Only Child

"I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review," is something that I often read in amazon reviews. As someone who spends WAY too much of her money on books I always wondered how people got these opportunities.

So when Book of the Month Club sent me an email that they were looking for people to review some potential future books for them I jumped on the opportunity! I have tried a variety of book subscription services and Book of the Month is my favorite because I get to choose what books I may want. I've tried a variety of services like Bookcase Club, Harlequin and Bethany Beach Club but as much as I love subscription services book subscription services do not work very well for me because I read and buy books so quickly that it seems too high of a risk to try these kinds of services. But I live in the Twin Cities where there are a lot of great independent bookstores and in the age of amazon where I can click on a book I want to read and read it instantly on my e reader if I want. However Book of the Month allows me to make 1 of 5 choices each month and I can add an extra hardcover book for only $10. To me it sounds like a great deal but I do like to read contemporary books and I am paying paperback prices for newly released hardcovers. However if I ever got to a place where I needed to scale back significantly financially on books I would willingly get into a long hold line at the library or wait till I can buy a used paperback copy (which is how I obtain a significant amount of my books).

To get a free book in exchange for taking a survey and to have a say in if I think it should be a Book of the Month Selection when it is released was a reading dream come true. I received the advanced copy in the form of an e-book and I found that it was a story that was hard to put down.

I received a copy of Only Child where the premise is that a family is dealing with the aftermath of the oldest son being killed in a school shooting. The book was a quick read jumping into the scene of the shooting as the first chapter of the book. When I was reading about the mother's reactions throughout the book I found myself crying...and I read the first half of the book on the train. I will not give away any spoilers but there is a gut wrenching ending that leaves a twist of hope.

The reason why I gave Book of the Month 9 stars instead of 10 is in the treatment of the parents marriage. While I do understand that this was being told of the unreliable narrator of the youngest son (which brought a very fresh perspective) I still found that it was unbelievable that they were still talking to each other at the end of the book after the course the marriage takes during the story. But I did recommend that Book of the Month club offers this as a future selection.

I had fun reading and evaluating this book. When I told my husband what I was doing he asked, "Did you get a free book out of this?" And I happily replied, "Yes." I realized that not only I got a free book I can add this to my reading resume!


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