Blog Tour: Review of The Reason by Catherine Bennetto

 

Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Reason by Catherine Bennetto. I have a review for you today but don't forget to stop by the other blogs on the tour for more reviews and exclusive content!

How much is the smile from the person you love worth to you?

 

Brooke’s life has derailed. Her social life and career have evaporated, her daughter is desperately unhappy and being bullied at school, and, for a 43-year-old, she probably spends way too many weekends at her parent’s. But the reason for all this is no mystery. A year and a half ago, Brooke’s husband died.

 

But Brooke does have one secret. Her husband’s death, the worst thing that has ever happened to her, has made her unbelievably rich.

 

Despite her despair, Brooke suddenly realises she has the power to make her daughter’s life, and the world a little brighter.

Review: A book about a mother and her teenage daughter getting ready to start a new school that’s released in autumn? Even the blurb alone gives me Gilmore Girl vibes and the relationship between Brooke and Hannah made sure that continued throughout the novel. 

Brooke is really struggling with grief and her daughter is too and so this book takes us on a journey of Brooke trying to help her daughter through her own trauma and grief responses whilst ignoring her own and the allout from that. I adored the love that Brooke has for her daughter, it is of course reciprocated, but the lengths that Brooke will go to to ensure that Hannah has a reason to smile and is living the best life possible is just wonderful to read about. 

I really liked getting to meet Hannah and discover more about what makes her tick. She is such a mature person and she really does know herself and what she wants. It’s been a while since I read a ‘secondary’ character who is so well rounded and who has stayed with me since finishing the book. Like a lot of children in their last year at school she has some friendship issues but her school is just so wholly unsupportive and clearly thinks it’s following policy when it really isn’t, it made me very very angry. 

Catherine Bennetto never fails to make me laugh with her writing, she has such a great sense of humour that she imparts on her characters. I laughed at so any points during the opening of this story and then there’s a moment where Brooke is shopping for a new bed that had me guffawing as I was reading it! The humour and the heart in this book is a great balance. 

So much of this book also involves family. Found family, family it’s easy to get along with and family it’s not so easy to get along with but there’s that bond that drives the whole thing and I really enjoyed exploring how different the idea of family can look to the same person in different contexts. I really enjoyed reading this book, it was so easy to come back to it the next day and I was always excited to pick it up. If you’re a GIlmore Girls fan, or if you’re not, I highly recommend No Reason by Catherine Bennetto.

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US