Books In Her Head

A Book Blog

  • about me
  • favorites
  • Review Policy
  • Contact Me

The Chance You Won’t Return: A Tale Of Psychosomatic Frustration

09.11.2014

Review:

Title: The Chance You Won’t Return

     Author: Annie Cardi

 Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publication Date:  April 22, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance

the chance you won't return

Blurb: 

Driver’s ed and a first crush should be what Alex Winchester is stressed out about in high school – and she is. But what’s really on her mind is her mother. Why is she dressing in Dad’s baggy khaki pants with a silk scarf around her neck? What is she planning when she pores over maps in the middle of the night? When did she stop being Mom and start being Amelia Earhart? Alex tries to keep her budding love life apart from the growing disaster at home as her mother sinks further into her delusions. But there are those nights, when everyone else is asleep, when it’s easier to confide in Amelia than it ever was to Mom. Now, as Amelia’s flight plans become more intense, Alex is increasingly worried that Amelia is planning her final flight – the flight from which she never returns. What could possibly be driving Mom’s delusions, and how far will they take her?

Thoughts:

I grabbed this book at the local library a few weeks ago.  I’m not quite sure what made me pick it up, although I think that it was on the “New” shelf in the YA section.  Anyway, I read it at my Grandparents house on a Saturday morning.

To be honest, this book was a little boring.  Although Alex has some character growth due to her mother’s mental state there really isn’t a substantial plot to this book.  Although plot-less books can work (Eleanor and Park comes to mind) it did not work in this case.  There wasn’t a lot of movement to the story, it was relatively stagnant.

The only mover and shaker was Alex’s mom, and while yes she was the main problem in the story Alex is supposed to be the protagonist.  She never really shared her feelings so I struggled to connect to her as a reader.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about the prose of this book, which I found disappointing.  If the style had been more precise and if the plot would have moved differently I would have been happier with the end all of this book.  My only take away was how devastating it would have been for me to have my mother in that type of state, and I didn’t see any of that hysteria in Alex.  It made her seem phony to me.

Conclusion:

Although this was a unique idea, the poor execution and odd development of the characters makes it a book that I will refrain from recommending.

Dust Jacket Ramblings:

As a whole, I really like this cover.  But there is one nit-picky detail that bothers me. The font used for the authors name in no way compliments the amazing title font.  Other than that, I say A+. It fits the book very nicely.

Mary

Post Signature

Leave a Comment Categories: Uncategorized Tags: 2014, Contemporary, pub2014, rev2014, Romance, YA

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mary Moore I'm Mary, a 25 year old book enthusiast currently and PhD student in Literary History. More about me »

Twitter Bloglovin Goodreads Instagram

Subscribe

Currently Reading

Reading

Recent Comments

  • Aris on Dread Nation | Justina Ireland
  • Mesa on Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda | Becky Albertalli
  • Bella Cavicchi on spring 2021 semester review
  • Briana @ Pages Unbound on four dead queens by Astrid sholte
  • Stefani Tabakovska on book haul mid-summer 2020

Find

· Copyright © 2025. Site brewed with love by Squeesome Design Studio ·