Review: The Year that Changed Everything

The Year that Changed Everything by Cathy Kelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a complete mixed bag but I rather enjoyed it, overall.

Three women, three birthdays:

Callie, 50, who is betrayed and has to re-write life for herself and her 14-year-old daughter.

Sam, 40, who gives birth to her first child and is faced with the challenge of being a mother.

Ginger, 30, who is dealt a crushing blow and consequently has to face all of her self-doubt.

The storyline that hooks you the most is likely to be the one you can most relate to - for me, that was Ginger, who is a larger girl trying to deal with the pressure of living in a 'skinny girl' world. I'm not gonna lie - I could easily be described as 'curvy', and I saw a lot of myself in the way Ginger thinks of herself. Things like not eating in front of people because you know they'll attribute it to the way you look, things like hiding your shape under baggy clothes and trying to think yourself skinny in certain situations. But I also loved the way her experience at the gym was described, because that was very real - no one is judging you, and not everyone there is ripped or stick thin. It's just average people going there to work out. I guess, in summary, I just really appreciated how real Ginger's storyline was. My heart really ached for her at times, but I loved when she accomplished things, and stood up for herself. Not entirely sure how I feel about the romance angle, though, because I think such an important part of her story is that emergence of self-love, and that got a little tangled in being loved by someone else. However, I appreciated his reasons for loving her.

Sam's story bored the heck out of me. I am nowhere near having babies of my own so all this drama about becoming a mother was a yawn-fest to me. That being said, I know there are so many mothers who will read this book and love how they can relate to Sam's story. It just did nothing for me.

Callie's story had me on the fence. It was intriguing, but also a bit of an anti-climax. In fact, overall, the book felt pretty shallow. Like, there's all these dramas but nothing hugely of note happens, there's not too much suspense or big moments, and time passes pretty fast. The way everything connected towards the end felt like a bit of a sham, particularly compared to how real some of the other parts felt. Poppy was horrible in the first two chapters but then did a miracle 180? Everyone's problems were resolved so easily. Bit disappointing, really. I feel like this novel would have been better if the three stories were given their own novels with more detail and drama.

It was a decent enough read, but nothing particularly profound came out of it. I suppose it was a light romp that will hook you in depending on the degree you associate with one or more of the characters. Ginger was the absolute saving grace for me (Even if she was a bit of an idiot towards the end).

I've never read Cathy Kelly before, but I did enjoy this enough to consider picking up more by this author. I'm grateful for winning this in a giveaway, as it gave me the chance to read something I wouldn't normally pick out for myself.

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