How to Walk Away: A Novel

I’m obviously in the minority here but I found this novel to be too unrealistic. It reads like a Hallmark movie. Having known someone who fell off his roof and was paralyzed probably has a lot to do with why I can’t relate to this book.

With the book jacket description, I was expecting something a little more deep and more inspiring. When I threw my hands up and said "I give up. It's a romance novel," well, then it became a better book to me. It meant that the predictability of the novel became an asset rather than a liability. Once I saw the book as a midnight fantasy on a night when you can't fall asleep, it improved greatly. 3 starts as a novel, 5 as a romance, so I was going to give it 4 stars, but I relented while writing the last sentence of this review and changed it to 5.

Everything about Chip is perfect. His country club/fraternity name is derived from "Charles Phillip," a name fit for British monarchy. He's perfect, and perfectly narcissistic. I don't think Margaret even knows him. She's so stunned by him, and he's so dreamy that she doesn't tell him that she's going to earn $50,000 more at her job than he will working for a friend of his dad's after they both get their MBAs. He bullies her into a plane ride she doesn't want, and he fails at everything - the purpose of the plane ride isn't there, the engagement ring is all wrong, and, big surprise, he crashes the plane and runs away. Everything she saw in him was what she wanted to see - all veneer, no substance. The first 20 pages do not bode well for Margaret.

Actually, the first half of the book is truly good. There are quotes I want to put on my next Shutterfly calendar. Interactions between the characters, whether predictable or not, are written skillfully and make reading the book a true pleasure. There's a lot I could say... but I don't want to give away the intricacies of the novel. Somewhere around page 200 was where I started to roll my eyes. But just for a little while. Then I told myself to lighten up and enjoy the fantasy, and I did. I'll probably fall asleep tonight dreaming about the perfect kiss from the man who is perfect for me.

Katherine Center tackles subject matter that could lead a less-skilled writer into a decidely maudlin, cliched, predictable mess of a story. But with Center's adept control of her characters and theme, the story of Margaret Jacobsen is a deeply moving, relatable, and empathetic journey, full of believable emotions and humor. First, Center adroitly describes the events that change Margaret's life forever in a manner that immediately connects them with her main character, as she struggles to understand and aceept what has happened. The story-telling device is a brilliant one because the reader is instantaneously invested in Margaret's struggle to comprehend and accept what has occurred. As the story opens, she has just completed a Master's degree & landed a job that surpasses her goals. She is engaged to a young man she has loved for years and has never had any reason to doubt her love for him, much less his love and commitment to her. However, shortly after their engagement becomes official, tragedy strikes. Margaret gradually begins to grasp what has happened and the myriad ways in which she will have to cope with the reality that the life she planned will never materialize. She does so surrounded by her thoroughly dysfunctional, but loving family, as well as indomitable strength, determination, and intention that she never knew she possessed. She never loses her snarky, sarcastic sense of humor which is characterized by banter with her sister that resonates as true and eerily accurate with any reader who has/had sibling(s). Yes, there is romance, but it is neither cloyingly sweet nor anticipated, making the magical moments Center includes feel organic and satisfyingly believable. The result is a story that makes readers cheer enthusiastically for not just Margaret, the lead character, but those characters who truly love and support her, and want, like Center's readers, only the best for her because Center shows readers that Margaret deserves it. How to Walk Away is a perfect beach or vacation read and will resonate with a broad age-range of readers (beginning with young adult).
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book!

Honestly. Not one of my favorites from this author. It was good but not until I was about half way done. That’s when it started to feel like there was a story and that something was happening. That’s when the main character started having some development. Overall the ending was great but I wish there was more to the story. I felt like something was just lacking. But again I joined the last 1/2 of the book!

3.5