Book Review: GIRL UNMOORED by Jennifer Gooch Hummer.

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Booksparks PR, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.

Synopsis:

Apron Bramhall has come unmoored. In Maine. In 1985. She is adrift in an emotional sea of chaos. Her mother has died, her father is about to marry a wicked witch and her best friend has dumped her for a newer model. Fortunately, she’s about to be saved by Jesus. Not that Jesus—the actor who plays him in Jesus Christ Superstar. Apron is desperate to avoid the look-alike Mike, who’s suddenly everywhere, until she’s stuck in church with him one day. Then something happens—Apron’s broken teenage heart blinks on for the first time since she’s been adrift.

Mike and his boyfriend, Chad, offer her a summer job in their flower store, and Apron’s world seems to calm. But when she uncovers Chad’s secret, stormy seas return. Coming of age becomes almost too much to bear, but Apron starts to see things the adults around her fail to—like what love really means, and who is paying too much for it.

Apron has come unmoored, but now she’ll need to take the helm if she’s to get herself and those she loves to safe harbor.

Review: There has only been one book this year that made me cry (this one), but Girl Unmoored made me reach for the tissue box! I intended to read 4-5 chapters and stayed up til 3 am reading the book from cover to cover, as I could NOT put it down! The author has crafted such an endearing character in Apron (yes it was an misunderstanding and not meant to be her name), that your heart will hurt for all the hurt she has suffered and will suffer.

For those who became adults in the period of the book, the realities that Apron has to contend with may be ones that were in your own life. Things that now we have control over, we didn't then. If you can get through this book without shedding some tears, I'd be very surprised. I'm not sure if a movie could ever do this book justice- there are too many nuances and quirks, that I don't think would translate well. But it is a book that I urge everyone to read, and love! I know it will be one of 'the' books of the year!


About the Author:Jennifer Gooch Hummer is the award-winning author of her debut novel, Girl Unmoored. She has worked as a script analyst for various talent agencies and major film studios. Her short stories have been published in Miranda Magazine, Our Stories, and Glimmertrain. A graduate of Kenyon College, she has continued studies in the Writer's Program at UCLA, where she was nominated for the Kirkwood Prize in fiction. Currently, Jennifer lives in Southern California and Maine with her husband and their three daughters.  For more information, visit www.jennifergoochhummer.com