Catherine Ryan HydeReseñas
Autor de Pay It Forward
Reseñas
Ru Evans is "freakishly smart". At least that's how Ru's mother describes her. She is bored in school and her mother finally consents to letting her go to a college 150 miles from home. There she boards with the Gulbranson's and instantly hits it off with 17-year-old Gabriel. There is no crush or romantic attraction, they are more like siblings. Gabriel also stands out and is misunderstood because he likes to wear eyeliner, fingernail polish and keep his hair long. He and Ru develop a bond where they can even communicate without words. When Ru's mother dies unexpectedly, she faces going to live with a not so nice aunt in Kentucky. Rather than meet this fate, she and Gabriel hatch a plan to run away with several goals. They want to go to a dark place and observe the stars; visit the Arctic Circle and experience seeing the Aurora Borealis; and see an Atlantic Puffin up close. Amazingly enough, they are able to slip away without being followed. The rest of the book is about their adventure and its consequences.
I enjoyed this book, as I have several other Hyde books. She has an easy to read no nonsense way of writing that draws the reader in to the story. I was invested in Ru and Gabriel's adventure even though it seemed kind of farfetched. I loved them referring to themselves as their "herd" and how they had such a close connection. The description of their trip into Canada was detailed and interesting. It was hard to imagine young people undergoing such a trip. The only thing I wished as I finished the book was a little more about where they ended up and what they were doing. Overall, it was a very good read and I know a lot of people I plan to recommend it to.
I found the characters to be incredibly realistic and full of life. I found that I was able to completely immerse myself in their world and finished the book in about 2-3 days, which for an e-read is rather quick for me. E-reads for me tend to be books I read when out and about and I don't have a physical book, but I just couldn't stop reading this one!
Sure, I would've liked to have known more about some of the other tenants in the building, but this book was focused on Billy and on Grace. The rest, no matter how influential, were side characters.
I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
I found the characters to be incredibly realistic and full of life. I found that I was able to completely immerse myself in their world and finished the book in about 2-3 days, which for an e-read is rather quick for me. E-reads for me tend to be books I read when out and about and I don't have a physical book, but I just couldn't stop reading this one!
Sure, I would've liked to have known more about some of the other tenants in the building, but this book was focused on Billy and on Grace. The rest, no matter how influential, were side characters.
I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
A beautiful story about the power of love and how a caring person makes all the difference.
And perhaps that is the message. People fuck up. And there will come a time when those people will alienate their friends and family... or in Nathan's case, not. The author is supposedly known for her other book [b:Pay It Forward|215631|Pay It Forward|Catherine Ryan Hyde|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388936719s/215631.jpg|766708] which promotes said powerful message - a tenet that is touched upon here. Nat finally redeems himself, finally gets it - but for me it was pretty much too little, too late.
This story begins in 1965 when Anton, and 18 year old boy, receives a telescope from his parents as a Christmas present right before they leave for 2 weeks. One night, he witnesses a domestic violence incident and it bothers him...so much so that he finds the apartment and goes there the next day to see if she is ok. Eventually, they strike up a friendship and spend a lot of time together during the 2 weeks his parents are gone. They don't see each other again for almost 20 years and a chance encounter puts them in the same place at the same time.
This is a story about finding love, losing it and finding it again.
Received this book from NetGalley.
Thought provoking look at the way life can change by making one choice versus another.
What I liked:
* Norma: bar tender, divorced, mother of two sons, volunteers for search and rescue, has a horse and two hounds, gruff, quiet, a bit of a loner, wise, cares more than she seems to, has secrets, in her fifties when the story begins
* Betty: tends bar with Norma, outgoing, warm hearted, open, the opposite of Norma, good friend, similar in age to Norma
* Jill and Wanda: both suffered abuse at the hands of the same man, managed to escape, benefited from knowing Norma, and matured quite a bit in the book
* Norma’s backstory that comes out and helps explain why she makes the choices she does related to Jill and Wanda
* The search and rescue component of the story, Norma’s horse Fred and her hounds Lonny and Gracie, and the close bond between animals and human that are seen throughout the book
* The way abuse was handled, how it impacted more than one character in the story, its ripple effect, and the mention of why some who go missing get more airtime than others
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* That it made me think, feel, and care about the outcome
* Reading a new to me author I will read again
* All of it really except…
What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about abuse and the impact it has
Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Definitely
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake union Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
Domestic violence is front and center in this book. A young woman is missing in the mountains, a suspected victim of domestic violence. A mature woman, with secrets of her own, is on the search and rescue team. What happens next will have you thinking about how you would handle things. A beautifully written book about women helping women, the cycle of abuse and having the courage to do the right thing. But, as we all know, doing the right thing is not always easy or popular. Characters are relatable, hard working, every day people just trying to get by. Situations brought forth are unfortunately too common. You just never know what secrets your neighbor is hiding. I thoroughly enjoyed this thought provoking, fast read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.
