“It's men who trust they will suffer no consequences for their actions, while women suffer no matter what they do.”

Living her entire life in front of the camera, Essie must play the greatest role of her life - deciding her own future. First she waits. Waits on others to decide how to deal with her unplanned pregnancy and the PR nightmare to follow. Essie plays the game, placing tiny pieces along the way to curve the narrative around her will. She convinces her mother to let her pick Roarke, and then recruits the help of a reporter who has her own family crisis. Though Essie’s family thinks they’ve got it all figured out, Essie reveals the scandal of a lifetime.

Religious plots are a bit of a chance, but I couldn’t help picking this one up after a recommendation from a friend. The story plays close to home, similar in style to a very well known, large family on TV today who had their own scandal grace the newstands a few years ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the catalyst to Wier’s inspiration, though this isn’t the only historic event to make an appearance in the book.

Weir writes a compelling story that draws the reader in. Right up front we’re told the issue - Essie is pregnant. She secretly listens to the PR meeting from the laundry room, setting the stage for Essie’s role in the family, an issue the book deals with throughout, and the roles and personalities of the other main characters in the book. In text book terms, I think Weir’s beginning was very strong, clear cut, and a great way to make clear what will be happening.

Weir does a great job of picking and choosing who should tell which scenes in the story. Breaking the narrative into three POV, she shows the scenes from an outside voice instead of the character being directly affected. In many cases this plays out well. I love emotionally charged stories. I love getting into the character’s head and delving into their exact emotions during the moment. But in Weir’s case, stepping back from the immediate emotions let the story shine through.

For example, the lively little shocking reveals throughout. It’s no surprise who the father is… If you think for a second, you should be able to figure it out, but some of the other reveal were a nice little surprise.

They all kept me wanting to turn the page.

Each POV reads like the star of the show. They are written with a detailed back story, and have their own moments to shine in the narrative, which I think plays back into who was in charge of delivering the information in certain moments. Weir choice to write from the three POVs was smart. It added a dynamic element that could have been lost through only one view point.

Essie felt so real. Not that she had great character qualities to stand her above the rest, but because Weir took the time with her sculpting. Nothing read fake or out of character for Essie. She could be the girl down the street - a girl with her own reality television show. I really appreciate well detailed characters, however, the well created simple ones can also pull me into the story.

And though Weir took such detail with the three main protagonists, the family dynamics where confusing at times and I felt they weren’t given enough time. I couldn’t keep track of the other children, losing count constantly, and who was married or not. For a time, it read like there were only two siblings, but I think there are actually four. (Maybe… it’s still a guess)

Weir still read as a debut novel. Her sentences became redundant at times, either too drawn out or the same pattern. Sentences need to flow, have rhythm, and be of different styles to draw the reader in and see through the window to the story behind. Other times I had to reread sentences to get to the picture. Maybe each of these could have been better dealt with by an editor. I’m surprised they weren’t caught.

The overall story was dynamic and a well earned 4 stars. I enjoyed every minute.

Happy Reading

Love Kait

Reading Challenge: 100/100