Sunday, September 11, 2016

Leave Me

Title: Leave Me
Author: Gayle Forman
Published: September 6th 2016 by Algonquin Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 343 pages
Genre: Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and Algonquin Books for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

There was no depth to any of the characters in Gayle Foreman’s newest release. When I began the book, I was not sure who I would dislike more, Maribeth for her “oh, poor me” attitude or her husband Jason for his selfishness.

It is obvious from the start that this couple are ill suited for both being parents and for that matter, being married. One is whining over the self-imposed role of having to do everything and the other seems to be completely unaware of what is happening within their home. It is not until a near fatal heart attack and family abandonment when role reversals are realized and the past is hit head on do the two habitants get a clearer understanding of what brought them to the point and how they will move forward.

Leave me, both being the title of the book and the reality that you might have to leave who you think you are, to arrive at the person that you need to be, scarcely scratches the surface of what could have been a deeper study of family realities in the aftermath of a near tragedy.

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