Title: A Heart in a Body in the World
Author: Deb Caletti
Pages: 368
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pud Date: September 2018
About the book:
When everything has been taken from you, what else is there to do but run?
So that’s what Annabelle does—she runs from Seattle to Washington, DC, through mountain passes and suburban landscapes, from long lonely roads to college towns. She’s not ready to think about the why yet, just the how—muscles burning, heart pumping, feet pounding the earth. But no matter how hard she tries, she can’t outrun the tragedy from the past year, or the person—The Taker—that haunts her.
Followed by Grandpa Ed in his RV and backed by her brother and two friends (her self-appointed publicity team), Annabelle becomes a reluctant activist as people connect her journey to the trauma from her past. Her cross-country run gains media attention and she is cheered on as she crosses state borders, and is even thrown a block party and given gifts. The support would be nice, if Annabelle could escape the guilt and the shame from what happened back home. They say it isn’t her fault, but she can’t feel the truth of that.
Through welcome and unwelcome distractions, she just keeps running, to the destination that awaits her. There, she’ll finally face what lies behind her—the miles and love and loss…and what is to come.
Before getting into my review I quickly have to thank Simon & Schuster USA for sending me a eArc of the book to read for my blog tour stop today.
Have you ever stumbled upon a author and wonder why you have never read any of their previous books? Well that is me. I have always seen Deb’s books at the library, bookstores and bloggers reviewing them but I have never picked any up until now. Honestly I am not sure why but I am happy that I got the chance to read and review this.
I love when books hook you in right away and can hold your attention to the very end and that make you want to continue reading and subliminally tell you that everything else can wait just continue reading that you need to read it to the end. At first I thought this would take a little longer to read but within a few days I had finished it.
This was such an emotional read. It felt like my emotions were all over the place while I was reading this. With that being said as I am sitting here I am still thinking about Annabelle and I am sure this will stay with me for a little while.
The main character Annabelle who has survived something that no one should have to ever go through in their life. She is dealing with that plus the blame and guilt as a majority of people do. At first I have to admit I felt a little lost because the story takes place a year after the event that happened but as it progresses you begin to discover what happened. Through small little hints and then it begins to make sense as you read it.
Annabelle thinks of herself completely different then I was seeing her and so many times I wanted to jump into the book to encourage her and give her a hug. She broke my heart so many times.
Annabelle has decided that she is going to run across the country from her home in Seattle to Washington, DC to fight these demons. Her family and friends supports her fully by following her in a RV on this journey. Everyone on this trip plays a major role from her grandfather driving the RV to her brother Malcolm, friends Olivia and Zach being her cheerleaders and forming a publicity team. The more she runs the more her story is getting out.
As a society we were taught to basically be quiet and not say anything. We are expected to keep it buried deep inside and deal and get over it. We are taught to be nice and polite and the takers know that and take full advantage of it not realizing the impact it has on the person. We are taught how to dress and behave from a young age. It doesn’t matter who you are, where your from, rich or poor there will always be someone out there that will take advantage and we need to teach our kids as they are growing up what is and what isn’t acceptable to do to another person.
You can see in the beginning Annabelle was using this to run from her situation but as it progress you can actually see that this process is helping her deal with the demons and making her stronger. Running for hours a day you soon realize that even though you are surrounded by people you are alone with yourself and your thoughts.
Deb Caletti definitely has a way with words and knows how to write. This book is so relevant especially to what is going on in the world today. I highly recommend that everyone should read this.