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The Boots My Mother Gave Me (2010)

by Brooklyn James(Favorite Author)

2.51 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Arena Books

review 1: Are you looking for a gritty novel , one that is set in the contemporary world but has that feel of 60's/70's to it. As I read The Boots My Mother Gave me, though I knew it was set in the late 90's I kept getting this feel as if I was reading something set in the 1960's/1970's era. The novel takes place in a small-town where Harley has lived with her family and it details the abusive lifestyle she has grown up with and the fact that no matter how hard or horrible/ violent her father is, her mother will never leave him. When one night of abuse turns really bad and leaves Harley gasping for breath, she makes the decision to move out of home and into the apartment above her work at Benny's garage. It is there that she acquires Charlene - her car and with this car it gives her... more freedom and the feeling that she can escape and do whatever she wants in order to survive. The Boots My Mother Gave Me is a family saga novel that will look back through not only Harley's present life but also her mother's and father's past and present lives.
review 2: A stunning, emotional rollercoaster of a journey, ‘The Boots My Mother Gave Me’ is up there as one of my top reads for 2013.There was something about Brooklyn James’ writing style which grabbed me from the word go. I was yanked into the beautifully written and heartbreakingly realistic storyline which managed to crush my heart into a million pieces in between laughing and smiling as I witnessed the most beautiful and loving of relationships being forged and the winning of battles that characters had been fighting for so long.The picture that Brooklyn James created of a small community was spectacularly done. Everyone knows everyone elses business, and if you are lucky enough to escape the trap of the town you grew up in, you can never truly leave it behind as the ties that you made always pull you back. It was one of the reasons that I loved and admired Jeremiah as a character so much. He knew everything about our heroine Harley, he knew of the struggles of her past and understood and despite knowing he would lose her, he still encouraged her in her desire to escape and see the world.It was such a refreshing change to see a hero of a story let the heroine make her own way, and make her own mistakes. I loved that he didn’t try to stop her from leaving him behind so many times, and that even though it broke his heart, he knew that she had to find and love herself before she would be able to accept his love.Now, that is my kind of hero *swoons*.Being able to witness every part of Harley’s journey of self-discovery really helped me connect to Harley, and see her not only as a charater who I hoped would have a happy ending, but as a real person, with real issues and insecurities. The mistakes she made and the relationships she forged weren’t skirted over, which I loved! As a hopeless romantic, it tore at my heart to see Harley in relationships with men who weren’t Jeremiah, but although this had me clutching at my chest in fits of sobs, it was seeing Harley’s journey in such detail that made me appreciate the ending all the more. It was truly a case of ‘good things come to those who wait.’The continued emphasis on the importance of family in this book was a very heartwarming message. I adored Harley’s relationship with her younger sister Kat, and how no matter what she is doing, Harley would always drop everything to return to her mother and sister’s side in their time of need, even when it came at a cost to Harley. That is the pure strength and devotion of family, and especially in a lot of recent new-adult fiction, the focus on the main romance tends to overshadow the importance of familial ties, so I was delighted to see that this wasn’t the case with this book. This story was realistic and poignant reminding us that romantic love isn’t the only love that exists.Brooklyn James’ writing was phenomenal and I loved how fleshed out the secondary characters such as Cassidy were, and how the issue of abuse isn’t always as black or white as it is in some cases. I really admired how Harley’s abusive father was portrayed as a flawed human who craves forgiveneness, rather than as a faceless manipulator. I really disliked Harley’s father, and never condone abuse in any form, but the way that this storyline flowed is a reminder that whilst to most abuse is simply wrong, to people like Harley the abuser is still their father, and nothing can change blood.This was a stunning story which tore me to shreds, and I recommend having a box of tissues at hand when you read this.Superb book and most definitely recommended!5 fabulous stars! less

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