📻💻🚲 “What Happens Next” (2023) 🚲💻📻 – Book Review
MY REVIEW
Language: English
ISBN: 0764240404
ISBN-13: 978-0764240409
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information
“Everyone has a story, and maybe everyone needs a little help toward healing."
Popular podcaster and ex-reporter Faith Byrne made a name for herself telling stories of greatness after tragedy--but her real life does not mirror the stories she tells. While her daughters spend the summer in Hawaii with her ex-husband and his new wife, she must manage life on her own. All of that changes when she's asked to spotlight her childhood best friend's missing person case on her podcast.
Dora Crane has never accepted that her younger daughter could be dead, keeping her home looking the same as when her daughter disappeared. But when her husband leaves her and her older daughter intervenes, she agrees to counseling and to pack up her missing daughter's belongings under one condition: Faith Byrne comes to Deep Valley and sheds light on the cold case.
As the long-abandoned investigation moves forward, old wounds and long-buried secrets are exposed. Will these two women, whose lives have never been the same, finally get the answers they need to reconcile the past and the future?”
Thank you in advance to the publisher, Bethany House (a division of Baker Books), for providing an advanced review copy through Interviews and Reviews. A positive review was not required nor requested, and all words are my own.
In 2020, I read Nelson’s More Than We Remember, and was definitely captivated by it. It wasn’t a feel-good read, but it did have some uplifting messages.
Normally I steer clear of sad and melancholy reads. Yet, the plot jumped out at me, and I couldn’t help but gravitate to it.
The cover of this book drew me right to it as well. Gorgeous and stunning contrasted with the creepy and foreboding. The title gets its name from Faith’s podcast – “What Happens Next”, the theme being overcoming tragedy and how families move on.
That element of the book, along with the “unsolved mystery” of Heather’s disappearance had me wanting to read this.
Given the plot, it is clear this will have some triggers: divorce, missing child, and cancer. There is a mention of Jaycee Dugard as well. There is a slight reference to a controversial ex-president. It is used as a reference and NOT as an endorsement in any way.
There is reference to Enneagram typing. Some Christians do tend to take issue with it, others use it to live their lives by, some it is a guide only. I have taken a look at it as a “guide only”.
This is told through three different and unique POVs:
📻 Faith – present, third person
👧🏻 Heather – past, first person
👩🏻🦳 Dora (Heather’s mom) – present, first person
As the book begins, Faith is coming to terms with not just her divorce, but the fact that her ex-husband, Neil, is getting remarried. It is his soon-to-be wife, Wendy, who invites the girls – Harlow and Ava – to Hawaii for not just the wedding, but the entire summer. Neil also says his father is dying of cancer and wants his family closer.
Faith used to be part of the family.
At the same time, Faith gets a letter from Brooke who happens to have been the older sister of Heather Crane – Faith’s friend in 1987.
Faith wonders why her friend didn’t reach out to her. Turns out, not long after Faith moved from Deep Valley, Heather went missing. And, some 36 years later, she is still missing. She can’t her parents since her father committed suicide not long after that summer, and Faith’s mother recently died as well. Though the woman had abandoned her and moved to Guatemala to start an orphanage.
Brooke is concerned and wants some closure as her mother, Dora, isn’t moving forward. She seems stuck in her life – stuck in 1987 – which is hurting the relationships around Dora – her husband, her kids (son and daughter), and grandkids. It causes enough problems that Dora’s husband, Paul, decides to move out. He and Brooke give her an ultimatum.
Looking into cold cases isn’t what Faith does though, but will do it since she has time to do it. She also reconnects with her childhood crush, who is now part of the police department – Nathan, or Nate as he prefers. And, as Faith finds out – she was the love of his life. He is now widowed and wasn’t able to have kids with his wife despite wanting them.
The two work together to merely go over the facts in the case as well as try to reconnect with each other.
Dora, who is in obvious need of an intervention, focuses on the neighbor (Mr. Potter) – despite the man being deceased. She was also upset at his nerve for moving on as if nothing happened. At one point she lands in jail over an incident.
Her husband is realistic – some kids come home, but after 36 years, he is convinced Heather is dead. While Dora somewhat believes that – she still hopes.
Faith even goes so far as to enlist someone to find a vehicle.
What Faith, Nate, and Dora eventually discover is something that connects Faith and Heather far more than friendship.
The unpredictability with the case as the story wore on was definitely one of the best parts of it. I had a few suspicions, but Nelson kept it a mystery until nearly the end. It was interesting to see how everything connected and how bad decisions impacted well past the incident.
The end is a bit predictable, but in a way did fit the theme of the podcast. And, shows how important closure – good or bad – is much needed for the human spirit.
What broke my heart was Heather’s mom, Dora, who seemingly stopped living her life the day her daughter disappeared. Nelson brought a realistic vibe to the story with that. Dora’s husband Paul had the MOST realistic attitude – he loved his daughter, but he had other children. Just because he lived his life didn’t mean he didn’t miss his daughter. But, it gives the reader an interesting dilemma – what would any of us do in that situation?
I liked the subtle romance of Nate and Faith as they not only investigated the case, but saw how much they still loved each other. The end was so wonderful as well – like “there is purpose to everything”, as well as the “everything comes full circle”. It was definitely wonderful because of Neil and what a jerk he was about Faith’s podcast, even threatening her with a custody battle because he didn’t understand what it was about.
There was a touch of humor with the name of Faith’s cat – Crouton. I had a wonderful laugh about that.
I also loved the DIE HARD (1988) movie reference. [I watch it more for Alan Rickman – his performance as Hans Gruber is truly a work of art in and of itself.] This was a reference Dora made about her appearance in handcuffs before a judge.
As someone who used to watch Unsolved Mysteries (hosted by Robert Stack), and get terrified of it (even now) – this was one of those types of reads that gave me the creeps, especially in the 1987 timeline. I could’ve almost seen Heather’s story on the show. My grandmother loved Unsolved Mysteries, my mother not so much – the music, to this day, still gives her the creeps. Even mentioning it does.
This book also had the vibe of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones to it.
It was definitely hard to put down and held my attention. I read it inside of a 12-hour period. As I said about the first book, Nelson is a wonderful story-teller and keeps the reader engaged with the story. The pacing. I had the “one more chapter” difficulty as the chapters were short, some were like 1-2 pages long. Nelson keeps the same momentum with this book. Like her other novels, this is a standalone read.
Despite What Happens Next being published by a primarily Christian publisher; like More Than We Remember, there were very few elements of the Christian faith in it.
What Happens Next is a moving, poignant, deeply emotional, and dramatic read that also gives readers hope to move past a tragedy. It also reminds us of our need for compassion and purpose.
I am definitely going to keep an eye out for her next book and perhaps check out the others Nelson has written.
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;update https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-goes-into-my-reviews-2022-edition.html)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christina Suzann Nelson is an inspirational speaker and the award-winning author of six book, including More Than We Remember, Shaped by the Waves, and the Christy Award-winning The Way It Should Be. She is the mother of six children, an advocate for children in foster care, a substitute teacher, a conference director, and the wife of her partner in this crazy adventure. Visit www.christinasuzannnelson.com to learn more.
She can also be found on the following social media sites:
**This review contains Amazon affiliate links.
Comments
Post a Comment