Review : Then and Always by Dani Atkins
Then and Always by Dani Atkins
Pages : 320
Genre : Contemporary fiction
Stand alone
My Rating : 3/5
About the Book :
Five years later, Rachel returns home for the first time to celebrate her best friend’s wedding. Still coping with her grief, she can’t stop thinking about the bright future she almost had, if only that one night had gone differently. But when a sudden fall lands her in the hospital, Rachel wakes to find that her life has completely changed. Now she has her dream job as a writer and a stylish apartment, but the people she loves most are not the way she remembers them. Unable to trust her own recollections, Rachel tries to piece together what really happened, and not even she can predict the astonishing truth.
My Thoughts :
One of the many great things about fiction, is that it allows you to play dangerous games you should never think about in real life. For instance, the “what if” game; in reality, it’s never good to dwell on things that could have happened and never will, but fiction like Then and Always lets us explore these “what if” without risk for our own mental health. Perfect!
Then and Always was my book companion for our long flight to Bali, and I couldn’t have picked a better book for it. It was at times serious or light, and very heartfelt. I feel like Dani Atkins did what few authors I have read do, and it’s to approach Rachel’s problem in a realistic manner. One of my grip with fiction where characters from regular life suddenly find themselves in an impossible situation, is the rapidity with which they accept the bizarre. I was happy to see that Rachel held on to what she thought was true, that for so long she refused to believe it was a simple head injury.
The writing flew nicely and it was easy to relate to Rachel. I loved the cast of characters surrounding her, except Matt maybe. It was hard for me to believe that, in this new version of life, they would still be together, because they didn’t seem to have much chemistry. But maybe that was the point; maybe they could appreciate each other, but didn’t have a real connection? It wasn’t too bad though, because her relationships with others (Jimmy, her father) had great moments.
Overall, I really enjoyed Dani Atkins’ first novel. It was entertaining without being too comedic, heartfelt without being too dramatic. I am looking forward to seeing what the author comes up with next!
Then and Always will be available for sale on May 20! Thanks to Ballantine for generously providing a digital copy of the book for this review.
I like the concept — and you’re right: the “what if” game isn’t so fun in real life, but it certainly is fun to read about. Sounds like an interesting novel, and I love the cover!
I liked this book 🙂
I have not yet heard of this book and am now intrigued – even with it being an adult novel. It sounds a bit like What Alice Forgot or Family Man or something along those lines. I plan on adding this one to the Goodreads list.