The House at 758

by Kathryn Berla

"A moving, mysterious coming-of-age story." – Kirkus Reviews

Sixteen year old Krista is still grieving the untimely death of her mother when her father's new girlfriend moves into their home. He's already moved on and wants Krista to do the same, but she's not ready to resume a normal life yet. Distancing herself from those around her, Krista spends all of her time obsessively watching a mysterious house, the house at 758.

When a fellow classmate, Jake, takes a sudden interest in her, Krista feels excited for the first time in two years, but feelings of guilt consume her, and she ends up pushing Jake away. It isn't until her grandfather makes a surprise visit from Venezuela that Krista is finally able to confront her grief and begin to let things go.

• ISBN10: 1944995242
• ISBN13: 9781944995249
• Publish Date: 17 October 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Amberjack Publishing Company
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 250
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I am utter trash for grief books, and Berla did so many things I love in this book. I am really impressed with the amount of story she was able to accomplish in such a short book, and thought she did a good job dropping those breadcrumbs for me to find, as I tried to figure out the whole story behind Krista's loss.



•Pro: Yes, it's another grief book, and the pain in this one was intense. We know Krista is still dealing with her mother's death two years later, but we don't have the full story, and I knew there was more to it, because Berla dropped these little breadcrumbs along the way. My heart cracked in half when I got the whole story.

•Pro: Krista was so wounded and consumed by her sadness. She felt alone, but also felt like people handled her with kid gloves, because of what had happened. I really wanted her to find an outlet for her pain, because it was eating her alive.

•Pro: Jake! This boy was special. Any guy, who can see past that "meet cute" is a keeper, but he proved himself worthy of Krista's friendship over and over again. I really enjoyed the scenes they shared together, and was keeping my fingers crossed that Krista would be able to escape her fog of grief long enough to enjoy Jake's company.

•Pro: I loved my grandparents so much, and am thrilled when they are featured in stories. Krista's maternal grandfather visited from Venezuela, and he really helped Krista with her healing process. We also got to learn about her grandfather's childhood, which caused some tears. I loved the way his story was used to help Krista too.

•Pro: It was awesome to see Krista's social circle grow as she started to heal. With each new friend, we saw Krista becoming more and more whole.

•Pro: I was really impressed with how much story Berla gave us in so few pages. This is a short book, but it's very complete. I felt like the characters and storyline were well developed.

•Pro: Berla didn't go with the miraculous healing angle. Krista suffered a great loss, and avoided dealing with it for two years, so her journey was not over when the book ended, but she was moving in the right direction, and I thought that was realistic.

•Pro: It was an interesting choice Berla made with the ending, and the very end. Well, let's just say I re-read it, and I am crying a little right now. It was very sweet.

Overall: A beautiful and moving story of love, loss, grief, loneliness, family, and healing. I loved every minute of this book, and adored the way Berla had the story unfold.

**I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

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