“Every woman had felt some version of it: the end of first love. It was when you learned, for good and always, that love could be impermanent.”
Jude’s life revolves around her children. Mia and Zach are twins and are quite the opposites. Zach is popular and outgoing while Mia is quiet and shy. Jude makes sure their lives intertwine to the point where their college dreams depend on them both going to the same college so Zach can support Mia. Jude wasn’t factoring in love to the picture and when Mia’s best friend, Lexi, and Zach start dating, Jude slowly loses control. Then, one fateful night changes all their lives.
I read this as part of a book club I’m in. Overall, most people were disappointed by the book because it created a slightly unrealistic scenario. Jude is a severe helicopter mom who can’t see her twin children as two separate people. She has a superficial relationship with her mother, no hobbies and can’t focus on the living after one person dies.
The book spans decades and fades in and out to show how Jude grew up, how Lexi came into their lives, and how everyone deals with the tragedy that comes their way. Overall, the book is about how people deal with grief and guilt differently and how greatly that can affect the lives of all the people around you.
It is a book for adults as it deals with deal, bad parent/child relationships, teenage drinking, sex and pregnancy, drugs and jail. Sometimes, though, love can truly overcome it all. I think this would be a good “beach read” or something to read to pass time on vacation. It’s a good book club book in the aspect that you will want to talk to someone after you read it.