I would say 3.5 for the fast pace. I went in expecting a thriller for some reason, but it was a drama with long rambling thoughts and dialogue that I didn't enjoy. Great as movie-lines, but not so much to read. I'd watch a movie adaptation of this, has a great storyline and relationships. ( )

Another wonderful novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde. I could not put it down once I started reading....nothing new with any of her books! I love the way she writes. You feel as though you are right there with the characters' thoughts---this even includes Etta....the 2 year old in this perfect story. Brooke and Molly become unforgettable. ( )

3.5 stars. This is a perfectly fine, take-a-break, kind of book. Catherine Ryan Hyde writes those emotion-tugging, not quite possible but we wish they were, books. Most of us are familiar with [b:Pay It Forward|215631|Pay It Forward|Catherine Ryan Hyde|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388936719l/215631._SY75_.jpg|766708], which was the first book of hers that I read, and occasionally I resort to reading her again, the way I sometimes tire of substantive film and go watch The Hallmark Channel. In her defense, she isn’t quite that formulaic.

In this book we meet single mother, Brooke, whose daughter, Etta, is taken from her by a man carjacking the Mercedes she is driving. The car is not her own, it is her mother’s, and she is not in the best of situations following a divorce. The second person central to this novel is a homeless sixteen year old, Molly, who finds Etta, strapped to her car seat and deserted on a street in a seedy part of town. What ensues is a story that could surely never happen, but seems completely plausible during the telling. I won’t give away any of the plot twists, but will say that much of what happens is fairly predictable.

What makes Hyde work well is her grasp of the emotions that are central to every human being, so that we recognize her characters as people we know or even people we are. In this respect, she reminds me very much of Anne Tyler. Molly becomes dear to us as the story progresses, because we begin thinking we don’t have anything in common with a homeless person, and then find that we absolutely do.

Ever felt abandoned? I guess I was thinking it was sad how they were just going on without me like nothing much had changed. Like I was a number in a math problem and they could just subtract me and get a different total and move on.

Wonder how people deal with their circumstances? We deal with everything, because, short of actually deciding not to live anymore, we don’t have any other option. Not one damned option.

Have a moment of insight into perspective? We were both nervous. And we had melded our nervousness into being nervous together. But we were nervous over two entirely different issues. And she could only tell me what was on her mind.

Realized even when it is about others, it is about us? ...because anytime a person gets that upset about somebody else’s situation, it’s a little bit their own situation, too. That’s one of those things that other people don’t always seem to notice, but I think you can pick up on stuff like that if you’re even halfway paying attention.

Break over, but we need them now and then. ( )

DNF. Stopped at page 150 and skimmed to the end. A very compelling beginning yet slow after that. I just couldn’t bring myself to feel connected anymore to the story or the characters. ( )

The author has written for us a gripping, heartwarming tale of motherhood, acceptance and friendship.

Divorced mother, Brooke, out of sheer necessity, has moved back into her mother’s home with her two-year-old daughter Etta. It isn’t the best situation as the relationship between Brooke and her outspoken and judgemental mother are always at odds.

One night after yet another squabble with her Mom, Brooke takes Etta out, and the unthinkable happens. She finds herself the victim of a carjacking while waiting at a stoplight. Brooke is violently pulled from her mother’s Mercedes and the thief drives off with Etta sitting in the back, still in her car seat. This is a chop shop car jacking and the crook has no need for a toddler so he abandons the little girl and sets her on the sidewalk on a dark street still strapped in. A sixteen-year-old homeless girl named Molly finds Etta abandoned on the side of the road and keeps her safe until she can find help. Safe even though she is living under a cardboard box and us being stalked by three homeless hoodlums who have seen the Amber alert for Etta. The boys want the baby so they can hold her for ransom. Molly knows how to care for children because she has two younger siblings she helped care for before being thrown from her home.

The story that unfolds shares the friendship that develops between Molly and Brooke. They inadvertently help each other. It was touching and realistic. Hyde sheds light on prejudices big and small, on poverty levels, homelessness mental abuse and cold hard facts facing many people every day. Her writing made me really connect with the characters and even look inside my own self a little more deeply.

The author alternates between the perspectives of young single mother Brooke and sixteen year old Holly, allowing us to experience their fears, emotions, and much more. The emotions are genuine and the realities are harsh.

This story brings to light real family situations, racisms, prejudices and how people deal with them even it the outcomes are not always good.

I highly recommend Brave Girl, Quiet Girl as well as other books by Hyde. ( )