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A review by bellefarren
The Way Back Home by Carmen Jenner
2.0
2/5 stars
trigger warning: suicide (descriptive), mental illness, rape and abuse.
this is kinda a long review lol, 1k plus words of how much I did not like the representation of a so called experienced 'professional' in the mental health field and their way of 'helping' a PTSD sufferer.
This was a very highly anticipated read for me, I love a book that features a realistic interpretation of what veterans suffer with when they come home from war. And although I feel this did a pretty good job in representing that, no love cures severe and paralysing PTSD to be seen around here, I just didn't enjoy the characters one bit. And I am so disappointed because I feel as if this book had the potential to be a favourite.
This story follows Olivia Anders, the owner of a non-for-profit that pairs unwanted dogs from the pound with veterans having a tough time adjusting to civilian life. She wanders into Magnolia Springs to set up another 'Paws For Cause' and immediately sets her eyes on wounded veteran August Cotton, who had just lost his parents and become guardian to his baby sister.
Olivia was my biggest issue in this story, her and I were not on the same page and I often wanted to shake some common sense into that self absorbed, overly teased, southern head of hers.
By her own definition, she was well versed in dealing with veterans who suffered from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder is a particular set of reactions that can develop in people who have been through a traumatic event which threatened their life or safety, or that of others around them) and yet she made so many unknowledgeable mistakes that she claimed she made "in the moment" and "without thinking".
Again and again she put her own safety at risk to reach out and touch August Cotton, a man who suffered from PTSD and would often have violent outburst towards people who startled or frightened him. While he was in the throws of a flashback, she repeatedly touched or tried to break him out of the flashbacks, resulting in him either holding her in a choke hold or holding a knife to her throat.
Honestly, it was frustrating to watch a 'professional' in the field (who also hinted that she had a background in psychology) make such dangerous mistakes. It took me 0.2 seconds on google to find articles talking about how to approach a person suffering PTSD who is displaying signs of violence:
A threatened Marine = a violent Marine. I don't know about you, but that seems like a basic equation that only takes a smidgen of common sense to answer.
And she often lamented that she 'knew better' and yet made the same mistake again and again. Not only did she make the mistake, she then constantly blamed August for the consequences. I do believe that it wasn't just Olivia to blame for this, it was clear that August refused to seek help or accept it when offered, but for Olivia to constantly be blaming him for "always hurting her" was plain infuriating. And there wasn't even the excuse that he was a risk to himself or others during those flashbacks.
Olivia clearly made August seem like a pity project throughout the entire book and I was not a fan of it, I did not want the two to end up together and the only reason I continued to read was because I became attached to the side characters and animals that filled this book. August's little sister Bettina and the two delinquent boys, Josiah and Beau were pure and beautiful characters, I adored them to no end.
I also felt like the author tried to cram WAY too many significant topics all in one (kinda short) book. For example some of the strong themes and plot points were:
● PTSD
● general mental health issues
● suicide attempts (quite descriptive)
● abuse
● neglect of a minor
● drugs
● rape (and a resulting pregnancy)
● cheating
● grief
And these are just naming a few, I'm sure if I went back and highlighted all the themes I would come back with a much longer list. There was no cohesion with all these strong topics and the author used flashback chapters (for both Olivia and August) to the past to add more 'drama' into the story. I think a lot of the these themes were used to create sympathy and feeling towards certain characters and it felt like a cheats way of making readers feel something towards a character.
I think it's hard enough for an author to do two or three of these themes in a book, let alone a whole list of them.
I just had too many issues with the story to rate it any higher, the writing was enjoyable but the plot and characters just didn't mesh well. I am so disappointed that I didn't enjoy this book, I had even gone a far as to pre-order it and it just didn't meet my expectations.
If you want a good romance book that deals with wounded veterans from war I would highly recommend [b:Embattled Hearts|17340459|Embattled Hearts (Lost and Found, #1)|J.M. Madden|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1360286447s/17340459.jpg|24076139], the series covers a whole range of different disabilities (mental and physical) that vets come back with and it creates a romance that is a perfect fit.
trigger warning: suicide (descriptive), mental illness, rape and abuse.
this is kinda a long review lol, 1k plus words of how much I did not like the representation of a so called experienced 'professional' in the mental health field and their way of 'helping' a PTSD sufferer.
