The State We're In

by Adele Parks

[Leah]

Adele Parks has been around the Chick Lit world for ages; ages and ages, but she’s never an author I’ve had the opportunity to read one of her books, though I have a couple on my shelf including her most recently released paperback Whatever It Takes. But as soon as I saw the look of The State We’re In, with it’s beautiful shiny proof, with the strapline “Heroes can break your hearts” I knew this novel would be my first Adele Parks novel and after eventually finishing all my other urgent review books and with the release date around the corner, it was time to see if Adele Parks was worthy of the massive amounts of praise heaped on her, and let me tell you, she is. Worthy of all the praise, and then some!

I don’t want to spoil the novel by telling you much about it; if the official synopsis is vague then I too will be vague! But I’ll tell you, the novel is about families. The novel is about broken families. About two people, from two very different families, with two very different backgrounds, who meet on a plane to Chicago, Jo and Dean. How despite the fact Dean doesn’t want to talk at all, period, to this crazy person next to him, they end up connecting in ways neither could imagine. But, the novel’s also about more than Jo and Dean, and to truly know about everything that occurs in the novel I am rather afraid to tell you that you will have to read it.

I loved The State We’re In, it’s absolutely nothing like most of the Chick Lit I read, it was very serious, but it had a love story and that’s really all I need in a book, that’s what makes me happy and The State We’re In made me happy, it was such a fabulous, fantastic read. It appears (though I can’t tell for sure because I haven’t read any other Adele Parks novels) that her later books are a lot more serious reads than her earlier ones and this one was rather serious, yes. It was a proper story, a proper good old tome to get yourself lost in and it had so many layers. There were so many emotions to be unearthed in the novel, and my opinion of several characters changed as the book progressed, Eddie in particular was a bit of hard work!

I very much recommend you should pick up The State We’re In, it was amazing. Adele Parks is such an amazing writer and managed to keep so many different plots and characters up in the air with ease. The ending is a well-kept secret, and it will blow your socks off because it’s not something you’ll see coming. I can absolutely see why the publishers of The State We’re In want this book kept shrouded in secrecy; so many books now have everything given away before you’ve even started it and there’s nothing more refreshing than picking up a book and having absolutely no idea what you’re getting yourself in for. I had no idea of the plot before I started, no idea who it was about, and it was a magnificent read with twists and turns at every avenue. My one piece of advice to you is to just read it. Don’t read anything about it before you read it, just pick it up and read it and enjoy it, you’ll thank me afterwards!