This book contains:
- Descriptions of family violence and the aftereffects
- Descriptions of potential alcohol abuse
- Descriptions of the effects of drug abuse.
Peyton is a family violence survivor who escaped her situation to Toronto. She’s a great writer who reviews and discusses local punk bands in her spare time. While she’s confident, happy and expressive in her writing, it’s doesn’t translate to how she interacts with others, even when they seek her opinion.
The story follows Peyton as she begins to find her feet in Toronto after leaving her abusive family home. While she’s involved in a relationship, her confidence is no better than it was when she left home, however, with the new friends and professional growth she’s making, this slowly changes.
As it changes, Peyton is faced with new challenges that she needs to learn to navigate. And we get to join her on this journey.
While I don’t often read books that are fiction, and this has an element of romance to it, I definitely place this more in the fiction pile than romance pile.
Rather than the core of the story being about Peyton finding love, it’s about her finding herself, growing and becoming the woman she was destined to be. The slow and gradual growth that we get to follow along over the course of a few months is realistic and draws you in.
There’s nothing sudden about what changes for Peyton, but it’s also obvious enough that you know it’s inevitable. So, when it happens, you get this feel-good moment, alongside some other little things that happen that just felt right as well.
I enjoyed the fact that it brought to life the impacts domestic violence can have on the individuals involved as well as those around them, not to mention the discussion of how drugs and alcohol effect people. And of course the daily struggles of trying to find your place in the world, leave your mark and be successful.
