Book Review: Night Road by Kristin Hannah

I just finished reading Night Road, a novel I wanted to purchase at our school book fair last week, but decided to download on my Kindle Friday afternoon, as I was out of reading material for the weekend.

From the cover: For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her childrens needs above her own, and it shows - her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close-knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mias best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harms way. It has always been easy - until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time Mia and Zach leave the house, she worries about them. On a hot summers night her worst fears are realized. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget... or the courage to forgive.Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, Night Road raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.

I have to say, this book is by far one of the best I've read in quite some time. The characters were bright and believable, and the story held me completely captivated from Friday afternoon all the way until Saturday evening. I would have finished it much earlier, but I had to put it down a few times to attend my son's basketball tournament! The story is told from three points-of-view, which makes it a little different from the typical first-person narration. Throughout the course of the novel, I found myself moved from laughter to tears on more than one occasion, as my heart broke time and again for Lexi and her seemingly hopeless situation. I was angered at Jude for her controlling nature, her bitterness, and for abadoning her family when they needed her the most, and I completely empathized with Mia- the awkward, book-loving, Disney-singing teen in a tutu and Converse All-Stars. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like Hannah developed Zach- the character at the center of the plot, which made it hard to connect to his emotions or his part in the novel. I wanted to know what he was thinking, what he was feeling, and what it was he really wanted.

If I had to pick something that I didn't like about the novel, it would be Jude's relationship (or lack thereof) with her mother. I was really hoping after all the tragedy and heartbreak, she would reach out more to her mother, reconnecting and rediscovering the love that had been lost. I wanted Jude to come full circle in her role as both mother and daughter, and was disappointed when the novel ended with just a hint of a reconnection between the two.

Overall, I absolutely loved this story, and I'd highly recommend it to the majority of my book-loving friends. I haven't checked yet to see if it's lendable or not, but I do know its available at our middle school book fair!