Skipping a Beat

Kritters Ramblings

After meeting the author and discussing the book at book club at One More Page bookstore, I can now say I love this author and this book even more. A story set near my home with two characters that throughout the book, I both loved and hated. Julia, a woman who grew up in a volatile household and was always trying to ensure that her future was better than her past. Michael, a hardworking guy who as time has passed spends more time at his office than at his home. Their communication was basically absent and their relationship was more like roommates than lovers.

I adored this story and I will absolutely refrain from spoiling such a good ending - so this may be short and sweet. At this time in my life this was a perfect read as I have recently grown accustomed to the boy being away and I have learned to fill the time with more of the hobbies that I enjoy. When our journey ends which is soon, I will have to relearn how our lives mesh and we will be able to reestablish our relationship. As Julia has done, I have learned to lean on a close friend for companionship during the week (and the pup of course). I understood Julia's struggle to try to understand how to be back in a relationship and learn to trust her feelings with him.

I can't say more because I loved this book and I want everyone to go find it and read away. The writing was easy for a day at the pool or curled up indoors. It was definitely one where you sit down to read and then hours just easily pass by. A great reflection on the relationship we have and the value we must hold in building and nurturing each relationship from friends to husbands to family.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Orginial and emotionally addicting!

On the outside Julia seems to have it all, on the inside Julia is broken; her marriage has seemingly dissolved into a façade though Julia tries to convince herself it will pass. Once married to her best friend, Julia now looks at her husband and sees a stranger. When her world as she knows it changes in an instant, the four minutes and eight seconds following her husband collapse from cardiac arrest solidifies the change in motion. When Michael is revived, he emerges a changed man, eager to right his wrongs and reconnect with the one woman he has always loved. The question is will Julia be able to forgive, heal and trust the new man her husband has suddenly become when he has been a stranger for so long?

Skipping a Beat amazed me. Sarah is a skillfully creative writer. Reading her novel was like sitting down with my best friend as she tearfully recaps a momentous occasion in her life. Her writing pierces the soul as you deeply become connected to Julia. I felt myself on the edge of my seat, patiently waiting as Julia told her story the way she needed to tell it. My emotions hung on every word as the novel twist and turns, exploring the complications of life, marriage, friendship and money. It was truly remarkable with an ending that left me in awe and completely satisfied. Julia's story is full of love, heartache and confusion as her hearts dilemma is displayed across the pages.

I loved The Opposite of Me, Sarah's first novel, but Skipping a Beat has stolen my heart and brought about a whole new appreciation of women's fiction. Sarah simply raises the bar for authors with this simple yet complex look at one woman's marriage, as it slips away from her and is then given a second chance. It was realistic, emotional and dashed with humor to ease some of the intensity. I simply couldn't put this book down. I honestly wouldn't change a thing about this novel. I loved the writing style. I enjoyed reading Julia's story as if she tells it in the aftermath, intermixed with present and past details. It was like she was sharing the story with a future friend or a confidant and I felt as if I was the only one in the room with Julia as she told her story with raw emotion and honesty. It is truly a highly original, emotionally addictive novel that will leave you read for more from Sarah.

Recommendation: Pre-order!
Reviewed for acozyreaderscorner.blogspot

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Simply Spectacular!

Skipping a Beat is a book that caught my eye the first time I heard about it, because not only was the cover stunning but the premise sounded intriguing as well as promising. Thankfully enough Sarah Pekkanen's Skipping a Beat was a book that took a hold of my heart with its very first sentence and didn't let go until the very last.

This novel was so fantastic that I don't even know where to begin, though I guess I'll start where I always do...with the characters.

One of the things I love most about adult fiction is the layers and layers of development and time the writers put into their main characters and the lives and relationships at hand and the same rang true with Skipping a Beat.

For one, I adored Julia. She was a character who I never failed to root for, even when she did some pretty silly things, because she just felt so real to me. She made mistakes, she wasn't the perfect wife or friend at times but that didn't stop her from being someone I completely admired as as person, and the same was true about her husband Michael. Michael is that typical sweet and nerdy kid in high school that turns out to be a fabulous and brilliant guy during adulthood. What I liked most about them, though, was their relationship. It was complicated beyond relief, filled with so many unsaid things, but yet I could easily see how much they loved each other even when they couldn't weren't able to. Better yet, I loved the questions Sarah brought about me with their relationship. Questions like, how far would I go to try to understand someone I used and still love? How much change is too much change? How far can a person go before loosing all faith in a person and calling it quits once and for all? How would I feel if someone asked me to rewrite the rules of my relationship? It was a thoughtproking read to say the least.

