A review by robin_is_me
The Road Before Us by Janine Rosche

emotional hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I’ve never felt any desire to travel the old Route 66. I have traveled a very small portion of it, though not in many many years. But traveling along with Jade, Bridger, and Bernie made it sound like a worthwhile journey to take. 

The trio are traversing Route 66 while shooting a documentary about Benny, who traveled the same route in 1956, headed to Hollywood to become a star. Along the way, they visit landmarks, both well known, and personal to Benny, such as motels where she and Paul, the love of her life, stayed on their journey, or other places they stopped to visit. But the journey is also personal for Jade, who has bittersweet memories of traveling with her father in the summer of 2003. The narrative bounces between those two times and the present day, with each section told in first person POV. I enjoyed Benny’s sections the most, as she and Paul fall in love on the way. I probably would have been happy with a book just about the two of them. 

In 2003, Jade is eight years old, and I struggled a little with her narration. If I hadn’t known she was eight I might have thought she was only five or six. But I’m not sure if her narration really came off that way, or if I just don’t remember what an eight year old is like, not having been around one since my now adult daughters were that age. 

Adult Jade, however, along with Benny, both her younger self and her current day elderly self, and Bridger, her foster son, were all beautifully written. Bridger is a very quirky character who often made me laugh. In her Author’s Note, Ms. Rosche tells us that she traveled all 2,448 miles of Historic Route 66, and it shows in her writing. She packs in so much interesting and descriptive detail about the road and the towns along the way that THE ROAD BEFORE US could serve as a travel guide. 

I very much enjoyed traveling along with this trio, and was sorry to part company with them. Bridger and Jade were about to embark on a new journey when I turned the last page, and I desperately wanted to accompany them. 

*Received via the Revell Reads Blogger Program and voluntarily reviewed*