“This is the problem with being an adult…… You’re always having to make a decision that someone will like and someone else will hate. You’re always having to betray someone. Decide one thing, betray one party. Turn around and decide the other thing, and get ready to be told you just burned the people on the other side. Because people’s needs are always in conflict. There’s no such thing as everybody happy all at once.”
I think this is the gist and premise circling at all times in this book. A parent realizes their child may be in life threatening danger - what happens next? How far do you live the truth? How far do you live a lie? Can you live with the consequences? Can you live with not righting the wrong? Ends / means who and what justifies each? So many questions, so many scenarios, and Catherine Ryan Hyde doesn’t back away from anything. A very deep, disquieting story that had me thinking long after I turned the last page and pondered the book club questions. Great writing, important issues and maybe just a slight tilt at a not so old major news story that gripped us in the news and papers for weeks.
Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for a copy.
It has been a while since I've read a Catherine Ryan Hyde book, but I have enjoyed many in the past. This one sounded interesting so was excited to give it a try. In this book, Norma is a lady who likes to speak her mind and has been through quite a bit in her lifetime. She helps with search and rescue and is called to help look for a young woman who has disappeared. She finds the girl, but is begged to not tell anyone and help her get to her parents. She fears her boyfriend will kill her if he finds her. Norma has a big decision to make, will she go along with this? What happens when the search is continued and no one else knows that the girl is safe? What happens with the boyfriend? These are all questions that find answers as this book twists and turns along. I found myself wondering what I would do in the same situation. The choices made in this book are not easy. The relationships Norma forms and the way she deals with her feelings about how she has handled things are deep and raw. It was kind of an intense book, but I was drawn in by it. The author handles serious ethical issues with care. I highly recommend.
Norma Gallagher is a fifty-eight-year-old divorced woman living in the tiny town of Sploot which straddles the Utah-Arizona border. She works as a bartender with her good friend, Betty, and is a member of the volunteer search and rescue team. With her beloved horse, Fred -- Saint Fred to the locals who believe he is perfect – and two hound dogs, Gracie and Lonny, she helps find lost hikers and campers. After several years of uninterrupted good luck, within the past six months she has found two lost souls for whom rescuers arrived too late. And is a bit haunted by those experiences, even though both perished from natural causes – injuries sustained in a fall and dehydration.
As the story opens, she is pressed into service again. Jill Moss, just nineteen years old, has gone missing from the nearby Rocky Ridge Campground. She was reported missing by her boyfriend, Jake, with whom she was spending spring break. Jill is not “an outdoor person,” and lacks hiking experience and skills. More disconcerting is the fact that the prior evening, other campers observed Jill heading for the campground exit when Jake grabbed her and twisted her arm behind her back, physically forcing her to return to their tent. That afternoon, she had texted her parents, “Leaving Jake for good. Wish me luck. If you don’t hear from me in 24 hours, call the cops.” Foul play is suspected immediately.
Norma finds Jill huddling in a cave. She set out from the campground intent on hiking to the highway and hitchhiking from there, but became lost. “I’m running away from my boyfriend,” she tells Norma. Jill is convinced that if Jake finds her, he will kill her. “There is no place where he won’t hurt me. That place doesn’t exist.” She begs Norma not to report that she has found Jill. From Jill’s perspective, she is literally asking Norma to save her life.
But that request leads Norma into an ethical and legal quagmire. She knows that the search for Jill will continue for quite some time, wasting precious and scarce resources, tangible and intangible. She will be required to ride the hills for days alongside her colleagues, pretending to search with them for a young woman only she knows isn’t missing at all. She is also aware that she, Jill, and anyone else they involve in the scheme could find themselves in serious legal jeopardy when the truth is eventually discovered. The sheriff will keep the case open, and there will be multiple lies told to law enforcement, false reports filed. Importantly, that is what troubles Norma most. Acceding to Jill’s wishes will require Norma to lie, something she never does. Doing so will change the way she lives her life, requiring her to “keep her stories straight.” Norma is also wise and experienced enough to comprehend that there will undoubtedly be “more unintended consequences” that she is unable to foresee or predict.
