From Goodreads:
Growing up abandoned by her father and raised by a single mother, Celeste was determined to create the perfect family but even perfect families have secrets. Celeste’s days are filled with a rewarding career, a devoted husband, and her four-year-old daughter. Only Celeste knows the precarious house of cards her family is built upon until the day her daughter falls critically ill. Celeste’s world quickly spirals out of control as her secret threatens to destroy her marriage, family, reputation, and sanity. She’ll go to any lengths to protect her family—take any risk, break any law—anything except tell the truth.
A good book is a book you love to hate. This is the way I feel about Missing Parts by Lucinda Berry. It is twisty, dark, and downright devastating at times. I kind of wish it was told by alternating points of view instead of just Celeste’s. I really would have liked it to switch between Celeste and her husband’s POV. That would have made the story even more interesting.
Celeste is a mom and a wife. Her and her husband, David, tried for years to get pregnant and when Celeste finally did, she just didn’t make a connection with her daughter. David ends up staying home with Rori while Celeste goes back to work. After Rori suddenly gets deathly ill, Celeste’s life begins to unravel. Lies and secrets become a really uncomfortable reality.
I like how at the beginning of the book, all of the moms are out to dinner just complaining about their lives. It is real and raw, it is how most moms feel. More women need to be honest about their new parent feelings. It changes you, your marriage, and your entire life. Real friends don’t judge you, no matter what.
There are so many shocking moments in Missing Parts. Some I sort of saw coming, and others made me want to yell and throw the book across the room. The beginning was good, the middle was just okay, and the end just pissed me off. Each chapter in the book is full of surprises. A day after finishing it, I am still agonizing over some of Celeste’s decisions. This isn’t a feel good book, and some would probably say the ending is far from happy. But not every story can end with happily ever after. Our choices not only affect our lives, but everyone else’s life, too.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Life, Army Wife Style 