A review by ceuran
Somewhere Out There by Amy Hatvany
3.0
While this was definitely better than the last book I read, it wasn't nearly as good as some of the other books I've read by Hatvany.
Somewhere Out There follows the story of Jennifer, who at 20 made the tough decision to relinquish her parental rights over her two daughters, as well as Brooke and Natalie, the two daughters who she gave up. The story was sweet and had me emotional at times, but the writing in this one was very bland and straight-forward. It really toned down the emotional scenes.
It also bothered me just how understanding Natalie was - both Brooke and Jennifer were lucky for her daughter's high level of empathy. I felt it unrealistic how perfectly soothing and understanding she was. She would react to things emotionally, but then rationally calm herself down within an hour or less. It felt a bit unrealistic to me.
Those complaints aside, the story was compelling if very straight-forward and Brooke and Jennifer were both very interesting characters. If you're a fan of Hatvany I would recommend this book. If not, I would suggest Best Kept Secret or Hear Like Mine by Hatvany before this one.
Somewhere Out There follows the story of Jennifer, who at 20 made the tough decision to relinquish her parental rights over her two daughters, as well as Brooke and Natalie, the two daughters who she gave up. The story was sweet and had me emotional at times, but the writing in this one was very bland and straight-forward. It really toned down the emotional scenes.
It also bothered me just how understanding Natalie was - both Brooke and Jennifer were lucky for her daughter's high level of empathy. I felt it unrealistic how perfectly soothing and understanding she was. She would react to things emotionally, but then rationally calm herself down within an hour or less. It felt a bit unrealistic to me.
Those complaints aside, the story was compelling if very straight-forward and Brooke and Jennifer were both very interesting characters. If you're a fan of Hatvany I would recommend this book. If not, I would suggest Best Kept Secret or Hear Like Mine by Hatvany before this one.