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danielvicens's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
courtthebookgirl's review against another edition
4.0
I absolutely love the way Marisa de los Santos writes, and a few of her books are listed among my all-time favorites. This was a lovely book- heartbreaking and introspective. It’s largely a family drama, spanning several decades with flashbacks courtesy of journal entries, but it’s also a mystery and even a bit of a love story. The story flowed beautifully and I really enjoyed it.
inliterarylove's review
4.0
Marisa de los Santos hits us with another one of her amazing creations once again. I’d Give Anything, available May 12, is a story with a strong heart. Told in a dual narrative, the story is split between Ginny’s teen years and her now almost middle aged years.
Her life, as she knows it, is about to be upended and she’ll be forced to face the turbulence she has tried for twenty years to ignore. She kept a secret to herself, thinking she was protecting those she loved, but she only ended up hurting herself, her relationships with friends, and even family. With the help of her amazing daughter (who reminded me so much of what my youngest will be like some day), Ginny finally confronts the pain of the past and the unique girl she used to be. It’s time to stop living in a safety net and get ready to jump. Never, ever looking down.
I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Her life, as she knows it, is about to be upended and she’ll be forced to face the turbulence she has tried for twenty years to ignore. She kept a secret to herself, thinking she was protecting those she loved, but she only ended up hurting herself, her relationships with friends, and even family. With the help of her amazing daughter (who reminded me so much of what my youngest will be like some day), Ginny finally confronts the pain of the past and the unique girl she used to be. It’s time to stop living in a safety net and get ready to jump. Never, ever looking down.
I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
anjreading's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. I love de los Santos’s writing; she never fails to draw me in with her lyrical prose. This is a lovely book about Ginny, who has shut herself in for twenty years after a high school tragedy, living a safe, quiet life with her boring husband and beloved daughter. That life explodes when her husband is caught up in a scandal, and the events that follow begin to unravel decades of lies and secrets.
lee's review
5.0
From the beginning of the year until now, I’ve read 21 books and so far, not a single one of them had reached 5 star level for me. Don’t get me wrong — there were plenty of excellent books in that mix and quite a few that, regardless of whether I rated them 4 or 4.5 stars, I still enjoyed greatly and even loved, but instinctually, somehow, they just didn’t feel like 5 star reads. Well, with I’d Give Anything, the newest novel by renowned author Marisa de los Santos, it looks like I have finally found my first 5 star read of the year!
In this beautifully written, heartfelt story, the close friendship between 4 high school seniors — Ginny, Kirsten, Gray, and CJ — is forever changed one night when a fire breaks out during a football game at their school. Gray’s father, a fire fighter, perishes in the fire and immediately, Gray’s 3 best friends are there for him, ready to support him through the tragedy. But then Ginny makes a devastating discovery about the fire, which she decides to keep from her 3 friends — this secret not only shatters Ginny’s world, it also ends up destroying their friendship. Over the next twenty years, Ginny gradually puts the past behind her, and after moving back to her hometown upon graduating from college, she builds a quiet life with her husband Harris and their teenage daughter Avery. When her husband becomes embroiled in a scandal at work, Ginny experiences turbulence in her carefully constructed life once again and as she tries to deal with the fallout from that scandal, she ends up coming face-to-face with the 20-year-old secret that she thought had been buried long ago.
For me, the best character-driven stories are the ones where nearly all of the characters (whether main or supporting) are realistically drawn in ways that make them relatable and easy to connect with — pretty much to the point that the characters feel like old friends whom I don’t want to part with even when the story is over. Ginny and Avery were characters I adored from the getgo and rooted for throughout the story — both were written in a way that felt so raw and real. It’s refreshing to read about characters whose experiences hew so closely to what many of us may encounter at different points in our lives — as I watched Ginny work through the various challenges she faced, not only with her family, but also with her friends, I recognized some of her struggles and was able to resonate on an emotional level. All the other characters, regardless of whether they only appeared for a few pages or were a constant throughout the entire story, were also well-developed and memorable. I also loved the way the various relationships were depicted in this story. We all know that, in real life, the complexities when it comes to relationships are endless – whether it’s family relationships, friendships, work relationships, or mere acquaintances -- there are so many nuances that are difficult to capture accurately in a fictional story. Yet this book does it -- and does it well!
This was a profound read that left me with much food-for-thought, not just as it pertains to relationships, but also life and its intricacies. It covers a lot of ground in its exploration of themes such as family, love, friendship, truth, regret, forgiveness, and so much more. One of the insights that stood out the most to me pertained to love and forgiveness, that both are not mutually exclusive of each other insofar as the inability to forgive someone for their actions does not preclude the ability to still love them and care deeply about them. The ending brought me close to tears, as did several other parts of the story.
I like the way Marisa de los Santos writes as well as the way she is able to tell such an emotionally nuanced story so effortlessly. I read this book in 2 sittings over the weekend, putting it down only once to tend to the necessities of life and then when I picked it up again, I didn’t want it to end. If there is anything to complain about with this book, it’s that I wish it had been longer (the ARC was less than 300 pages) so that I could spend more time with these characters. I’ve actually had several of this author’s works on my TBR for quite some time, but didn’t have a chance to get to any of them previously — well, now I will definitely be exploring her backlist while I wait patiently for her next book, whenever that may be.
Received ARC from William Morrow (HarperCollins) via Edelweiss.
In this beautifully written, heartfelt story, the close friendship between 4 high school seniors — Ginny, Kirsten, Gray, and CJ — is forever changed one night when a fire breaks out during a football game at their school. Gray’s father, a fire fighter, perishes in the fire and immediately, Gray’s 3 best friends are there for him, ready to support him through the tragedy. But then Ginny makes a devastating discovery about the fire, which she decides to keep from her 3 friends — this secret not only shatters Ginny’s world, it also ends up destroying their friendship. Over the next twenty years, Ginny gradually puts the past behind her, and after moving back to her hometown upon graduating from college, she builds a quiet life with her husband Harris and their teenage daughter Avery. When her husband becomes embroiled in a scandal at work, Ginny experiences turbulence in her carefully constructed life once again and as she tries to deal with the fallout from that scandal, she ends up coming face-to-face with the 20-year-old secret that she thought had been buried long ago.
For me, the best character-driven stories are the ones where nearly all of the characters (whether main or supporting) are realistically drawn in ways that make them relatable and easy to connect with — pretty much to the point that the characters feel like old friends whom I don’t want to part with even when the story is over. Ginny and Avery were characters I adored from the getgo and rooted for throughout the story — both were written in a way that felt so raw and real. It’s refreshing to read about characters whose experiences hew so closely to what many of us may encounter at different points in our lives — as I watched Ginny work through the various challenges she faced, not only with her family, but also with her friends, I recognized some of her struggles and was able to resonate on an emotional level. All the other characters, regardless of whether they only appeared for a few pages or were a constant throughout the entire story, were also well-developed and memorable. I also loved the way the various relationships were depicted in this story. We all know that, in real life, the complexities when it comes to relationships are endless – whether it’s family relationships, friendships, work relationships, or mere acquaintances -- there are so many nuances that are difficult to capture accurately in a fictional story. Yet this book does it -- and does it well!
This was a profound read that left me with much food-for-thought, not just as it pertains to relationships, but also life and its intricacies. It covers a lot of ground in its exploration of themes such as family, love, friendship, truth, regret, forgiveness, and so much more. One of the insights that stood out the most to me pertained to love and forgiveness, that both are not mutually exclusive of each other insofar as the inability to forgive someone for their actions does not preclude the ability to still love them and care deeply about them. The ending brought me close to tears, as did several other parts of the story.
I like the way Marisa de los Santos writes as well as the way she is able to tell such an emotionally nuanced story so effortlessly. I read this book in 2 sittings over the weekend, putting it down only once to tend to the necessities of life and then when I picked it up again, I didn’t want it to end. If there is anything to complain about with this book, it’s that I wish it had been longer (the ARC was less than 300 pages) so that I could spend more time with these characters. I’ve actually had several of this author’s works on my TBR for quite some time, but didn’t have a chance to get to any of them previously — well, now I will definitely be exploring her backlist while I wait patiently for her next book, whenever that may be.
Received ARC from William Morrow (HarperCollins) via Edelweiss.
shelleyrae's review against another edition
3.0
I’d Give Anything is a contemporary stand alone novel from Marisa de los Santos, best known for her ‘Love Walked In’ series.
“...sometimes families and worlds, no matter how careful everyone is, no matter how much love, fall apart and there’s not a thing you...can do to stop it.”
As a teenager Ginny Beale imagined that her future would be extraordinary, buoyed by her ‘forever’ friends, Kirsten, C.J., and Gray, she would take risks, have wild adventures, and create art to gift to the world, until tragedy left her dreams in ashes. Two decades later her staid life as a suburban wife and mother falls apart when her husband, Harris, is fired amid a scandal involving a young woman barely older than their daughter, and just days later her terminally ill mother suicides. Forced to reimagine her future in the midst of this upheaval, Ginny is offered a way to reconnect with the girl she once was, and perhaps reclaim all that she lost.
I’d Give Anything is told through diary entries, and the perspectives of Ginny and her fifteen year old daughter, Avery. This is a story that focuses on relationships - those between parent and child, siblings, between lovers, and friends - and explores the limits of their resilience. It features themes of loss, regret, forgiveness, redemption and the courage it takes to be honest with the ones we love.
Santos infuses her main characters with nuance, truth and emotion, and while in frame her minor characters such as Ginny’s mother, Adel, and Gray receive the same treatment.
However I thought the story was a bit messy in places. I felt that the central plot involving the fire that separated teenage Ginny from her brother and friends was well handled, but that ultimately Harris was superfluous in Ginny’s story, and I think this creates flaws in both character and plot which affected my engagement.
In the end my feelings about I’d Give Anything are mixed, which is a shame as I have really enjoyed several of her previous novels which I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
“...sometimes families and worlds, no matter how careful everyone is, no matter how much love, fall apart and there’s not a thing you...can do to stop it.”
As a teenager Ginny Beale imagined that her future would be extraordinary, buoyed by her ‘forever’ friends, Kirsten, C.J., and Gray, she would take risks, have wild adventures, and create art to gift to the world, until tragedy left her dreams in ashes. Two decades later her staid life as a suburban wife and mother falls apart when her husband, Harris, is fired amid a scandal involving a young woman barely older than their daughter, and just days later her terminally ill mother suicides. Forced to reimagine her future in the midst of this upheaval, Ginny is offered a way to reconnect with the girl she once was, and perhaps reclaim all that she lost.
I’d Give Anything is told through diary entries, and the perspectives of Ginny and her fifteen year old daughter, Avery. This is a story that focuses on relationships - those between parent and child, siblings, between lovers, and friends - and explores the limits of their resilience. It features themes of loss, regret, forgiveness, redemption and the courage it takes to be honest with the ones we love.
Santos infuses her main characters with nuance, truth and emotion, and while in frame her minor characters such as Ginny’s mother, Adel, and Gray receive the same treatment.
However I thought the story was a bit messy in places. I felt that the central plot involving the fire that separated teenage Ginny from her brother and friends was well handled, but that ultimately Harris was superfluous in Ginny’s story, and I think this creates flaws in both character and plot which affected my engagement.
In the end my feelings about I’d Give Anything are mixed, which is a shame as I have really enjoyed several of her previous novels which I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
aflat1218's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
ajs721's review
3.0
This book was engaging - the slow unraveling of the story in the past. However, I struggled to connect with the story and the lead character.