[Book Review] Whatever It Takes

Title: Whatever it Takes
Author: Jessica Park
Pages: 352
Genre: Adult Fiction, Slice of Life
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

This is an Advanced Readers Copy. That means that this is not the final version of the book therefore some facts and quotes are subject to change in the published book.

This novel follows Sienna Chadwick, a 25 year old who has just been told she might have cancer. Her whole life falls apart as she remembers that her mom also had breast cancer, or did she? We follow Sienna as she thinks back on her life and about all of the things she has overlooked starting with her mom and her complicated relationship with her husband. I rated this book with 2 out of 5 stars because this is mainly a descriptive novel which failed to hold me attention.

Oh No’s

Holy information dump. Why do I care about the entire history of these characters? I feel like it never stopped and I just skimmed the entire book. She had a five page monologue walking past pictures frames and reminiscing about her life. This book is 90% description and 10% dialogue.

This story is not about finding out the secret of her mother or the fact that she has breast cancer. This story is about Sienna and her inability to listen to anyone but herself. Harsh but true.

The multiple perspectives felt so random. I felt the point of view of her father and mother were not needed except for that ending scene. They were also very randomly paced throughout the novel.

Yay’s

I loved learning about the mother. But, Sienna does not begin her search for her mother until at least halfway through the novel. As I said, this novel mainly focuses on Sienna and her thinking back on her life. When she finally begins to take action and research her mother I loved the direction this novel went. The mystery part of the novel really kept me going.

Finally,

This book has a great premise but it was just way too fillery. This was a great mystery novel but not really much else.

The book is similar to Remembrance by Mary Monroe

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-PM