Review & Giveaway: Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a free copy of the book.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Annie Taft’s wedding is four days away, and it will be one of the grandest anyone can remember in her small South Carolina town. Preparations are in order. Friends and family are gathering in anticipation. Everything is going according to plan. Except that Annie herself has vanished. Did she have second thoughts?

Or has something much worse happened to the bride-to-be?

As the days pass, the list of suspects in her disappearance grows. Could it be the recently released man a young Annie misidentified as her mother’s killer? Could it be someone even closer to her?

While her loved ones frantically try to track her down, they’re forced to grapple with their own secrets—secrets with the power to reframe entire relationships, leaving each to wonder how well they really knew Annie and how well they know themselves.

Review:

Oh, Ms. Whalen, your characters have stolen my heart.

I’ve noticed a lot of people prefacing their reviews with something along the lines of “this is not a thriller!!” and couldn’t figure out what was going on. After reading a couple chapters, then going back and reading the synopsis, I understood. The blurb for this book sounds very ominous and dark, but that’s not what this book actually is. It’s a book of self discovery; a journey toward coming into one’s own personhood. Annie has spent her entire life living in the shadow of her mother’s death and trying to maintain the persona that her town has created for her, only to realize in the days before her wedding that maybe that’s not who she is or wants to be.

These characters all had such wonderful personality traits, and everyone had their own struggle they were trying to work through. I loved it. I loved following these journeys. In addition to being a fantastically character-driven story, it was told through multiple points of view. I’ve always felt that this narration style allows the reader a deeper connection with the story and a deeper understanding of each character and their role. I will say that there are a decent number of narrators in this book, but every chapter is titled with the narrator’s name. So you aren’t struggling to decipher each voice.

This is exactly the kind of book I love to have on my summer “beach reads” list. I love falling in love with characters, following their journey, and walking away from it feeling like I’ve made new friends. It’s not so intense that I need to be 10000% focused, but it’s not so light that I can guess the entire story arc just from the cover. I’m definitely going to be recommending this one to anyone looking for a good summer read, but also a good “gets you in the feels” read.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Author stats: Website – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter

Book stats: paperback, 298 pages, Lake Union Publishing, May 7, 2019

***GIVEAWAY*** I’m excited to be partnering with TLC Book Tours and Lake Union Publishing to share a copy of this gem with one of you! To enter is simple: share a recommendation for a book you loved with multiple POVs, or a recommendation for a favorite women’s fiction book. I’ll give you extra entries for following the author and/or myself on any of our social media pages, just let me know in your comment that you are doing so. Giveaway goes trough Friday, 5/24/19 at 11:59 PM CST. Winner will be notified early next week via email and will have 48 hours to respond or copy is forfeited to the next name drawn. Limited to US addresses only. Good luck!!

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for organizing this tour. Follow the rest of the tour stops Here