Author: Angela Hunt
Publisher: Focus on the Family
Release Date: November 1, 2023
A heavy novel tackling a topic that is uncomfortable, unsettling, and unfortunately all too real.
Maddie is a sixteen-year-old girl living with her parents in Atlanta. Her mother is a workaholic lawyer who throws herself into her cases and her father is a pharmaceutical sales rep who does well. She is a typical teenager dealing with usual stuff, but after her dad commits suicide the day after Christmas, everything changes. Her mother grieves by working harder and Maddie is sent to live with her paternal grandparents, who are also grieving the death of their only son. Maddie makes new friends at St. Petersberg high school, but when unexpected turmoil falls on the group, suicide comes back into the picture. Maddie doesn’t know what to do, but feels like she starts to understand why people turn to this option.
This book dives into the difficulties loved ones face after someone they know commits suicide. It also hits close to home because when I was young, I had a friend that took his own life without any explanation left behind and sent a bunch of us reeling. So, I understand some of what Maddie is experiencing, but she gets multiple doses of it throughout the pages of this story. I think this book would be good for young adults and parents/grandparents, etc. to read to find some talking points about this. It is a real issue and I’m glad that Hunt is bringing it to light by pen and paper.
I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.
Write - Read - Life 