🧣🏞️ "She Wouldn't Change a Thing" (2021) 🏞️🧣 - Book Review

 

MY REVIEW

 

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Tor/Forge Books (August 10, 2021)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1250774551

ISBN-13: 978-1250774552

⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information

 

“A second chance is the last thing she wants.

 

When thirty-nine-year-old Maria Forssmann wakes up in her seventeen-year-old body, she doesn’t know how she got there. All she does know is she has to get back: to her home in Bienville, Mississippi, to her job as a successful psychiatrist and, most importantly, to her husband, daughters, and unborn son.

 

But she also knows that, in only a few weeks, a devastating tragedy will strike her husband, a tragedy that will lead to their meeting each other.

 

Can she change time and still keep what it’s given her?

 

Exploring the responsibilities love lays on us, the complicated burdens of motherhood, and the rippling impact of our choices, She Wouldn't Change a Thing is a dazzling debut from a bright new voice.”

 

Thank you in advance to the publisher, Tor/Forge, for providing an advanced review copy of the book through BookishFirst. A positive review was definitely not required or requested in any way; all words are my own.

 

To be incredibly honest, I didn’t know what to expect from this book. Was it a time-travel, alternate reality, past-life type read? What was it? It is listed as fiction. At times it felt like sci-fi, even a bit on the “light” end of the horror spectrum.

 

It deals with more or less changing the past and hoping for a different or better outcome. I guess a good many of us would want to, with our current knowledge, go back and try to prevent certain events – big or small in our lives. But, what would be the current-day consequences of such? In most cases, never good.

 

This reminded me of two movies, incidentally both starred actor Julian McMahon.

 

ANOTHER DAY (2001, TV Movie [Lifetime originally I believe]) – “Kate (Shannen Doherty) newly pregnant, and her boyfriend, Paul (Max Martini), are at odds about their future when he dies in a warehouse fire.

 

After years of raising their child alone, Kate has slowly healed with the love and support of David (Julian McMahon) ... until a mysterious near-drowning experience has Kate waking two days before Paul's death.

 

Now, faced with the chance to dodge fate, Kate stands at the ultimate crossroads: to save Paul and risk re-living the life she was, or to lose him again and accept her eventual path to happiness with David.” (Note: boyfriend died, Kate ended up with David)

 

PREMONITION (2007, Sony Pictures) – “Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) has a beautiful house, a loving husband and two adorable daughters. Her life is perfect, until the day she gets the devastating news that her husband Jim (Julian McMahon) has died in a car accident.

 

When she wakes up the next morning to find him alive and well, she assumes it as all a dream. Or was it? Suddenly, her perfect life is turned upside down as she begins a desperate scramble to save her family and uncover the truth.

 

Racing against time and fate, Linda will stop at nothing to discover the true meanings of reality and destiny.” (Note: Jim still died, though Linda did become pregnant with the couple’s third child).

 

As usual, the outcome wasn’t what either woman wanted. Honestly, I think ANOTHER DAY had the happiest of the two endings.

 

This book seemed to fit the genre of these two movies. Sadly, from watching them, I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well, that it was following the same trend which is becoming a bit “overdone” in my opinion.

 

The cover is one of those that fit the story, yet it seemed out of place. Perhaps because it seemed out of place, it fit the story.

 

Be warned – there are some serious “triggers” in this book: forced medication for mental illness, depiction of mental illness, stigma of mental illness, forced hospitalization, restraint use on mental patients.

 

Premonition also had something similar when it came to Linda – most everyone thought she was crazy as well when she was talking about Jim’s death or preventing it.

 

Getting back to this book …

 

With regard to language, the author did a great job of keeping it free from offensive language. The worst word was “a$$hole”. There is only one violent scene alluded to (gun violence) and referred to. That is kept to a minimum. There are no real intimate scenes, nor anything graphic. That was definitely refreshing. There is also an off-page suicide too.

 

There are multiple characters in this book: Maria, her husband Will, her daughters, Jenny, her husband Hank, Maria’s patient Sylvia, and Maria’s secretary Rachel.

 

Somehow, they’re all connected.

 

This is told in three (3) parts, though they’re simply listed as:

 

PART I

PART II

PART III

 

I’m definitely used to multiple part books, I just read one prior to this. Most of them try to transition easier than this did in making sense of where the author is taking the reader. The transitioning was a bit choppy and uneven. It was hard to know where everyone was in what time.

 

There are three (3) POVs in two different time periods.

 

PART I – Maria and Jenny, present day

 

PART II – Maria past, Jenny present day

 

PART III – Maria past, Jenny (not mentioned) present day (only 7 months later)

 

The story begins in 2010 Mississippi.

 

Maria is obviously having a rough start to the morning – up an hour later than she should’ve been, a soggy toddler who ditched her PullUps, a husband reminding her of a car appointment, trying to fix a lunch for her 5-year-old daughter, and rushing to get to work while pregnant with her son.

 

It is here that Maria meets Sylvia, a patient. But, Sylvia is more – she leaves Maria feeling odd. Sylvia claims to have returned from the future and her mission is to make sure things turn out differently for Maria. Two things are clear – Maria shouldn’t trust Rachel and she should go to the storage unit she shares with Rachel until after the baby is born.

 

Rachel lost her own son, a 10-month-old, some six (6) months earlier. This becomes a plot point later in the story. It isn’t substantial, but it is a point.  

