This Beautiful Life
By Katie Marsh
Published by Hodder & Stoughton (27 July 2017)
Publisher's description
What happens when you get the second chance you never
expected?
Abi is living her happy ending. She's in remission and is ready to make the most of her second chance at life. But during Abi's illness her family has fallen apart. Her husband Johnhas made decisions that are about to come back to haunt him, while her teenage son Seb is battling with a secret of his own.
Abi is living her happy ending. She's in remission and is ready to make the most of her second chance at life. But during Abi's illness her family has fallen apart. Her husband Johnhas made decisions that are about to come back to haunt him, while her teenage son Seb is battling with a secret of his own.
Set to the songs on Abi's survival playlist, this is the
story of what happens next as Abi tries to rebuild her family. Can she bring
the people she loves most in the world back together again... before it's too
late?
My verdict
Katie Marsh has done it again. Smiles and laughter sprinkled with tissues and tears are how I would describe her books. Or maybe tissues and tears sprinkled with smiles and laughter. I can't decide which combination was triggered the most while I read This Beautiful Life, a stunning book that's honest, beautifully written and filled with raw emotion.
I loved both of her previous books, and still she's managed to top them. Yet again, she's tackled a health issue that will be close to people's hearts - the impact of cancer on the whole family. A terrible disease that leaves few families untouched. Abi is in remission from cancer and now needs to put her family back together. I lived these characters' lives as if I were a fly on the wall - or rather, inside their heads, reading their thoughts, feeling their feelings... Abi's family felt like mine - and could be mine as I feel I know them all so well.
This Beautiful Life left me an emotional wreck, taking me on a family's rollercoaster journey as they look towards the future. Just as well I finished reading this late at night after the rest of the household had gone to bed, as I was clasping a box of tissues in my hand. There's a Spotify playlist associated with the book. The song titles are scattered between chapters, making this book seem ever so real and ever so personal. I tried to read it slowly, but couldn't put it down.
Bring on the next Katie Marsh book. I'll be waiting with tissues at the ready, prepared for more tears, smiles and laughter. This is going to be one of my favourite books of 2017.
I received an Advance Reader Copy.
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