Against her better judgment, Norma agrees to call Jill’s parents, hoping a conversation with them will give her some perspective. Ensuring that Jill is safe, with food and water, she promises to return under cover of darkness after speaking with her parents to let her know whether she can grant Jill’s wish.
Owen and Teresa Moss, Jill’s worried and protective mother and father, are archetypical characters. Norma does not reveal her identity, explaining only that she is a member of the search and rescue team, and she located Jill, who is healthy and well. But Jill begged her not to reveal her whereabouts and condition, which is “really messing with me.” From personal experience, Norma appreciates the traumatic and destructive impact of both physical abuse and dishonesty. And she knows that in many instances, legal maneuvers prove futile. Abusers often disregard restraining orders and relentlessly search for partners who leave them. Predictably, Owen and Teresa are willing to risk anything to keep their daughter, who is not prone to exaggeration, safe. They implore Norma to bring Jill to their home, assuring her that if the truth comes to light, they will swear that Jill simply appeared on their doorstep without implicating Norma. Reluctantly, Norma agrees.
The search for Jill continues and Wanda, a tiny young woman in her twenties, comes into the bar. Norma is flabbergasted to learn she has hitchhiked from Connecticut because of her fascination with the case, which has drawn extensive media attention and speculation. Jill’s old social media posts have surfaced. Norma simply can’t fathom why Wanda wants to meet Jake, who is still staying at the campground. Through Norma, Hyde makes a cautionary point about the influence of news outlets and social media interactions upon gullible and impressionable young people. Six nights late, Jake himself appears in the bar and has an altercation with another male customer. None other than Wanda helps Jake to his feet and leaves the bar with him, assuring Norma that she intends to help him get back to the campground. Nine days later, Wanda stops in to say good-bye, cagily explaining that she is headed to Southern California with a guy she met in Sploot who is not her boyfriend because "he’s still hung up on his old girlfriend.” Sadly, Wanda believes Jake’s lies about what really happened at the campground the night Jill disappeared and will not be dissuaded.
Five years elapse during which Norma, now sixty-three years old, and twenty-two-year-old Fred have continued to ride the hills with the search and rescue team. The fifth anniversary of Jill’s disappearance means that she will be declared legally dead. A month later, Wanda reappears in the bar. And the law is bearing down on Jake Willis, who is facing not just attempted murder charges for strangling his pregnant wife, but also a murder charge for killing Jill, even though her body was never recovered.
Hyde’s characters navigate all the unintended consequences of Jill’s entreaty and Norma’s decision to remain silent. Which are numerous and seemingly unending. In Hyde’s capable hands, the story unfolds in a straight-forward and unembellished manner. It is a riveting tale about the myriad repercussions that flow from decisions. The most pressing issue is the District Attorney’s determination to prosecute Jake for a murder he did not commit. But the evidence supporting the attempted murder charge is unassailable. Had a passerby not intervened, Jake’s wife and unborn child would almost undoubtedly be dead. But for Norma, that’s the problem. There is no way to know for sure that Jake would have brought further harm to Jill, no matter how likely it seems. Norma voices many feelings that Hyde shares, pointing out that Jake is not an ”animal” but is, rather, a man who has done some terrible things. But he was not born an abuser. Rather, children learn to hate and mistreat others. “I think people need to be reminded that there is good in us. Yes, there is bad in us, too. But I continue to feel that we are basically good. Why do I think this? Because babies are not born violent and evil and gradually steered toward good by a series of altruistic experiences. It’s the other way around.”
Norma is a strong, principled woman who has survived her own tumultuous marriage, lies told about her, and years of estrangement from her two grown sons. She doesn’t much like people, preferring to live a solitary life with her animals in a modest home outside of the little town of Sloot. She fundamentally resents that her carefully constructed, peaceful life was disrupted and altered when her fate became inextricably intertwined with Jill’s. And she is deeply troubled and burdened by the weight of her guilt about the secret she agreed to keep and the deception in which she has participated for five years. As she once again considers all available options, there is far more at stake than the fallout that will impact her well-ordered life if she belatedly speaks up. Norma cares deeply about Jill’s well-being, as well as Wanda’s, and is a loyal friend to Betty. She weighs her moral obligation to Jake, who has indeed committed more than one crime but not the one that a corrupt District Attorney intends to level against him.
