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The Milestone Tapes (2000)

by Ashley Mackler-Paternostro(Favorite Author)

3.8 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1468150065 (ISBN13: 9781468150063)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

review 1: The Milestone Tapes by Ashley Mackler-Paternostro is a independent publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.The first part of this book chronicles Jenna's struggle with advanced breast cancer. She has a good marriage and beautiful daughter and fights the good fight. After an exhaustive fight Jenna passes away peacefully on a beautiful fall day leaving behind her devastated family. But, because Mia was only seven years old and she would not have her mother around for all those milestone moments when a girl needs a mother, Jenna has the foresight to record a set of tapes for her daughter to listen to as she goes through the various stages of her life. The second half of the book deals with life without Jenna. We are privy to ... morethe words that Jenna recorded for her daughter and we see how things turn out for Gabe as he eventually moves past grief and realizes that Jenna would want him to be happy and so he begins to date and live his life once again. This book is a difficult read due to the rather depressing subject matter. I usually read for entertainment purposes and I am not prone to consider this type of book escape reading. It is a touching book that of course is very emotional and sad, but it's also uplifting and shows there can be no greater love than that of a mother for her child. I do recommend being prepared for the realistic depictions of living with cancer and the high emotional level can have one feeling worn out. I decided the next book I read will be something light and fluffy in order to shake off the aftermath of this one. I don't know if this book is for everyone. If you have had an up close look at cancer and the effect it has on the patient and the family then you might find this book cathartic, but for me I just couldn't help but fall into a funk after the first few chapters. I may feel things a little too much especially since these are fictional characters, but I did feel like I was experiencing everything right along with them. For me this is a one time read as I don't know if I could put myself through a second reading of it. But, don't let my depressive attitude keep you from reading this book. Again, it is sweet, and painful, and emotional, but I couldn't help but think that Mia was a lucky girl in that she had a mother that thought so much of her and prepared in advance this way for them to share their lives together although Jenna was no longer with them in body. Jenna's spirit though at peace still flows through the hearts of those she left behind and you can't ask anything better than that. This one is 4 stars.
review 2: The premise of this book sounded great, but unfortunately it did not live up to expectations. The first part of the book where the reader gets to know Jenna just goes on too long. I realize that its important to get to know her since you need to know Jenna to understand the kind of mother she was, but too many parts just don't seem necessary and make the story drag. For instance the reunion with Jenna's sister and the story of the sister's impending divorce. The book really picks up and is much better once Jenna is gone, and we pick up where Mia is now 16. The number of typos in the book became very distracting to me. While they don't affect the story, they bugged me quite a bit, especially since they increased in number as the book progressed. Its almost as if someone got tired of looking for them and stopped doing a thorough job. Many of them are simply words that spell check won't catch or missing words like "the" or "to". This is where a good editor was sorely needed.It sounds like I didn't care for the book and really I did, I just think that much better editing would have tightened up the story line and made this book worthy of 4 stars. less

Download links for: The Milestone Tapes

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