Review: A Healing Heart by Melissa A. Hanson

My rating: 2 stars / It was okay

Synopsis

On a bitter cold winter night Bailey Walsh’s family was killed in a traffic accident. Two years later as she lives with her aunt and uncle in Southern California, Bailey is still plagued by the nightmares of that terrible night. Everywhere around her are reminders of what she lost. Even her aunt, in a cruel twist of fate, is not just her mom’s sister, but her identical twin. Babysitting Riley, a spunky two-year old, is a sweet distraction and one constant light in her life. One day as she takes Riley to the park she meets Collin McKenna, a senior at her high school and her life is changed forever as he helps her find herself and realize her life is worth living. As the romance between them grows her broken heart begins to heal. However, still nagging in the back of her conscious is the fear that her new found happiness could come crashing down and she could lose everything she loves, yet again. Outside forces begin to tear them apart and Bailey must learn to trust in herself and realize that she is worthy of happiness. That sometimes love and healing comes in unexpected forms.

My Review

This book has a great premise, but the writing fell flat for me. It started out fine as Bailey is relating her situation to the reader, but as she encounters Collin the narrative turns into a play-by-play of the day and unimportant actions, the dialogue is stilted, including polite greetings and clichés, and the inner thoughts have no depth. It's written in first person from three different perspectives- Bailey, Collin, and Savannah (Colin's childhood friend and Bailey's new competition). I didn't think Savannah's perspective was necessary- it was always short and could have been portrayed through Bailey's observations. I was disappointed the story felt rather two-dimensional, but the themes of grief and finding happiness in the wake of tragedy are ones I relate to. This is a story that I would recommend to young teenage readers.

(Thank you to Ebooks For Review for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review)