Sunday 24 April 2016

Review: The Year We Turned Forty by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke

If you could repeat one year of your life, what would you do differently? This heartwarming and hilarious novel from the authors of The Status of All Things and Your Perfect Life features three best friends who get the chance to return to the year they turned forty—the year that altered all of their lives, in ways big and small—and also get the opportunity to change their future.

Jessie loves her son Lucas more than anything, but it tears her up inside that he was conceived in an affair that ended her marriage to a man she still loves, a man who just told her he's getting remarried. This time around, she’s determined to bury the secret of Lucas’ paternity, and to repair the fissures that sent her wandering the first time.

Gabriela regrets that she wasted her most fertile years in hot pursuit of a publishing career. Yes, she’s one of the biggest authors in the world, but maybe what she really wanted to create was a family. With a chance to do it again, she’s focused on convincing her husband, Colin, to give her the baby she desires.

Claire is the only one who has made peace with her past: her twenty-two year old daughter, Emily, is finally on track after the turmoil of adolescence, and she's recently gotten engaged, with the two carat diamond on her finger to prove it. But if she’s being honest, Claire still fantasizes about her own missed opportunities: a chance to bond with her mother before it was too late, and the possibility of preventing her daughter from years of anguish. Plus, there’s the man who got away—the man who may have been her one true love.

But it doesn’t take long for all three women to learn that re-living a life and making different decisions only leads to new problems and consequences—and that the mistakes they made may, in fact, have been the best choices of all…


Kindle Edition, 336 pages
Expected publication: April 26th 2016 by Washington Square Press 
Genre: Womens Fiction

Kristine's Thoughts:

** I received an advanced readers copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**

This book is the story of three best friends who had what they feel like is a terrible fortieth year. It was the year that things seemed to fall apart in their lives.They are given the opportunity on their fiftieth birthdays to go back to the year they turned forty and basically have a " do-over."

This is something that I'm sure most people have fantasised about. If I could go back, what would I do different? If only I had done this instead of that. What was I thinking? But if you could go back, would you? Making different choices doesn't necessarily make things better, it only alters the course of the path you are on. This book tackles that very topic and it tackles it very well. In fact, I believe that this book would make a fantastic book club choice because of the endless discussions and debates you could have around it.

I loved all three of the women at times and hated them at others. With their opportunity do do things over and get the outcome that they desired I found that they were quite selfish at times. It really brought out the uglier side of them, in my opinion. In their efforts to get their desired outcomes they neglected their friendships and they suffered because of it.

Although the plot was a little slow at times it was a great story of friendship, love and ultimately self discovery. The three woman learned a lot about themselves through their second chance at happiness and what they were willing to risk in their quest to get it.

It really made me question what I would do if the opportunity was presented to me. What would you do?

Check out Terri's thoughts on The Year We Turned Forty here.

 
About the Authors
Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have been best friends for 25 years and survived high school and college together. Liz lives in San Diego, CA with her husband and two children. Lisa, a former talk show producer, now lives in Chicago, IL with her husband, daughter and two bonus children.

 Connect
 













No comments:

Post a Comment