Relief, Finally (and Review of Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen)

 

This weekend marked the last day in our old apartment.  I thought I'd be sad; it was my first place on my own, and later, my first place with Anthony.  But as Anthony and my brother loaded the last of our junk into vehicles and I finished scrubbing the refrigerator, I realized that after four years, I was mostly happy to leave.  There was mold in several places and we started to feel like it wasn't extremely healthy to be living in that environment.  Our new home is nicer and a little bigger, and we finally have a little balcony for a grill.  I'm a little farther from work, Anthony's commute is a little shorter, and we're living very close to my wonderful brother and sister-in-law.  We are finally starting a new chapter in our lives and I'm excited.

In the midst of moving, packing, unpacking, hauling, cleaning and donating unwanted items, I started to read Sarah Pekkanen's new book, Skipping a Beat.  I loved Opposite of Me, which I talked about here, and couldn't want to get my hands on Pekkanen's new book, especially after a friend highly recommended it.  I finished it in just three days and even though I liked it, I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.  The ending was my favorite part but it took a long time to get there.  The main character, Julia, was a bit whiny and guarded for me to actually identify with her.  That being said, the story itself was interesting.  In the first few pages, Michael, Julia's husband, who is the head of a huge company, has a heart attack and dies for four minutes.  When he is revived, he is a completely different person; he wants to give away their millions of dollars and he wants to spend more time with Julia, even though it's an understatement to say they've grown apart.  She resists, then comes around, and when I was two-thirds of the way through, I knew what was going to happen at the end. 

Since Michael and Julia were high school sweethearts in the book, it was scary to think about what I would do if Anthony came home one day and was acting like a stranger (we didn't meet in high school but we've known each other since we were eighteen).  For a fun but thought-provoking read, I'd recommend Skipping a Beat.  It took my mind off of the monotonous task of moving that was at hand, and made me appreciate what was around me other than boxes, namely Anthony.

I hope you all had a great weekend; happy Monday!


Image from Sarah Pekkanen's Official Website