Night Road (Reading Group Gold)

by Kristin Hannah

[Leah]

Kristin Hannah is the author of many novels and she seems to be huge in America, but she hasn’t yet cracked the UK market. Night Road appears to be her first release in the UK, although you can still purchase her novels from Amazon and other online retailers. I love when new women’s fiction authors come onto the scene as there aren’t that many women’s fiction authors I read (Jodi Picoult, Catherine Ryan Hyde among others). I was lucky enough to receive a proof copy of Night Road and the amount of praise on the novel from its publishers was huge so I was really looking forward to giving it a go. It took me a while to read it, but I finally managed to find some free time to give it a read and I really enjoyed it.

Night Road was a strange novel for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of the novel but after the big plot climax about half way through, the novel does seem to slow down somewhat. Also despite enjoying the plot hugely, I had a very strange sense of deja vu. As if I’d read Lexi, Mia and Zach’s story before. As if everything leading up to the huge night that changes everything was something I’d already read about. After the first 200 pages passed, though, my sense of deja vu faded and I was able to enjoy the novel without wondering “Where have I read this before?”. Like I said, the novel started brilliantly. I loved meeting Lexi as she goes to live with her Aunt in Washington, loved seeing Lexi try to fit in in her new school despite being a bit of an outcast and I loved the budding friendship between Lexi and Mia and the budding romance between Lexi and Zach. Despite not being a mother, I also enjoyed Jude’s “helicopter mom” tendencies as she tried to keep her kids from going down a destructive path.

I don’t necessarily know what went wrong for me, but I felt the last 100/150 pages were somewhat slower in pace. After everything collapsed, the book seemed to collapse a little. It was still an enjoyable read but after the incident Jude’s narrative fell apart like quicksand. I can understand why Jude was the way she was after the night everything changed, but it just changed the whole novel as the book started to go around in circles. I don’t want to spoil the book, as discussing what happened and how things changed it was an entirely different story. It was definitely like a ‘Before’ book and an ‘After’ book. However Lexi’s story did carry me to the end, as despite everything that happens, I felt for Lexi. I liked Lexi and I liked her story. The first half of the novel was definitely better than the second half of the novel, and despite the second half being infinitely slower I did still like it.

I found the characters to be very intriguing. Like I said, I loved Lexi. I felt sad for her that her mother was such a poor mum and she ended up an orphan and having to go to live with her Aunt. After what happened halfway through the book I was disappointed how things turned out for Lexi. As for the Farraday twins, Mia and Zach, I loved them. I totally fell for Zach and I loved his and Lexi’s relationship, it was so sweet and so tender. I also absolutely adored Lexi and Mia’s friendship. I thought the characterisation was excellent, Kristin Hannah really knows how to make her characters so complex and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Farraday family and about Lexi, too. At times I did think Jude was a bit OTT with her parenting skills, but I could see why. All parents want their best for their kids, all their parents want their kids to make it to adulthood without incident and I could understand why Jude was so interested in her kids lives. I thought Miles, Jude’s husband and the twins’ father, was a total rock the entire book. He was always there, quietly, in the background and I liked his presence.

I must admit, I did expect a big Jodi Picoult-esque twist to the end of the novel, but there wasn’t one. I don’t know why I expected one, it just seemed as if there was something more coming. Kristin Hannah is a great writer and I whizzed through the novel. I liked the ending of the novel, despite it’s possible twee-ness, it was a sweet way to end the novel and it didn’t seem at all forced or anything. I’ll definitely be buying some more of Kristin’s novels, she’s definitely a brilliant talent and although I felt the last half of the novel wasn’t as well-paced as the first half, I was satisfied with the conclusion. I’d definitely recommend Night Road, it was a lovely read and I definitely hope it’ll bring her the English readers she definitely deserved. I for one hope this is only the start of Kristin’s career with English publishers and, if not, I suppose I’ll just have to purchase her other books online. Definitely recommended, it’s a great book and I’m sorry my review is so vague (it’s the kind of book that you need to know as little about before you read it!).