This Is Not How It Ends

I read the look inside feature of this book to see if I wanted to choose it as this month’s free First Reads books.

GENRE: Romance novel. I don’t know why it’s being billed as Family Drama. The book is very clearly about a woman and the two men she must choose between.

PROS:
– Really well written.
– Interesting turn of phrase.
– Compelling read.

CONS:
– I’m surprised that the writer has the two male leads feel free to put their hands on the female protagonist unbidden within minutes of meeting. One grabs her chin, to move it to look at him. The other grabs her wrist to emphasis a point.
– The recommendation of an alternative medicine approach to allergies was especially off putting. It’s called alternative medicine because it hasn’t been proven to work. If it worked, it would be called medicine. Also, I googled it. It’s highly controversial.
– Too many discrepancies:
– She’s walking to a store at dawn with her dog, but could have gotten honey from a neighbor if their house hadn’t been blown down by hurricane Irma. Borrow honey from a neighbor at dawn? The store is open at dawn? And the house is blown down but your future home was spared? So you never knew the hypothetical neighbor you were going to borrow your honey from at dawn?
– You never know whether your dog is going to like somebody or not, but you allow this child to pet him?
– The man freezes up when he has to use the Epipen. Would that really happen to a parent? Especially one that has done it before?
– The boy is 11 years old. He has a life-threatening condition and wears a Medic Alert bracelet. By that age, my kids had known for years to ASK whether food contained what was, to them, poison. What’s more, they wouldn’t have touched the food in the first place, not without asking me first. In fact, it was one of the first lessons I taught: Never take food from anyone but me. It was the best way to guarantee their safety when they were young.
– The blurry train continued. What train? There was a train?
– The dog is allowed inside the ambulance?? And two people? Since when? Well, why not. The dog is allowed inside the store and inside the hospital, so in this AU, why not also allow the dog in the ambulance.
– Kansas sends teachers to Florida for personal development training?
– What kind of parent would practice using an Epipen by stabbing their kid repeatedly? That’s right! Nobody. You use an orange. Maybe you use another person or even yourself. But not your kid!
– They squeezed 5 people into a restaurant booth?

BEST READ BY: Women who like romance novels and can push past little discrepancies in the text.

BOTTOM LINE: Despite the fact that the novel is quite well written, the pacing intense, and the phrasing original, I found myself going but but but far too often to enjoy the reading experience.

I was intrigued by this book’s description because, even though the Amazon First Reads email stated that this was a Family Drama, it sounded like a classic love triangle, which is something I usually enjoy reading. But I was put off nearly immediately when I started reading the book. In places, it is severely overwritten, so much so as to be distracting. I am a very visual reader, so a statement like …his son, whose pupils had folded back into his head had me somewhat agog. Eyes dont fold at all, and even if they did, the eye moves as a unit. Just the pupils, really? I also thought it was odd that the dog seemed to be able to go everywhere, even in places that he wouldn’t be allowed. I am an RN, and I found some of the medical portions of this to be inaccurate or just bizarre. I felt like I spent more time surprised by awkward turns of phrases and incorrect medical statements than actually enjoying the story itself. I tried to get past this to just enjoy the characters and their dilemmas, but I found myself unable to. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book.

Its pains me to give such a well written book two stars, but there are some things that I just could not get past (yes, there IS cheating). While this is not billed as romance, its 100% relationship focused, chronicling the beginnings of two very different love stories in Charlottes life throughout two timelines. Ill speak to the plot first so you have some idea what youre getting into.

Essentially, the story follows Charlotte as she meets the two men in her life. First, she meets Philip, a charming older man who travels extensively for work. Theres an almost immediate connection there that burns hot and stays somewhat superficial. Two years later, she meets Ben, a reserved, kind father. Shes engaged to Philip at that point, and feels a connection to Ben but knows that its not something she can act on. Things get significantly more complicated when the two timelines collide, and Charlotte is left dealing with her relationships with both Philip and Ben at the same time.

I will say that the writing itself is actually really great, flowing well and making it easy to get drawn into the story. The overall tone is serious, sometimes sad, and often angsty. Yes, it is a love story, but fans of romance will probably take issue with the cheating and amount of time spent on the wrong relationship. I struggled to connect to the story at times when so much time is spent focusing on a relationship that we know is doomed to fail. In fact, Charlottes relationship with the wrong guy is really the focal point of the story, making the right relationship take a backseat. While I did love the contrasts between the two, and thought it was really well done at times, I couldnt bring myself to root for Charlotte to find love with her right guy. Had there not been cheating, this wouldve gotten another star from me, and had the ending taken a different direction, it probably wouldve gotten an additional star. There were times that I was really enjoying the story, but ultimately too many things got in the way of me remaining in that headspace.

I don’t like books where I can see the big “twist” far before the protagonist can. That and the promotion of NAET therapy (the FDA cautions against it) are enough for me to recommend that you pass on this one.

A magnificent read! This Is Not How It Ends is a fabulous novel touching on family, love and love again. A heart-warming read! Rush to get this book! I received an advance copy.

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