I also enjoyed the plot in this once again because of the layers and layers of details and twists and turns that will have nearly any reader on the edge of their seat dying to know what will happen next. Best of all, when mixed with the characters and Sarah's excellent writing, this book was one I couldn't put down, not even for a second.

Lastly, I have to say something about the ending in this, though I won't giveaway anything. It was heartbreaking to say the least, though the impact it left on me as well as the characters it involved made it worth it in the end, and it also shows just how brilliant of a writer Ms. Pekkanen is.

In all, readers of adult fiction, teen fiction, or a mix of both, you all must read this one! It's simply amazing, a heartbreaking and heartwarming book that I'm still thinking about even though I finished it several days ago.

Grade: A+

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Magnificent!!! I LOVED it and forever will!

Reviewer: Stephanie
Sarah Pekkanen probes the intricacy and raw verity of affection and marriage in her new novel, as well as the power, and the greed, that envelopes the human conscience from within, ruining every last drop of happiness that one can maintain.

The plot of Skipping a Beat is extremely original and intriguing. Julia's husband, Michael, is finally, after years of determination and self surrender, a part of the rich and respected social elite, thanks to his successful, multimillion-dollar health beverage company, DrinkUp. Julie and Mike can finally live the life they've always dreamed of from their poor slums of adolescence. Then one day, one seemingly perfect, normal day, Julia's life shatters when she discovers Michael entered cardiac arrest for four minutes and eight seconds. Her husband was dead for four minutes and eight seconds.

His revival is nothing short of a miracle; after all, how many people get a second chance at life? Michael recognizes this a little too well, though -- once he's back in Julie's arms, he's intent on making his second time around focused on his love for his wife, not on his company, his life.

I was a little disappointed at Julia's reaction at Michael's decision. You'd think a woman who nearly just lost her husband would be supportive of his afterlife crisis. You'd think the frustration she feels when learning her husband's company -- all the money he's worked hard for -- is going to charity, would dissipate after learning he was doing it all for her. But the largest, most stubborn conflict Julia experiences is ruling out whether or not she should leave Michael now that he no longer has his company. I found this incredibly selfish of Julia. Since she was raised by a gambling addict and never was able to live out the luxuries of life, I understand why Julia would be upset at first. But to drag it out during the entire length of the novel? That's a little shallow. Her outlook on Michael's abrupt, but still emotionally generous new purpose is: leave him and grab all the savings she can before they're all donated, or stay married and live a middle class life. Nearly dying gives Michael a new-found vision to his life; he apprehends that money isn't what matters. After you're gone, the one thing you'll regret most is not spending enough time with those you love, not what you could and couldn't purchase. Julia never seems to reach this discovery, which is when the reader realizes, maybe her marriage was doomed in the first place.

The book flashes back to all of Julia's unhappy moments. The time when Michael missed their anniversary because he was on a business trip. The time when Michael promised to go with her to her favorite opera, but stood her up. The time when Julia found out about his affair, then went ahead to engage in one of her own. It is revealed that Julia and Michael's marriage isn't what it's hyped up to be, and that it was screwed up even before Michael's cardiac arrest.

However, Michael is now a new person, one who doesn't care for the wealth or the power. And maybe, just maybe, this time, they can make it work out.

The saddest part is, just when Julia deciphers this prominent message about true love and self renewal, she loses her chance to make it all better. Too deeply involved with her inner turmoils of concern over money, she loses the opportunity to start over again, in Skipping a Beat's unanticipated, provoking finish.

I absolutely cannot believe how the b

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I Highly (and Very Emotionally) Recommend This - Loved this book!

I loved, loved this book. With characters I couldn't get enough of, from Julia's best friend Isabelle to the brilliant and quirky kid named Noah, this book was a treat from start to finish. And with it all, Julia's love of opera kept me even more entranced. I had forgotten how much those soaring tragedies can pierce right into you - it's because they so easily represent real life.

