by Jessica Strawser
Hardcover- $17.04
"Almost Missed You is a skillful, insightful debut: a deft exploration of the mysteries of marriage, the price we pay for our secrets, and ...
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Just last evening an alarm sounded on my iPhone, signaling another Amber alert of a child abduction, probably a parental kidnapping. That is the main subject of ALMOST MISSED YOU. Violet’s husband, Finn, has left her waiting on the beach while he has taken off with their 3-year-old son. She did not see the problems in their marriage that led to this because of his lies of omission. And Violet realizes that she, too, kept quiet when she should have spoken up.
Meanwhile, Violet’s and Finn’s good friends, Caitlin and George, have hidden problems of their own, not to mention Caitlin’s lies of omission that contributed to Violet’s and Finn’s troubles. And, like Violet and Finn, Caitlin and George are each lying to the other by omission.
Fans of women’s fiction, which I am not, will love ALMOST MISSED YOU. The novel explores, mostly, the two couple’s friendships, marriages, and lies of omission that threaten to tear it all apart. This subject matter is too soap operaish for me, but is popular with so many people that the term “women’s fiction” was coined just for them.
So ALMOST MISSED YOU contains lots of secrets and lies, and that is essentially it. A story like this doesn’t appeal to me. Yes, lots of people would disagree with me. I would have disagreed, too, when I was a young adult.
Interesting read, somewhat slow at times. Our book club had a lively discussion, however. We had all hoped for better character development, but overall, it was an easy read.
Finn and Violet are star crossed lovers who finally connect. Then Finn does the unthinkable. It is a story of lies, secrets and deceit and a mother's love.
The first half of the book does not flow evenly because it jumps back and forth through the years, but midway it comes together and makes it a story worth reading.
The deep dark secrets turn out not to be so deep and dark but rather troubles people normally go through. It wasn't the huge surprise drama that I thought it would be. The ending sort of petered out....although it left room for a sequel.
This book was about 2 families intertwined by a college friendship. One family is faced with a unexplainable crime where the culprit interacts and is blackmailing a member of the other family so that he can hide out and not be found.
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