Sunday 20 October 2013

REVIEW: Beyond Grace's Rainbow by Carmel Harrington.

Title: Beyond Grace's Rainbow.
Author: Carmel Harrington.
Publisher: HarperImpulse.
Release Date: September 12, 2013.


Beyond Grace’s Rainbow is the deeply emotional and poignant story of young single mother Grace Devlin.

When Grace is diagnosed with cancer, her best chance of survival is to find a bone marrow transplant from a family member. Only Grace is adopted and her one previous attempt to connect with her birth mother resulted in bitter disappointment.

But with her young son, Jack, to think about, and the return of her ex Liam, Jack’s father, reminding her of feelings she’d thought she’d buried long ago, Grace refuses to give up hope just yet. With the help of her friends she bravely embarks on a journey of discovery.

This search will bring her from her home in vibrant Dublin to the unspoilt beauty of Wexford where she must unravel a web of lies and deceit that has spanned over thirty years.

With a wonderful cast of supporting characters and plenty of charm, this will have you laughing and crying at the turn of a page.

Carmel Harrington is an exciting new Irish voice in women’s fiction – a must read for fans of Cecilia Ahern!



Review:

I’m afraid if you’re looking for a review which is perfectly balanced with positive and negative opinions then you’re in the wrong place, because all I can do is tell you how brilliant Beyond Grace’s Rainbow is. I really hope more people read this and Carmel Harrington gets the recognition she deserves because Beyond Grace’s Rainbow is a beautifully written book.

This book tells the story of Grace, a mother in her thirties who has been diagnosed with leukaemia. It could have been too grueling and tough to read but it’s written so stunningly by the author that giving up on Beyond Grace’s Rainbow was never an option.

Firstly, there’s a great bunch of characters; Abby, Tom, Gerry, Sean and Tara. Their own little side-stories are written in chapters which break up the main focus on the illness Grace and her family are suffering from, without it being forgotten. I grew to love all her friends and their stories.

Secondly, Carmel Harrington has written such an emotional book and despite the need to have a box of tissues close to be on the safe side, Beyond Grace’s Rainbow has loads of really sweet and humorous moments. Grace’s cancer is never treated in a way which could be seen as disrespectful to anyone who has seen it in real life, yet I never found it too hard to read. I was an emotional wreck throughout the highs and lows and feel like I lived in Grace’s friendship circle the whole time I spent reading the book.

There are lots of real-life situations written in this book other than cancer, such as adoption and others I can’t really give away. Everything is written so poignantly and Beyond Grace’s Rainbow is a book to be proud of.

This is, amazingly, Carmel Harrington’s debut book and if her future books are anywhere near as good as Beyond Grace’s Rainbow, she will become one of my favourite authors ever.

Rating:

*I received an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...