Night Road

I decided to read this for a prompt for a book about a difficult topic for a challenge I'm doing. It had drink driving, accidentally killing your best friend, going to prison and finding out you're pregnant, giving your baby to your boyfriend thinking she'd have a great life and then when released finding out her life isn't that great. So many lives hurt from one night. So glad that it all worked out in the end though.

As a huge fan of Kristin's Hannah's more recent novels, I decided to read this one from her backlist. While I did not love this as much as some others, it was a good book. This story involves several serious topics woven together in one tragic tale. It is a very emotional book.

The storyline centers around one young woman and the family of her best friend. Lexi has had a difficult childhood in foster care. Luckily, she is taken in by her aunt when is fourteen, and she befriends a shy girl named Mia. They become best friends, and Mia's family “adopts” Lexi as one of their own. Lexi then forms a relationship with Mia's twin brother, Zach, which further connects her to the family. However, when a error in judgment leads to an accident that impacts their lives forever, the bonds between Lexi and Mia's family are shattered. The story takes the reader on a journey that will reveal whether those bonds of love can be reformed.

The story is told from two perspectives, Lexi's and Jude's. Jude is Mia's and Zach's mother, and she is overprotective of her children. Her chapters reveal a woman who loves her family intensely, but seeks to control them and her surroundings. That control is fragile, and she struggles when cracks begin to form. Lexi's presence in their lives threatens some of Jude's control. Lexi's chapters reveal a young woman seeking acceptance and love. She has a strong sense of morals and fairness, which leads her to make some faulty choices to “protect” others.

At times, the plot feels a bit overdone. There are so many serious topics pulled into the storyline. I was able to predict where certain parts of the storyline were headed because of the use of these common topics. It is like I had read the story before. Even so, it affected me. I pulled at my heartstrings many times.

Overall, the book is good, and I enjoyed reading it. Is it groundbreaking and original? No. Will it suck you in and make you cry? Yes. I would recommend it to fans of Kristin Hannah. Just don't expect it to be like her recent historical fictions books.

This was hard for me to read. I am a mother of 4 and had a lot of fears while they were growing up, and this book...whew...this book showcases one of my biggest fears. I had so many terrorizing moments while my babies were growing up. Shoot, I still have them now as they are making their way in life in their 20s.

Kristin Hannah sure knows how to bring the emotion and the rawness of pain.

It's with a heavy heart that I write this review. Not because of the book; it was great. Because it was the last available Kristin Hannah book that I hadn't read yet. I still can't find her first one (A Handful of Heaven - 1991).

NIGHT ROAD really pulled at my heartstrings. Maybe because I'm a mom. I fell in love with Jude and Miles crazy twin teenagers and then—disaster struck. I was relieved that this set of teens seemed to have a decent relationship with their mom. The last few Hannah books that I've read had very contentious relations between the mom and the teenage daughter.

Of course, I stayed gripped with anxiety right until the end. Maybe it hit me doubly hard because my daughter was born the same year at the teenage characters. All the music, clothes, and cars were all so familiar. Too much so. I thought the granddaughter would resolve everything, but that just shows you how wrong I was. I took more than that for Jude to recover.

Keep the Kleenex close for this one. Loved it.