Wednesday, May 22, 2013

DNF - And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry

And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry
Published April 2013 by St. Martin's Press
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion of the book

Publisher's Summary:
Kate Vaughan is no stranger to tough choices. She’s made them before. Now it’s time to do it again. Kate has a secret, something tucked away in her past. And she’s getting on with her life. Her business is thriving. She has a strong relationship with her family, and a devoted boyfriend whom she wants to love with all her heart. If Kate had ever made a list, Rowan would fill the imagined boxes of a perfect mate. But she wants more than the perfect on paper relationship; she wants a real and imperfect love. That's why, when Kate discovers the small velvet box hidden in Rowan's drawer, she panics. It always happens this way. Just when Kate thinks she can love, just when she believes she can conquer the fear, she’s filled with dread. And she wants more than anything to make this feeling go away. But how? When the mistakes have been made and the running is over, it’s time to face the truth. Kate knows this. She understands that a woman can never undo what can never be undone. Yet, for the first time in her life she also knows that she won’t fully love until she confronts those from her past. It’s time to act. Can she do it? Can she travel to the place where it all began, to the one who shares her secret? Can the lost ever become found?  

My Thoughts:
If you've followed this blog for long, you know that I very rarely give up on a book. I wish I could say that's because I'm so very good at picking the books I read. That's not it. I'm just terrible at giving up on a book once I start it. I always think that I'm going to reach a point in the book where it suddenly works for me.

Lately, though, I've been thinking more and more about the number of books I want to read, the number of commitments I have. I've found a couple of bloggers who are working to reduce their own backlogs of review books by making a decision to stop reading a book by a certain page if they aren't enjoying it. I don't know that I can set a specific page count or make a conscious decision to work through books that way. But I can make the decision to be willing to let go of books that just aren't working for me.

And Then I Found You was one of those books. Henry greets her readers up front with the story of how she was inspired to write this book. I was convinced that with that kind of emotion behind the story, I would really be pulled into the book.Unfortunately, I wasn't.

The personal experience that was the impetus for the book almost seems to play a backseat to a lost love story line. One of those "love that can never be gotten over" stories I can rarely buy into. Then there was my inability to connect to any of the characters. Kate never seemed able to come to terms with any of the decisions she made and seemed unable to ever acknowledge that sometimes you just can't have it all.

I seem to be in the minority in my opinion about this book. Perhaps if I were willing to take the time to keep reading, my opinion would change. But after 120 pages, I was unwilling to do that.

7 comments:

  1. I've read a few negative as well as mixed responses on this, you seem far from the minority :) It sounds an interesting concept dealt with in a way that just doesn't work.

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  2. It's always a bummer when you have a book that you just can't get into. But there are so many other wonderful books out there that it's not worth your time to keep plugging away at something that's not your cup of tea. :)

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  3. It's ok Lisa...you don't have to finish every book you start. I don't. I stopped that practice long ago because there are way too many books I want to read. And good ones that deserve my attention..

    I usually give a book 50 pages, maybe 100 depending on how I feel. Then there are times where the characters are utterly ridiculous to me, and by page 10, I stop.
    My reading habits have soared since starting this DNF practice several years ago.

    Come...come to the dark side of quitting books that suck in your opinion :)

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  4. 120 pages was already a huge commitment! I have this one on my Kindle. Wonder what I will think about it???

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  5. Lisa, I hate to DNF a book, but sometimes you just have to. Sounds like this book wasn't working for you, so its definitely understandable that you had to let it go :) I'm trying to get through my review books (there are too many) and I tend to use that "stop reading if its not working for me" gauge a lot more lately. Luckily, I've loved the books I've been reading, but there have been a few that have bit the dust a lot sooner. I just don't want to waste my time on a book that just isn't my cup of tea - there are too many good ones out there.

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  6. I can see why you might not finish this one - it is true that the love story takes a back seat to the adopted girl finding her birth parents storyline. Someone commented on my review that they felt the storyline of the girl's adoptive parents might have been a good one to further develop and I agree

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