True Places by Sonja Yoerg ~ My Thoughts #TruePlaces #NetGalley

True Places

True Places by Sonja Yoerg
Paperback and e-book, 347 pages
Expected publication: January 1st 2019 by Lake Union Publishing

A girl emerges from the woods, starved, ill, and alone…and collapses.

Suzanne Blakemore hurtles along the Blue Ridge Parkway, away from her overscheduled and completely normal life, and encounters the girl. As Suzanne rushes her to the hospital, she never imagines how the encounter will change her—a change she both fears and desperately needs.

Suzanne has the perfect house, a successful husband, and a thriving family. But beneath the veneer of an ideal life, her daughter is rebelling, her son is withdrawing, her husband is oblivious to it all, and Suzanne is increasingly unsure of her place in the world. After her discovery of the ethereal sixteen-year-old who has never experienced civilization, Suzanne is compelled to invite Iris into her family’s life and all its apparent privileges.

But Iris has an independence, a love of solitude, and a discomfort with materialism that contrasts with everything the Blakemores stand for—qualities that awaken in Suzanne first a fascination, then a longing. Now Suzanne can’t help but wonder: Is she destined to save Iris, or is Iris the one who will save her?

Pssst - True Places is a December Amazon First Reads selection. You can get it free or at a reduced price until the end of the month!

My thoughts about True Places ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First line—"The girl knew before she opened her eyes that Mama was gone. She always knew." 

I have been a huge fan of Sonja's stories from her very first one. I've come to expect a beautiful, touching story that will put her memorable characters through some tough times—times that will lead to soul searching and growth. 

True Places was all this, and so much more. When Suzanne finds a young girl along the roadside, the compassion she feels for her starts a wave of change in her life, and the lives of her family. The life that Suzanne thought she was perfectly content with is maybe not the life she really wants or needs. Will taking Iris into their family mend it or totally break it apart?  

Sonja creates such strong, independent characters that you can't help but love. Suzanne is brave and caring and someone we could all emulate. It's not easy taking in a girl like Iris. And then there's Iris. She has been through so much in her short life, but she is such an amazing person. We can all learn so much from her and what she has been through.  

I loved True Places. It is a story that made me stop and think about where my 'true place' is and questioning if I am there yet. I also love that Sonja's stories take me on adventures that I personally am not brave enough to try. I can't recommend this story enough! You will not be disappointed.    

I received an ARC of True Places from the author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the author

I grew up in Stowe, Vermont, the daughter of a ski instructor. In my first incarnation, I was a animal behaviorist who studied learning in blue jays, hyenas and kangaroo rats. I wrote a book about that. Now I make stuff up.

My first two novels (House Broken and Middle of Somewhere) were published in 2015 by Penguin. My third, All the Best People, will be out in May 2017. I'm very excited about it, but then again, I get excited about a lot of things.

When I'm not writing or pretending to be writing, I run, garden, cook, eat, drink wine, then run some more. My husband and I live in central Virginia with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's quiet and pretty, like Vermont.

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