Official Review: She'll Be Home for Christmas

[shannonkate8]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "She'll Be Home for Christmas" by Steve Bensinger.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Losing a loved one is never easy. Louise learned this the hard way following the tragic death of her oldest child, Helen. Helen would have been almost halfway through her sophomore year in college if a drunk driver hadn’t hit the car full of college students last February. Since then, nothing has been the same in the lives of Louise and Chris, her troubled and talented high school-aged son. It’s the family’s first Christmas without her and they have to find a way forward. Yet, when Chris is in an accident of his own, Louise has to confront the past. Will they be able to find happiness and love this year and in the future?

She’ll Be Home For Christmas by Steve Bensinger was, in my opinion, a pretty normal romance book. Readers, myself included, are able to quickly identify the problem as well as potential love interests that may help the main character(s) heal. This book was a quick, easy read filled with many interesting characters and loaded with dialogue. Some of the characters are funny and witty while others are troubled and emotional. The variety definitely does not leave the reader board.

I quite liked Chris’s character, as he seemed to be the most dynamic and who the reader followed for the majority of the story. He was clearly going through so many emotions and relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms. I just wanted to see him persevere and started to find myself attached to him.

On the other hand, I found quite a few negatives. As I mentioned earlier, the book has quite a bit of dialogue. This could be interesting, however, the was minimal variation in it. For example, there was a lot of he-said-this or she-said-that instead of a variety of descriptive verbs. In addition, it also seemed like the author chose to use a wealth of dialogue and lacked additional detail throughout the story. Any detail that was there, I felt the author glossed over. This culminated in me feeling like I was told everything that was happening and not shown.

Furthermore, there were many grammatical and formatting errors. I found words and even parts of sentences repeated where the author did not go back to edit. Additionally, some paragraphs had inconsistent spacing, dialogue formatting, and indentations. All of this made me feel that the book could use another round of edits.

Given the above, I would rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. If the book was properly edited, I think it could go up to three stars. For now, though, it is not something I would go out of my way to recommend to others. Readers of this genre can find something better fairly easily.

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She'll Be Home for Christmas
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[Nonso Samuelson]

Louise's circumstances are really tragic. Losing one child to an accident and having to take care of another child who survived another accident. I can't even begin to imagine her pain.

[Wuoketch]

Since, the book has so many errors, the author will have to proofread again his work. This book sounds so interesting and would love to try it. Thanks for the great review.

[shannonkate8]

Louise's circumstances are really tragic. Losing one child to an accident and having to take care of another child who survived another accident. I can't even begin to imagine her pain.

I can't imagine anyone who has to go though such pain. Luckily, her son lives but everyone is forced to cope in their own way.

[shannonkate8]

Since, the book has so many errors, the author will have to proofread again his work. This book sounds so interesting and would love to try it. Thanks for the great review.

I feel like another round of proofreading could really improve the book. In that case, I'd probably recommend it. Fingers crossed!

[Chimdi_3]

It couldn't have been easy loosing a Child especially in circumstances that could have been avoided if people behaved more responsibly.Great review.

[Claris L]

It's a shame to hear about the many grammar and formatting errors, or else I would pick up this book. Thanks for sharing your review!

[shannonkate8]

It's a shame to hear about the many grammar and formatting errors, or else I would pick up this book. Thanks for sharing your review!

I believe that if the author made a few more edits, it would definitely be a great, easy read for many and I'd recommend it. Hopefully, they have the ability to make another round of edits and we get to see it improve!

[Khristian Misola]

How tragic! The books seems interesting enough but I tend to stir away from books like these which make me feel really depressed. The death of a child is intensely painful so it may be a good story but I think I would recommend this to someone else

[Sixq]

To be honest It couldn't have been easy loosing a Child especially in circumstances that could have been avoided if people behaved more responsibly.owesome review.

[shannonkate8]

How tragic! The books seems interesting enough but I tend to stir away from books like these which make me feel really depressed. The death of a child is intensely painful so it may be a good story but I think I would recommend this to someone else

Completely understandable! I can't imagine what that must feel like and it was difficult to imagine at times.

[MeganDJ]

It sounds like a truly tragic tale, but the light comes from their growth and learning to move forward for each other. I would take your recommendation though and give this one a pass. Thank you so much for the well-written review! Happy reading