This was a very highly anticipated read for me, I love a book that features a realistic interpretation of what veterans suffer with when they come home from war. And although I feel this did a pretty good job in representing that, no love cures severe and paralysing PTSD to be seen around here, I just didn't enjoy the characters one bit. And I am so disappointed because I feel as if this book had the potential to be a favourite.
This story follows Olivia Anders, the owner of a non-for-profit that pairs unwanted dogs from the pound with veterans having a tough time adjusting to civilian life. She wanders into Magnolia Springs to set up another 'Paws For Cause' and immediately sets her eyes on wounded veteran August Cotton, who had just lost his parents and become guardian to his baby sister.
Olivia was my biggest issue in this story, her and I were not on the same page and I often wanted to shake some common sense into that self absorbed, overly teased, southern head of hers.
By her own definition, she was well versed in dealing with veterans who suffered from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder is a particular set of reactions that can develop in people who have been through a traumatic event which threatened their life or safety, or that of others around them) and yet she made so many unknowledgeable mistakes that she claimed she made "in the moment" and "without thinking".
Again and again she put her own safety at risk to reach out and touch August Cotton, a man who suffered from PTSD and would often have violent outburst towards people who startled or frightened him. While he was in the throws of a flashback, she repeatedly touched or tried to break him out of the flashbacks, resulting in him either holding her in a choke hold or holding a knife to her throat.
Honestly, it was frustrating to watch a 'professional' in the field (who also hinted that she had a background in psychology) make such dangerous mistakes. It took me 0.2 seconds on google to find articles talking about how to approach a person suffering PTSD who is displaying signs of violence:
Give the person space. Avoid crowding or grabbing the person. This can make a traumatized person feel threatened.
Put safety first. If the person gets more upset despite your attempts to calm him or her down, leave the house or lock yourself in a room. Call 911 if you fear that your loved one may hurt himself or others.
A threatened Marine = a violent Marine. I don't know about you, but that seems like a basic equation that only takes a smidgen of common sense to answer.
And she often lamented that she 'knew better' and yet made the same mistake again and again. Not only did she make the mistake, she then constantly blamed August for the consequences. I do believe that it wasn't just Olivia to blame for this, it was clear that August refused to seek help or accept it when offered, but for Olivia to constantly be blaming him for "always hurting her" was plain infuriating. And there wasn't even the excuse that he was a risk to himself or others during those flashbacks.
Olivia clearly made August seem like a pity project throughout the entire book and I was not a fan of it, I did not want the two to end up together and the only reason I continued to read was because I became attached to the side characters and animals that filled this book. August's little sister Bettina and the two delinquent boys, Josiah and Beau were pure and beautiful characters, I adored them to no end.
I also felt like the author tried to cram WAY too many significant topics all in one (kinda short) book. For example some of the strong themes and plot points were:
● PTSD
● general mental health issues
● suicide attempts (quite descriptive)
● abuse
● neglect of a minor
● drugs
● rape (and a resulting pregnancy)
● cheating
● grief
And these are just naming a few, I'm sure if I went back and highlighted all the themes I would come back with a much longer list. There was no cohesion with all these strong topics and the author used flashback chapters (for both Olivia and August) to the past to add more 'drama' into the story. I think a lot of the these themes were used to create sympathy and feeling towards certain characters and it felt like a cheats way of making readers feel something towards a character.
I think it's hard enough for an author to do two or three of these themes in a book, let alone a whole list of them.
I just had too many issues with the story to rate it any higher, the writing was enjoyable but the plot and characters just didn't mesh well. I am so disappointed that I didn't enjoy this book, I had even gone a far as to pre-order it and it just didn't meet my expectations.
If you want a good romance book that deals with wounded veterans from war I would highly recommend [b:Embattled Hearts|17340459|Embattled Hearts (Lost and Found, #1)|J.M. Madden|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1360286447s/17340459.jpg|24076139], the series covers a whole range of different disabilities (mental and physical) that vets come back with and it creates a romance that is a perfect fit.