 

Sylvia commits suicide leaving Maria to doubt her own self. When a police detective gets involved, a letter that Sylvia was going to send is brought into question. Both Sylvia and the detective know the name of Maria’s son – something she hasn’t told anyone.

 

Maria is eager to go to the storage unit, Will tells her not to. Something Sylvia said about her own life rings true and Maria finds it out online.

 

Maria and Will are happy, yet Maria is overwhelmed. Will doesn’t want or see a need for her to go back to work after their son is born. Maria takes that badly, as if what she does for a living doesn’t matter.

 

It is in chapter five (5) that Jenny shows up. She and her husband Hank (an oil rig worker) live in Louisiana. Her son, who Hand adopted, is now in college and she wants to do something more with her life – maybe go back to college. Hank doesn’t see the need.

 

He doesn’t think that a piece of paper adds to her value as a person. He even wants to try for another child which is exactly what Jenny doesn’t want. She feels like she’s trapped, like it is someone else’s life in the bayou and thinks back to what a voodoo priestess told her.

 

It shifts back to Maria and a nightmare about her husband’s late sister who was killed as a child. And, it also highlights a decision Maria makes that changes everything.

 

Before part one ends, it shifts back to Jenny who is questioned by police. They’re looking for a relative of Jenny’s who is connected to a “secretary” who is wanted. After they leave, Jenny is wondering who to call – her cousin or husband.

 

Part II opens with Maria, now in her 17-year-old body. Though she still has most of the memories of her “current” life. She thinks she’s in a dream until it becomes a reality. A reality that takes her into the journey of a mental patient as she fights to learn the truth and uncover her “purpose”. And, she also meets a young man by the name of Henry who knows her real story.

 

Jenny’s parts are back in “present” day. A woman she hasn’t seen in six (6) months (since the funeral of of the woman’s son) shows up and needs help. It is clear she’s done something terrible though. She asks for help from Jenny who had just lamented about perhaps turning out like the woman.

 

Back in the past it is clear that Maria has a purpose to fulfill before she can go home. She tries to tell her parents, who honestly think she’s not well in the head. Let’s face it – I think we’d all think that.

 

It gets even weirder when Maria does a few things that, again would we really do in the past? For example: drive to another state to visit kids we don’t have? Her reasoning? She’s trying to “wake up”.

 

That leads to a more extreme accident that lands her in a mental hospital. And the treatment she is forced to undergo.

 

Part two (2) is Maria learning that in order to go home, she has to find and fulfill her purpose – the reason she was sent back. And, a doctor from Iowa offers to help as he knows why she’s there. Henry also seemingly knows Maria from somewhere.

 

Jenny is also faced with a decision – turn the woman in or hide her and help her get away.

 

The reader also learns what is going on with Maria in the present day.

 

Jenny is facing increased tension with her husband (Hank). He “hid” a letter that Jenny feels she had a right to see. This sets up the end of part two (2) when a tragedy strikes her family. Jenny also makes the decision about the woman.

 

By the time I reached part three (3), I had a feeling I knew what was going on. I had a feeling how it was going to end. Maria’s choice would save a life in one place but erase a future elsewhere. She had four choices that more or less immoral. Each one no better than the other. Even with her father’s help, though she doesn’t tell him what the choices are, she can’t narrow it down.

 

Maria begins to speculate about Henry. She also learns more about where she is in relation to her past life. If it wasn’t made clear in part two (2), it is definitely clear in this part as to who Henry is.

 

Adlakha takes the reader back to the present in chapter 37, which is about 8% from the end of the novel. This is where the reader sees what happened “that” day along with the connections everyone has to each other.

 

This isn’t the “happy” ending type of read, it is more or less “happy as we allow ourselves to be” kind of read. This is more so because of the “memories” that Maria has of her “lives”.

 

She Wouldn’t Change a Thing is reflective, heart-breaking, frustrating. The end, after a while, didn’t seem to surprise me. The title didn’t seem to make sense as each “she” had done something different which “changed things”, so it was a bit of a misnomer. Obviously the “she” was Maria.

 

I couldn’t relate to any of the characters though I felt sorriest for Hank, Will, and Will’s two daughters with Maria. The author definitely makes the reader evaluate what is important in their lives, what we would do differently, and how we would feel at the prospect of losing that life.

 

There are some references to God and biblical quotes. These are more or less in conversation and not the entirety of the story. These are not integral to the plot.

 

Adlakha utilizes imagery and emotion to tell the story. This is a standalone read with the entire story wrapped up by the last page.

 

This was in no way a thrilling page-turner, yet I did find myself reading through it in short time for a book of its size and subject. I wanted to see if Maria ever “got home”. It was hard to get through because of the lack of proper transitioning.

 

This isn’t a must-read, it isn’t a high (if ever at all) “re-read”. But, it is a “should-read”.

 

 

 

RATING:

 

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads

 

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – BookBub

 

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)

 

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Sarah Adlakha is a native of Chicago and a practicing psychiatrist who now lives along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi with her husband and their three daughters. She Wouldn't Change a Thing is her first novel.

 

You can also find her on the following social media accounts:

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adlakhabooks

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahadlakha/

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahAdlakha

 

Website: https://www.sarahadlakha.com/

 

 

 

*This post contains affiliate links