And that is how I fell in love with it all. The book, the characters, the vision Michael had to draft a new marriage with Julia. I found myself clutching the book, hunkering down in my couch, turning the pages. My husband asked me if I was going to bed, and I could only weakly wave my hand to him over the back of the couch, as I prayed that he wouldn't walk around to see why I wasn't talking. Yep. I was a blubbering mess.

Sarah Pekkanen has created a new lifelong fan in me. I'll be eagerly awaiting her next book and will get The Opposite of Me to tide me over. And also downloading opera to my computer like there is no tomorrow.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

BookHounds

This is the most emotional book I have read in a long time. I actually had to take breaks while reading this since I was so drawn into the story and how real the whole thing seemed. Within pages, I felt like I had known Julia my whole life. I could feel her fear and how much she loved Michael, yet realize they had grown apart. Like most marriages they had forgotten those moments that create the relationship. The ending was exactly how it had to be, although I never saw it coming. I ended up in tears several times, but any author who can create that kind of connection is something special. This is in my top ten for the year!

I really felt the author made Julia more accessible by taking great pains to detail her relationship with money and her father and how this history makes her responses to Michael quitting his job very realistic. She sees the money as the security she never had as a child and when Michael decides to give everything away without discussing it with her, that trust is broken.

Julia tries to understand Michael and what happened between them and how they have grown apart. She reflects and makes correlations through the music and stories of opera that she has found as an escape. In a way, the story is an opera. Also, Julia meets someone who puts everything in perspective in the body of a boy. She introduces Noah to Michael and that child becomes the catalyst that rebuilds their relationship.

This is probably one of the hardest reviews I have ever written. The story felt like it was ripped from my own life since my husband decided to quit his job on New Years Eve 1999, without much warning. They always say truth is stranger than fiction, but it is pretty hard to imagine someone else capturing my exact thoughts and feelings, but that is exactly what Sarah Pekkanen did. I received this book at no charge from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book

This was our first Book Club book and what a way to start a Book Club! Sarah is the best

Keep reading..it gets better! But sooo sad

At first i hated it...she gave way too many details about insignificant events in the past and i almost gave up on finishing it but after Michael's heart attack it gets alot better! It hurts to see how hard hes trying despite her pushing him away, all the while sensing they have limited time together. I dont cry easily but i bawled my eyes out in the end

Best book I have read in a long time!

This is the first book by Sarah P. that I have read and all I can say is WOW! She is excellent, she knows how to really make you feel like you are there and part of the charachters lives. I felt so many emotions, I literally laughed out loud, I cried, I felt pain. This book is a must read!! I am looking forward to reading her other book and for more to come.

Highly Recommended

I really enjoyed this book. I was shocked by how much I thought about it when I wasn't reading it. I didn't want to put it down when I was reading it. A must read!

An Okay Read

I read so many great reviews about this book and really thought I would love it but didn't. A book about the age-old choice between love and money, the writing seemed forced and trite at times. I thought the ending was pretty good but all in all, it was simply okay. Read Pekkanen's The Opposite of Me for an excellent read!

I loved it!

I absolutely loved this book! The book was so touching and heartfelt that I didn't want the story to end. I can't wait to read more of Sarah Pekkanen's books.

Disappointing

Much of this book, its characters, and plot progression is just plain unbelievable. I got on a cross country flight and read it on board, only because I had nothing else to do. I was truly a captive audience for this one! Will not buy this author's works again.

Highly Recommend

I loved this book and could not stop reading it. It was a delightful book.

amazing!

i laughed and cried and wanted more! : o)

A nice summer read

Entertaining, kept my interest. Would recommend for a good beach book this summer.

wonderful!

i cried my eyes out but such a beautiful story. can't wait to read more of her books!

FANTASTIC BOOK - I'm in love!!

This book has so many twists, I was absored just by the exquisite way the author pulled off each event, without it seeming cheesy in any way. I started reading the book based on the reviews, but definately, the emotions and plot kept me reading, upset that the book ended! I am an avid reader, this book will stay in my favorites!

not worth it...

Just couldn't get into this book...got to page 150 and had no idea where the book was going. Random characters were being brought into the book with not direction...hated it

Amazing!

Great book. I enjoyed every part of this book and was sad it had to end. A must read.