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Book Review of The First Day of the Rest of My Life

The First Day of the Rest of My Life
reviewed on
Helpful Score: 2


I can't finish this book, it's that bad. It started out strong, I thought. I liked the dialog, and I liked how she wrote. But as the book went on, her writing style became irritating and repetitive. She talks about the same things over and over and over and over and over. All of her characters talk the same way, nobody has their own personality. They are all over the top characters, and it's exhausting to read.

She goes into graphic detail when it comes to the girls being molested. If you are sensitive to this, you need to skip this book. I had to quit reading it because that alone was disturbing me. If I would have known there would be pets being killed and disturbing descriptions of little girls being molested and tortured, I wouldn't have bought this book. I know this type of stuff exists, but I don't want to read about it. I bought this book to read for pleasure, as I thought it would be a "coming of age" type book. It's not.

Madeline is a life coach that has no life or expertise on life situations. Her Grandma talks descriptively and uncomfortably about sex, constantly in front of them and they think it's cute. The Grandparents mystery drags on and on. The girls (now grown women) are messed up and should have gotten mental help to deal with what happened to them. Madeline is a life coach, but doesn't think about getting help for herself? I mean come on, really? These are just a few of the things that were never ending themes in the book. I have read half of the book, and that's all I am reading. I'm not wasting my time reading anymore.

It is Cathy's writing style that makes this book hard to read. If she developed her characters as individuals, this book would be better. If she didn't write about the same situation and feelings over and over and over, it would be better. I don't know why this book got such great reviews from other readers. So, there is your warning. A review is a person's opinion on a product or book, and that is mine.