Hi, everyone! Today I'm a stop on two TLC blog tours - first up, Among the Lesser Gods by Margo Catts!
Elena Alvarez is at a crossroads. With a new college degree in hand, her life should be an open road spread out before her. But Elena has just found out that she's pregnant and she's not at all sure what to do. So the arrival of a letter from her grandmother is perfectly timed. Not only is a trip to her grandmother's remote cabin the perfect quiet place to think and plan her next step, the letter comes with the promise of a job. Not a career, more a favor in helping a local family - a widower with two young children in need of a nanny, someone who can stay with the kids so he can keep his job as a trucker.
While Elena isn't driven by altruism, she is driven in part by guilt. As she works out how to decide which path in life to take, Elena will be forced to face her past, the possibilities of her future, and a guilt she's carried with her since she was a child.
I have been so looking forward to sharing this book with you. That should have been clear back in February when I featured it in a Pre Pub Book Buzz post. And as I mentioned there, Margo is a client at the agency where I work, though she's not one of mine. (If she was, I'd definitely still be singing her praises!)
This is a book with so much heart and emotion. It's a book that gets inside you, mind and soul, and does not let go. It's a book that stays with you long after you've finished reading!
Elena got to me immediately. She judges herself, holds onto guilt that's been with her since she was a child, thanks to a deadly accident. And I felt for her because of that - a mistake, an accident, bad as it was, was still an accident and to hold onto that her entire life made me immediately empathize with her, adding an emotional weight to the story that stayed with me through, and beyond, the final pages. That guilt impacts every part of her life, from her relationship with her parents to the new decision she needs to make about being a parent herself and what to do with her life.
And it's that guilt, ultimately, that she needs to work through.
While Elena is the main character and it's her arc that we follow, she's not the only character I fell in love with. Her grandmother, who offers her so much support, the children she takes care of and their widowed father, even the aunt she never knew, whose story we learn as the book progresses, and the mother of the children she cares for... Each and every one of them adds layer after wonderful layer of emotion and detail to Catts's debut.
And now for the giveaway. To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, July 10. Open US only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.
For more on Margo Catts and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Purchase Links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble
Elena got to me immediately. She judges herself, holds onto guilt that's been with her since she was a child, thanks to a deadly accident. And I felt for her because of that - a mistake, an accident, bad as it was, was still an accident and to hold onto that her entire life made me immediately empathize with her, adding an emotional weight to the story that stayed with me through, and beyond, the final pages. That guilt impacts every part of her life, from her relationship with her parents to the new decision she needs to make about being a parent herself and what to do with her life.
And it's that guilt, ultimately, that she needs to work through.
While Elena is the main character and it's her arc that we follow, she's not the only character I fell in love with. Her grandmother, who offers her so much support, the children she takes care of and their widowed father, even the aunt she never knew, whose story we learn as the book progresses, and the mother of the children she cares for... Each and every one of them adds layer after wonderful layer of emotion and detail to Catts's debut.
And now for the giveaway. To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, July 10. Open US only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.
For more on Margo Catts and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Purchase Links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble
7 comments:
This novel sounds memorable, captivating, emotional and beautiful. Thanks for this great giveaway which is a real treasure.
I love books with characters that you can fall in love with! This sounds like a great book! It's on my tbr list.
Your review has made me want to read this book. I love authors who can infuse emotion and heart as you put it into their writing. This will be a great book to read for me.
Guilt is so hard to deal with, particularly when it has been with you since a young age. Elena sounds like a great character to follow along with.
Thanks for being a part of the tour!
Excellent review made me want to read the book,
When you mentioned that it's a book that stays with you, that's when I added it to my wishlist. I like that kind of story!
Sounds like an emotionally pulling read; guilt affects us all in some way.
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