3 Star
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk through life in someone else's shoes?
Strong-willed tomboy Harley LeBeau puts you in the boots her mother gave her, as she takes you along her journey of escape from an abusive childhood and the desire to find herself as she comes of age. Made to feel a burden to her father simply by her gender, Harley is determined to prove her worth and independence, leaving the small town she grew up in and the one boy who gave her a soft place to fall, Jeremiah Johnson. Torn between saving herself and abandoning her mother and younger sister, Harley chooses her own life in hopes they will choose theirs, too.
Sabrina-Kate - 3 Star
I wanted to like The Boots My Mother Gave Me more than I did. I believe it touched on a lot of important and sensitive topics like abuse and teen pregnancy but the author did lose me at certain points, especially when she would expand, possibly unnecessarily, on the sexual relations of the main characters. It didn't feel like it was a necessary element to the story, at least not to the extent that it was described so I found it took away from the overall strength of this tale.
The story was a very strong one about breaking the cycle of abuse and dysfunction - a story that needs to be told more often. I am in hopes that this book could find the right reader and actually help them be strong enough to change their circumstance. I often wondered while reading it if this was a personal story of the author's.
I am very mixed about how I truly feel in the end about this book because despite all of the great qualities, the story did drag for me at certain points and that might be due to a few factors. One very big one being that flashback scenes of the book that were not so obviously flask back scenes until something would eventually tip me off. So then I would feel obligated to go back and read that part over in order to make sure I understood everything. Something I didn't like having to do and have rarely, if ever, done before.
The main character seemed at times very self assured and at other times, just a confused and almost annoying person. I know that people from abusive situations might have conflicted feelings about life and what is right and wrong, but it could get irritating at times.
The pacing also seemed a bit off, again with too much detail in some areas that felt unnecessary to the plot development and made the story drag out without a real point in doing so. Over all, the story was a decent one but I can't say this would rate The Boots My Mother Gave Me very high on my list of recommendations this year.
Thank you to Brooklyn James for our review copy. All opinions are our own.
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