Hyde never fails to deliver a gripping, thought-provoking story about seemingly unremarkable people who find themselves faced with impossible choices that require them to consider and anticipate how their actions will help or hurt others. Hyde is renowned for expertly creating dramatic tension that inspires readers to ponder what they would do if they were in a similar situation, and A Different Kind of Gone is one her best efforts, in part because the stakes in this tale are incredibly high. Many people, including Jill’s parents, believe that Jake is capable of murder and his wife is a living – fortunately – testament to what might have been the tragic result of his unbridled rage. They would be happy to see Jake imprisoned for the rest of his life, irrespective of the specific legal charges that put him behind bars where he can never hurt Jill, his wife, or his child. For them, the charges are simply the means to a much-desired end.
But the American legal system, despite all its flaws, does not incorporate penalties for potential criminality and Norma, who serves as the story's moral center and conscience, believably wrestles with what might happen if she takes a principled stand. What if there is no one around to intervene next time and Jake does commit murder? What if Norma’s honesty provides Jake the opportunity to inflict harm again? Could she live with the consequences? Or would it be worse to live with the guilt of knowing that a man is imprisoned for a crime he never committed, even though he is guilty of other crimes?
Hyde includes a couple of shocking plot twists and revelations as she keeps the narrative moving forward at a steady, measured pace. And yet again illustrates through her characters that families are often comprised not just of those to whom we are genetically related, but also those we inadvertently happen upon and take into our hearts.
Hyde is a masterful storyteller and A Different Kind of Gone is a riveting, emotional resonant story through which Hyde makes a strong statement about domestic violence, women coming together to help and protect each other, as well as a child who is at risk. And she convincingly illustrates the value of female empowerment through positive role models and reinforcement.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
A Different Kind of Gone begins with a search for nineteen-year-old Jill Moss who has gone missing near the Utah-Arizona border, presumably to escape an abusive boyfriend – and then presumed dead. But there’s so much more to the story. Norma Gallagher is one of the search and rescue volunteers. Norma is very private, a loner, almost a recluse with a history she shares with no one. Norma makes a very difficult decision where Jill Moss is concerned knowing full well, from personal experience, that actions have consequences and that this action she is taking today will result in a heavy price to be paid in the future. But her moral compass is strong and it tells her this is the right thing to do.
This book is just so compelling, so full of fascinating characters with backstories and side stories and motivations of their own. You don’t always understand what the characters do and you often don’t agree with them, but Hyde takes you through their logic and reasoning and you can see why things might have happened that way. There are no easy answers or quick solutions, and actions always, always have consequences, but you have the sense of sincere people doing their absolute best.
Things really take off when the future is now and that price needs to be paid. You can’t always tell who is guilty and who is innocent, who wants to do what’s right and who just wants to do what’s easy. You don’t know how things will turn out until the end, don’t know if hope is justified and if the desire for these characters you have come to love will find peace.
Thanks to the author and publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of A Different Kind of Gone via NetGalley READ NOW. Another wonderful Catherine Ryan Hyde story to add to my collection. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.
Now this is not my favorite by this author, but it is still a dad blame good read! This author always creates conflicting emotions. And this book is no different. What would I have done? This is always a question when reading her books. And I am going to try and not give anything away…but yes! I would have done this. Or, I would have like to THINK I would have done. I am a bit of a rule follower. But the quandary is what makes Hyde’s books so good.
You will need to read this to find out the seriousness of Jill’s decision…and yes it is a huge decision with big ramifications to stay lost!
Need a story with special consequences and considerations and big emotions…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
Unfortunately, I felt that the novel started slowly and it didn't really grab my attention until Allie and Bea actually met, then the ending was rushed. However, "Allie and Bea" was still a sweet read dealing with some heavy issues including homelessness.
Very enjoyable story about family interaction s. It kept me guessing how many puppies she would be able to keep.
