way, Cat discovers that the cold man she grew up endlessly failing to please was not her real father, and with his death, her mother's secret escapes. So she heads for Nantucket, where she meets her drunken dad and two half sistersone boisterously welcoming and the other sulkily suspiciousand where she commits an unforgivable blunder. Years later, despairing of her persistent relapses, Jason has left Cat, taking their daughter with him. Finally, painfully, Cat gets clean. Green (Saving Grace, 2014, etc.) handles grim issues with a sure hand, balancing light romance with tense family drama. She unflinchingly documents Cat's humiliations under the influence and then traces her commitment to sobriety. Simultaneously masking the motivations of those surrounding our heroine, Green sets up a surprising karmic lesson. As she seeks to repair bridges, Cat awakens anger and treachery in the hearts of those she once betrayed. Making amends, like addiction, may endanger her future. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
