This review was commissioned by Harper Collins.
From the moment we meet Hazel and her mother, Jane, and the rest of their family, it is evident that there is a lot of tension and misunderstanding in their blended familial dynamic. We see how Jane’s remarriage to a perfectly fine man named Cam and the birth of a set of twin boys has served to push Hazel and Jane, once a tight-knit family of two, further apart than they have ever been.
There is a lot of honest and raw thoughts and emotions in this story, from the very beginning when we meet Hazel and throughout as the two women work through things to a well-written and sensible conclusion that is satisfyingly tied up for the characters and the people they love.
As a member of a blended family I can say that I am very familiar with how a parent marrying when a child is older, or on the cusp of adulthood, changes dynamics and I applaud Brianna Wolfson for being so earnest and honest in how she approached this type of a story.
It definitely resonated with me; I am still trying to determine in my own heart whether the resonance was one of healing or of old wounds reopening.