When I Found You was a touching and thought provoking novel. Nathan is one of those characters I would love to know in person. Nathan is the constant, never wavering in his support of Nat, a child who, twice abandoned, is most in need of such love and support. Nat is not an easy child to raise. He is rebellious and finds trouble easily, sometimes even despite his best intentions. Nat is not a bad person. He is struggling to find himself and understand his place in the world. Nathan believed in consequences and Nat was not immune to them. Nathan's support of him was not to carry Nat, rather to guide and encourage him.
In my profession, I come across a lot of kids like Nat. They are labeled incorrigible and trouble makers. They are the ones who experiment with drugs and alcohol and get in trouble with the law. I couldn't help but wish that Nathan was a real person and that every child like Nat could have a person like Nathan in their life. It's all too easy to give up on kids like these when what they need most is someone constant in their life, someone who will be firm and stand by them even through the difficult times. It won't necessarily solve all their problems or even stop the bad behavior completely, but I do think it would help enough to make a difference, however small.
I do wish I could have gotten to know Nathan more, learn more about his past. As the book progresses, the reader does learn more about him. However, I never quite felt like I knew him quite the way I came to know Nat. Maybe that was intentional. The novel is more about Nat when all is said and done.
Catherine Ryan Hyde's When I Found You is definitely worth reading. I found it inspirational but not in a sappy or too sweet way. There is no sugar coating here. I fell in love with both Nathan and Nat. I only wish I'd had more time with them.
Remy’s dad is a survivalist whose outlook on society spirals after the death of his wife and the onset of the covid pandemic. He takes his 5 year old son, Remy into the remote wilderness to live off the grid. Remy hates it, but he is only five, so he has no choice. The first have of the book, Catherine Ryan Hyde describes the life Remy is forced to lead through the eyes of this young child. Events and emotions he doesn’t really know the words for but he tries to explain the best he knows how. This insight into Remy’s young life is gut-wrenching.
The second half of the story takes place after Remy’s father dies and he is forced to re-enter a society he has been taught not to trust. He isn’t sure if that is true or not and he struggles with that question for much of the book. But Remy is lucky to have Anne, the woman who takes this broken child into her family and does everything she possibly can to make him feel safe and loved. This part of the story flips back and forth between Anne and Remy’s points of view. The author doesn’t sugar-coat the struggles that both Remy and Anne go through during this time. She offers a true portrayal of the difficulties faced when fostering a child that everyone else has deemed difficult, feral and broken. But Anne does it because no child should ever feel like they are “too much”
Autor de LibraryThing
Catherine Ryan Hyde es un Autor de LibraryThing, un autor que tiene listada su biblioteca personal en LibraryThing.
Enlaces
Este sitio utiliza cookies para ofrecer nuestros servicios, mejorar el rendimiento, análisis y (si no estás registrado) publicidad. Al usar LibraryThing reconoces que has leído y comprendido nuestros términos de servicio y política de privacidad. El uso del sitio y de los servicios está sujeto a estas políticas y términos.
Enter Wanda"Chloe" Johnston, she was the girl being raped and as she drops into the cellar that Jordy has been squatting in they end up forming a tentative friendship.
Chloe as she becomes known puts off this simpleminded vibe, like even though something is bad, she just doesn't get it ( take the rape for example). Jordy then becomes ill and even though you would think that Chloe wouldn't know what to do, she gets the medication that he needs to make him feel a little better. After she takes care of Jordy they run into a few problems with having the money to support themselves and Jordy does what he feels he needs to just to make sure they survive. They end up close to Jordy's home and we get to meet his parents ( and I use that term lightly). His mom and dad don't like that Jordy is gay and apparently the head would that caused Jordy so many problems in the beginning is due to one of his parents 9 you can probably guess which one).
I really don't want to give too much more away, but Jordy and Chloe end up staying with this old man and his dog until both of them pass on. Then Jordy sets out to show Chloe that the world is beautiful, and during this time they see so much. While Driving across the country they meet a few nice people and then when their truck breaks down they meet even nicer people that give them rides. I really liked when they arrived in Kentucky ( could be because I live there), they met some amazing people and I have to say that Randy Banyan may have been one of my favorite people that they met.
I loved how the book took me to all the places that I have never seen and I got to see the beauty in the world right along with Chloe and Jordan. Though they do run into some "ugly" out there, the book wouldn't be real without it. The ending of the book left me confused and wanting to know more, so that is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.