I fell in love with Kristin Hannah's books last year when I read True Colors and then, my favorite, Firefly Lane. I think what I love most about her books is that they are easy to read but they are emotionally challenging. The characters come alive through her vivid descriptions and dialogue, but they are always complicated and are never predictable.
Night Road is centered around the Farraday family. Jude and Miles are the parents; Mia and Zach are their twin children. Mia is awkward and friendless; Zach is the golden boy. Enter Lexi, a teenage girl who has been part of the foster care system her entire life. Her father is gone, her mother dead from drug use and other bad choices. All Lexi wants is a family. Her Aunt Eva comes to save the day. Lexi pays it forward by becoming Mia's only friend and eventually her best friend. At this point in the book everyone is happy and all is as it should be, but there's still 250 more pages in the book and you know something is going to happen to overturn it all. You would be right. This upheaval happens not once, but twice, and some could argue three times. I never saw any of it coming.
It was hard not to relate to Jude, the helicopter mom. She wants what's best for her children and she manages every aspect of their lives right down to what college they will attend. But, the one time she doesn't do this, her life changes in an instant. So, this makes me wonder: is the point that I should micro-manage my kids? Will they turn out like Mia and Zach if I let them make their own choices and have their freedom? Is it better for me to take my girls everywhere and call their friends' parents and watch their every step? Honestly, right now I am terrified of what might happen to them if I don't do these things.
I also had to ask myself how I would've reacted had Jude's life been mine. Would I have crashed and turned inward, crying all day, never eating, and become horribly depressed? Or, would I have turned my efforts 110% to my second child and driven that child insane? Or, would I have just stopped loving everyone? I pray that I may never know the answers to these questions.
Another reason I love Kristin Hannah is that her books always turn out as they should. That doesn't mean that the ending of her books are always happy, just that they end as they should. Lucky for us, Night Road ends in both ways: happy and as it should.
I just finished this book and read the last 50 pages with tissues in hand. My children were watching the ending of Toy Story 3 as I read. Both endings pushed me to the tears limit. I have no tears left today, as a result.
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