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Everything That Came Before Grace review by TKander61 | LitPick Book Reviews
Everything That Came Before Grace review by TKande...
Age Range - Adult
Genre - Fiction
Five Star Award

LitPick Review

Age at time of review - 59
Reviewer's Location - Fairborn, OH, United States
View TKander61's profile

Benjamin Bradford is a single father, doing his best to raise his daughter, Sofia. He feels he has to be a perfect parent to prevent Sofia's grandparents from taking her away from him. This is made more difficult by keeping his mental illness hidden from everyone but his therapist. When the woman he considers the love of his life comes back into the picture, things get even more complicated, particularly as she is marrying his best friend. Will Ben give in to temptation? Will he successfully navigate parenting a teenaged daughter? Will he learn to love himself--and in turn allow others to love him?

Opinion: 

This is one of the most moving books I've read this year. Single dad Benjamin is trying to raise his daughter Sophia while keeping her in the dark about his mental illness, as well as the mental illness of his mother (and its impact on his childhood). Add in losing his "one true love" in college, and subsequently seeing her married to his best friend, and life gets pretty complicated pretty fast. The main theme of the father-daughter relationship is very well-written, and its ups and downs are incredibly realistic. The fears Benjamin has about his parenting may seem a little over the top at times and make him more than a little overprotective, but it all tends to make him someone you just want to hug (and at times, shout at to get over himself). I was also glad to see that the author did not give us a predictable ending, but that it was still full of hope and promise. There are a lot of song references throughout the book, which was fun. The author has put together a Spotify playlist of all of them, which makes for a great soundtrack while reading.

Rating:
5
Content Rating:

Content rating - some mature content

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