I chose this from an ARC program because I was in the mood for a good women’s fiction and the preview was intriguing.

The Premise

After a fatal driving accident, the driver Jess and her mother Liz deal with the fallout. Evidence indicates that Jess was texting while driving, and the victim was the town’s beloved football coach. The one eyewitness who was a passenger in the car — her supposed friend Sheila — is clearly lying about something, but Jess can’t remember exactly what happened.

As the town turns on Jess, Liz reaches out to an acquaintance, Kevin, who is a lawyer, to help with Jess’ case. Liz’ ex-husband and Jess’ father Jake also steps up to help his daughter — finally showing inklings of the man that Liz always wanted him to be prior to their divorce after a teenage pregnancy and subsequent marriage.

As Liz vacillates between old love and new, she tries to do her best by her daughter, whom she believes she raised well: an honour student, track star, and “good girl” in their society… until she wasn’t. As the legal battle unfolds, we ask ourselves — even if Jess did really do it and is at fault, should her one mistake be all that shapes who she is for the rest of her life?

The Pros

This was an emotional, tragic, heartbreaking story with all the feels, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The pacing is exquisite — the reader experiences all the highs and lows, panic, fear, desperation, love and regret along with both Liz and Jess.

There were many relationships shown, and I appreciated how there was far more showing than telling with them all: mother-daughter, father-daughter, young-female-friendship, adult-female-friendship, ex-husband-wife, and so much more. I was grateful to see both perspectives from mother and daughter, and the writing switches appropriately between the two — something many authors don’t do well, but it was done so seamlessly here so that I could tell who was narrating at all times.

I also found it intriguing as Jess built an unusual relationship with the victim’s wife, and that she had a moment when she got to choose to go back to her old life through Sheila. Similarly, Liz also had moments where she came to terms with imperfections with her past love Jake, and her difficult relationship with her father. These were exceptional touches that breathed life and realism into the story, and overall it was a coming-of-age tale of forgiveness and growth for both mother and daughter.

The Cons

While I enjoyed this novel thoroughly, I did think at times that it could have been a bit shorter to its benefit, by cutting some of the side stories that did not seem necessary. Jess’ friendship with Dylan seemed irrelevant, and the ill-advised escapade with Fish felt somewhat contrived, and Liz’ friendship with Avery was also given a bit more real estate than necessary. I think there was more than enough of a full picture of who both Jess and Liz were, without these additional characters.

Conclusion

The plot was gripping and felt all too real — this could have so easily happened to anyone: regardless of who you are and all you’ve done up to this point in your life, one mistake can change it and jeopardise everything. I believe it is an important lesson for us all, and would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially female readers. The writing is excellent, and I look forward to more from this author.

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