ARC Review: Moment in Time by Suzanne Redfearn
Moment in Time
Author: Suzanne Redfearn
To Be Published: March 8, 2022
287 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: February 15-27, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
It’s been eight years since a tragic accident changed Mo Kaminski’s and Chloe Miller’s lives forever. Now in their midtwenties, they’re sharing an apartment in San Francisco and navigating the normal challenges of early adulthood. Along with their roommate, Hazel, they are making their marks on the world—Mo revolutionizing the news with her media start-up, Hazel using her big brain to anticipate the future, and Chloe rescuing abandoned strays in the city.
But when Hazel disappears after being sexually assaulted, Mo’s and Chloe’s lives are again suddenly ripped apart. And when the perpetrator turns up drugged and beaten, the mystery of where Hazel is deepens. Intensely worried and desperate to discover the truth, they set out to find Hazel and bring her home.
Mo and Chloe are no strangers to tragedy, but this journey will test them in ways they never imagined. The stakes are high; the future uncertain; the need for justice essential.
Will their commitment to their friend bring them closer together—or ultimately drive them apart?
Jessica’s Review:
Moment in Time is a follow-up to In an Instant with two characters the focus of Moment. It is not necessary to have read Instant but it is highly recommended to read it before starting Moment. Moment mentions the events of Instant, but skipping it would be missing out on a life changing event for both Mo and Chloe. It is now eight years later and they are all grown up in their mid-twenties. They are now (sort of) roommates along with Hazel. We also have Ruby a stray dog who steals the show!
Trigger Warning: Moment deals with the date rape drug GHB, rape, and several “what would you do” scenarios and their effects. After being raped Hazel disappears and Mo and Chloe try to find her, and many complications arise. Hazel is a minor character that we unfortunately don’t get to know, but we are fully invested in Mo and Chloe after their survival eight years ago. I enjoyed their continuing story and Redfearn also includes characters from her other novels. You won’t have needed to have read the previous books other than Instant, but I say read Redfearn’s other novels. I have only missed out on one of her previous novel’s Hadley and Grace.
We do have a little bit of insta-love that develops and the reader also sees how important the friendships are to these young women and how far they will go for each other. I enjoyed the ending which seemed to wrap things up nicely. I wish we had more of Hazel in the novel as she is the victim and we don’t see how she handles the after effects of her situation other than what is implied.
Be sure to read Redfearn’s author’s note to see where she came up with the idea for Moment.
Many thanks to the author for sending me an e-arc via Netgalley.
Book Review: In An Instant by Suzanne Redfearn
In An Instant
Author: Suzanne Redfearn
Published: March 1, 2020
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: February 7-11, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Book Description:
Life is over in an instant for sixteen-year-old Finn Miller when a devastating car accident tumbles her and ten others over the side of a mountain. Suspended between worlds, she watches helplessly as those she loves struggle to survive.
Impossible choices are made, decisions that leave the survivors tormented with grief and regret. Unable to let go, Finn keeps vigil as they struggle to reclaim their shattered lives. Jack, her father, who seeks vengeance against the one person he can blame other than himself; her best friend, Mo, who bravely searches for the truth as the story of their survival is rewritten; her sister Chloe, who knows Finn lingers and yearns to join her; and her mother, Ann, who saved them all but is haunted by her decisions. Finn needs to move on, but how can she with her family still in pieces?
Heartrending yet ultimately redemptive, In an Instant is a story about the power of love, the meaning of family, and carrying on…even when it seems impossible.
Jessica’s Review:
At unexpected times in an instant life as you know it can change forever. In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn shows us this through our narrator Finn, who tragically dies in a camper accident. We see the aftermath of the accident and the others struggle for survival. Finn is also a viewer to the aftermath as she is stuck between our living world and the afterlife.
This is a very hard and emotional read with the struggles everyone goes through in the aftermath of the accident. We have many characters who are imperfect and each person’s decisions affect everyone. There is one particular character you cannot feel anything for except for anger and more with the decision he makes.
In An Instant is a perfectly paced novel as we agonize the repercussions of the actions of others with Finn. After everything is said and done will Finn and the survivors be able to move on in either life or death? This is the struggle of the characters and their varying degrees of grief that they are going through.
Prepare yourself for an intensely draining emotional read. I did find the author’s note on Goodreads which unfortunately was not in the audiobook version that I listened to. The author’s note gives even more depth to her life event that happened when she was a child herself.
Prepare yourself when you go to read this one. It will stay with you as you think about life, death, grief, and moving on.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Short Story Sunday: The Marriage Test by Suzanne Redfearn
The Marriage Test
Author: Suzanne Redfearn
Narrator: Karissa Vacker
Published: November 23, 2021
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: November 23, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
From the bestselling author of In an Instant comes a heartfelt short story about one couple’s journey to discover if there really is a secret ingredient to happily ever after before their upcoming holiday wedding.
When Ava Barnes’s boyfriend, Justin, proposes after a whirlwind romance, the young couple embarks on a quest that will test their love. For generations, engaged couples in Ava’s family have traveled into the Everglades to retrieve the egg of the magnificent frigate bird in order to bake it into a marriage cake. Those who succeed live happily ever after, while those who fail are destined for heartbreak. With Ava’s beloved grandmother gravely ill, never has the marriage tradition meant so much. Ava’s dream is to pass the test so her grandmother can attend Ava’s holiday wedding to the man she loves.
So Ava, Justin, and their best friend Walton as a witness set off on a remarkable adventure that will challenge the true depth of their character and devotion. An emotional, heartrending journey of self-discovery, The Marriage Test turns out to be far more than any of them imagined.
Is there any test more challenging than a test of love?
Jessica’s Review:
The Marriage Test is a novella that takes place in December, but that is all in regards to a ‘holiday’ story. Justin proposes to Ava after a short romance. Eva’s family has a long-standing tradition where engaged couples must go on a ‘quest’ of sorts to the Florida Everglades to retrieve a frigate bird’s egg and then they make their marriage cake (not their wedding cake). For generations, the couples who have succeeded have had long happy marriage while the couples who do not complete the quest or fail to attempt the quest at all fail at their marriage, which includes Ava’s parents. And Ava is determined to complete this quest.
Ava and Justin prepare for their quest along with their friend Walton (who does not agree with the relationship) as a witness to the events. We get to go into the Everglades with the trio and have a bit of an adventure. For me, I was expecting more of the quest than what we got, so it was a little bit of a let down for me, but there is a reason to this. The shortness of the quest and other signs point to you knowing how this story should go.
This short story is a complete story and optimistic at the end. I really enjoyed the idea of couples going on a quest to prove their upcoming marriage along with the baking of the marriage cake. This short story shows how everything that is supposed to happen does.
Karissa Vacker narrates the audiobook. She is a narrator I enjoy, so her narrating the story was a pleasant surprise for me. If you enjoy short stories that have a little bit of an adventure and romance, The Marriage Test will be one for you to read!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK