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A review by owlyreadsalot
The How & the Why by Cynthia Hand
4.0
This was definitely an emotional read, with so much of it being placed at the heart of the story, the life of an adoptive child, of living in the knowing that something is never going to be right, of growing from it and being more than a situation there was no definite choice in. I didn't realize how much I would come to appreciate this novel and what it represents. Yes, there were those parts that didn't always pull at my heartstrings, but if anything it was only for a minor fraction of this book.
"Yeah." That's exactly it. Now, no matter how I try to look at it, it's like I have a hidden family out there, not only a biological mother and the necessary biological father, but aunts and uncles and grandparents and great-grandparents who each have lives and histories of their own. Sunddenly, they're all real."
And, this isn't only just the story about Cass and her life, but that of her biological mother. Whom, even though was giving her up and said she didn't care to make a connection, wrote letters that went past just the one she never truly intended to write and distribute. It's that hurt and pain that comes through even more, the knowledge that at sixteen and her years after were not enough to forget a child she said meant nothing to her.
"To me, you're still sort of intangible. I know you're in there, but you're not obvious yet. You're tight pants. You're heartburn. You're the space alien slowly taking over my body. You're X. I can't imagine you as an actual baby, let alone an eighteen-year-old person reading this letter. I'm not even eighteen yet myself."
With that, and so much more in this book, those emotional filled moments kept getting packed in and growing as the novel got to its end. There is always more to a person, what they become as they grow and mature, where that leaves others in their lives, and the hard decisions that are made when everything is presented in front of them. But, really those last chapters had me in tears the most, and even though it seemed like it might not have been the easiest one, it really brought it all full circle.
***I received this copy from HarperTeen, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***
"Yeah." That's exactly it. Now, no matter how I try to look at it, it's like I have a hidden family out there, not only a biological mother and the necessary biological father, but aunts and uncles and grandparents and great-grandparents who each have lives and histories of their own. Sunddenly, they're all real."
And, this isn't only just the story about Cass and her life, but that of her biological mother. Whom, even though was giving her up and said she didn't care to make a connection, wrote letters that went past just the one she never truly intended to write and distribute. It's that hurt and pain that comes through even more, the knowledge that at sixteen and her years after were not enough to forget a child she said meant nothing to her.
"To me, you're still sort of intangible. I know you're in there, but you're not obvious yet. You're tight pants. You're heartburn. You're the space alien slowly taking over my body. You're X. I can't imagine you as an actual baby, let alone an eighteen-year-old person reading this letter. I'm not even eighteen yet myself."
With that, and so much more in this book, those emotional filled moments kept getting packed in and growing as the novel got to its end. There is always more to a person, what they become as they grow and mature, where that leaves others in their lives, and the hard decisions that are made when everything is presented in front of them. But, really those last chapters had me in tears the most, and even though it seemed like it might not have been the easiest one, it really brought it all full circle.
***I received this copy from HarperTeen, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***