A review by maggiestraveledbookshelf
Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

📖 Beyond the Point

✍🏻 Claire Gibson

☑️ Literary Fiction

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 | 4.5

“𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙, 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙮. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚.”

Wow, what an impactful and captivating book! This story is all about the power of women and friendship. 

Overview:

•Historical Fiction (2000-2007)

•Women in the Military 

•Impact of Friendships

•Multiple POVs

•Grief and Loss 

𝗔𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀. 𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝟵/𝟭𝟭 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱.

This story hit a personal note for me, as I’m married to my West Point graduate.

(And for those who don’t know, West Point is the United States Military Academy. It’s a rigorous college that combines coursework with army training.)

—> “𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣, 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 10 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙. 𝙊𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚, 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 15 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙚.”

Hannah, Dani, and Avery felt so real to me, like I was getting an up-close view of actual cadets’ lives at West Point. It is an incredibly unique place, and the good, the bad, & the ugly were all portrayed perfectly here. 

“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙋𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 “𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤” 𝙛𝙪𝙣. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩; 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙩.”

The story alternates between the three POVs. They are all on the WP basketball team, but each woman has such an individual voice and story. Dani, the innate leader with hidden pain. Heather, the army legacy with unflappable loyalty. Avery, the supposed wild child who can’t stop running. 

The author brought these women to life in such visceral, human ways. I related to all three, and I loved the reflective tone in which the narrative was told.

“𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡. 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙.”

The theme of friendship is the heart of this book. We watched the women navigate West Point hardships as they dealt with their internal struggles, but the shining point was how their bond evolved and withstood tremendous weight.

“𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙨. 𝙉𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥.”

I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say there’s a great deal of grief in this book. Because of the author’s commitment to portraying such a heartbreaking situation with integrity, the raw emotion and grief journey in this story was perfect.

“𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨, [𝙨𝙝𝙚] 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩.”

(Some other reviewers believe that this should be classified as Christian Fiction, but I respectfully disagree. While one of the characters refers to her faith frequently, I don’t believe that’s the predominant message here. It’s just one piece of a complex story.)

Also, I loved the section at the very end of the book that showcases the author’s interviews with a few actual West Point women. 

This book made me want to call my friends and just be a better friend in general. 

It also made me want to hug my Army husband and gather our military friends in one place so that I can just spend some precious time with some of my favorite humans. 

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who loves reading about strong women and enduring friendships.

✨ Read via Libby ✨