Book Review: A MIllion Reasons Why by Jessica Strawser

  Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook free of charge, from St Martin's Press, via #netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own

Synopsis:

When two strangers are linked by a mail-in DNA test, it’s an answered prayer—that is, for one half-sister. For the other, it will dismantle everything she knows to be true.

But as they step into the unfamiliar realm of sisterhood, the roles will reverse in ways no one could have foreseen.

Caroline lives a full, happy life—thriving career, three feisty children, enviable marriage, and a close-knit extended family. She couldn’t have scripted it better. Except for one thing:

She’s about to discover her fundamental beliefs about them all are wrong.

Sela lives a life in shades of gray, suffering from irreversible kidney failure. Her marriage crumbled in the wake of her illness. Her beloved mother and lifelong best friend passed away. She refuses to be defined by her grief, but still, she worries about what will happen to her two-year-old son if she doesn’t find a donor match in time.

She’s the only one who knows Caroline is her half-sister. That Caroline may be her best hope for a future. But Sela’s world isn’t as clear-cut as it appears—and one misstep could destroy it all.

After all, would you risk everything to save the life of the person who turned yours upside down?

From the moment Caroline meets Sela, both must reexamine what it really means to be family, the depths of a mother’s love, and the limits and the power of forgiveness.

Review:

Ah the ancestral style DNA tests. How much havoc they can cause, when family secrets suddenly get burst wide open! Caroline suddenly goes from being an only to child, to having a sibling. oh the joy! But is it? What if you are suddenly faced with realizing that he person you've met isn't showing you the whole truth about themselves, and there is a possible evil reason for them wanting to meet you, not an altruistic one. And what if you realize that the sibling you didn't know, has led the life you had wanted and walked away from? Does sibling jealously even cover it? This novel look at family dynamics has a twist of an ending and isn't to be missed!

About the Author:

JESSICA STRAWSER is the author of the book club favorites Almost Missed You, Not That I Could Tell (a Book of the Month selection) and Forget You Know Me. She is Editor-at-Large for Writer’s Digest, and her work has appeared in The New York Times' Modern Love, Publishers Weekly, and other fine venues. She lives with her husband and two children in Cincinnati.