Review: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Title: Firefly Lane

Author: Kristin Hannah

Series: Stand Alone

Pages: 496

Published: Available now from St. Martins

ISBN: 9780312364083

Source: Library

Description: In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all—-beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable. From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness. Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn’t know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she’ll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she’ll envy her famous best friend. . . . For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship—-jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

I Give This ...

After reading Night Road, I immediately decided that I needed to read something else by Kristin Hannah.  This has been on my list for awhile, so I grabbed it on my next trip to the library.  While it wasn't disappointed, I didn't like it as much as I did Night Road.

I think my biggest issue was with Kate and Tully.  For the most part, I liked them.  But, there were definitely times that I wanted to smack both of them.  Some of their character traits really grated on my nerves.   I often felt like Kate didn't have a voice.  She followed along with whatever Tully wanted to do no matter what the consequences.  While she finally went her own way, I didn't feel she stood her ground to get it.  It just sort of happened that way.  I also got really tired of how jealous she could get of Tully.  

 I enjoyed Tully's character a little more.  She was vibrant and out to prove herself to the world.  All because the one person who really mattered she couldn't count on.  I felt really sorry for how many times her mother let her down.  I knew she would end up rich and famous and alone.  It was predictable from the beginning of the book.  But, I couldn't help but be proud of her ambition and loved every success she had.

At times, I felt like Tully would do anything to get the story.  She often used the excuse that she was looking out for Kate's best interest, or that she would understand.  I actually though sneaking the camera's into Kate's husband's hospital room was worse than the actual betrayal that drove them apart.   Maybe because I knew something had to give with Kate and her daughter.  Although, I do agree that Tully took it way to far and often didn't help the situation to begin with.

The last part of the book was the best part.  Although it was extremely sad, I think it brought everything together.  It proved the bridges might not always be burned.  While, it didn't move me as much as Night Road did, I'm more than willing to give Kristin Hannah another shot.

Review: Night Road by Kristin Hannah

Title: Night Road

Author: Kristin Hannah

Series: Stand Alone

Pages: 400

Published: Available now from St. Martins Press

ISBN: 978031236442

Source: Won ARC

 

Description: Jude Farraday is a happily married, stay-at-home mom who puts everyone’s needs above her own. Her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill enters their lives, no one is more supportive than Jude. A former foster child with a dark past, Lexi quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. But senior year of high school brings unexpected dangers and one night, Jude’s worst fears are confirmed: there is an accident. In an instant, her idyllic life is shattered and her close-knit community is torn apart. People—and Jude—demand justice, and when the finger of blame is pointed, it lands solely on eighteen-year-old Lexi Baill. In a heartbeat, their love for each other will be shattered, the family broken. Lexi gives up everything that matters to her—the boy she loves, her place in the family, the best friend she ever had—while Jude loses even more. When Lexi returns, older and wiser, she demands a reckoning. Long buried feelings will rise again, and Jude will finally have to face the woman she has become. She must decide whether to remain broken or try to forgive both Lexi…and herself.  

I Give This ...

 

I've never read anything by Kristin Hannah although I've been meaning too.  After reading this, it's something I'm going to have to remedy.  I enjoyed Night Road from beginning to end.

I wasn't fond of Jude, which was strange from me as a parent.  I think it's because I'm so far from the helicopter parent and I don't ever plan on being one.  There were so many times I wanted to tell her to step back and let them have lives.  Really, what parent would want to walk the child to their locker and to their first class on the first day of high school?  But, her parenting is such a integral part of the story.  It's part of the reasoning behind what happened that horrible night.

I actually really like the teens in this story.  Mia actually reminded me a lot of myself as a teenager.  She was driven, but was so shy that she needed someone to push her forward.  And she need that person to be someone other than her mother.  I loved Zach.  He has such a connection to his twin even though they have such different interests and friends.  The fact that he's wanted to be with Lexi for so long but stayed away because he knew Mia needed her as a friend more was so admirable.  

The accident that changed all their lives was predicable.  But what happens afterwards was so far from that.  Lexi willingly takes the blame and the courts decide to make an example out of her.  And what happens that first year brought me to tears.  Lexi was trying so hard to distance herself from the Farraday's. I was happy to see the chance when she's finally able to get her life back on track.

In the end Lexi has to face her own demons as well as making the Farraday's (especially Jude) face their own.  Lexi has to learn that she's not her mother.  She capable of love and being loved despite of what has happened.  Jude has to learn to forgive herself.  Because until she does, she can't begin to forgive Lexi.  Zach has to learn to acknowledge what he's wanted all along and that it's ok to have it.  It's an emotional roller coaster ride along the way.