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FALLING APART AND OTHER GIFTS FROM THE UNIVERSE
Catherine Ryan Hyde
Lake Union Publishing
November 11, 2025
286 pages
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Like other books by this author, she takes a relevant subject and writes a story around it. This time it’s addiction, recovery and depression.
Addie is the main character, a middle aged recovering alcoholic. She is struggling even though she has been in recovery for eight years. This is a demonstration that the recovery journey never ends. Addie takes in two young people off the streets, Jonathan and Jeannie. Jonathan earns his keep by taking care of the property, Jeannie struggles with drugs.
The storyline is good. The battle with addiction is well represented. I struggle with Jonathan’s character. He is a major influence in Addie’s life. He is a very nice young man, very observant and intuitive, to the point where it doesn’t seem realistic . But, I was able to get past that. The other characters are well developed, including Wendy, Addie’s no-nonsense sponsor at AA.
This story is the embodiment of the Serenity Prayer, which was adopted for use by Alcoholics Anonymous. By dropping one word, this prayer can be used by all of us as words to live by.
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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