The Charm Necklace by Lauren Rosolino (Review, 5 stars)

How do you move forward from a loss like this? “What was left of me was not a whole lot, not my former whole self. Because Michael and I were How do you move forward from a loss like this? “What was left of me was not a whole lot, not my former whole self. Because Michael and I were connected, joined, fused together, it was hard to make the distinction between him and me. We affected each other so much and so deeply it was hard to tell where one soul ended and the other started. The seams that fastened us together were twisted and indistinct, folding into each other, entwined like lovers’ bodies. So when you took one away, ripped it at the seams, you took whole fragments of the other half, leaving the edges jagged and uneven.” Skylar Medina has never asked for much – just to marry the man she loves and create the family she’s always dreamed of with him. But when Michael is killed in a car accident, she becomes consumed with rage and despair. In the year following Michael’s death, Skylar must face her cruel and unbarring reality. As she navigates her feelings, her destructive tendencies, and the web of complicated relationships with friends and family, she finds guidance in places she’d never expect. Will Skylar have the strength to let love in again? Or will she let anger and grief destroy her? …This book contains some sailor-worthy language, sexy scenes, and deals with the darker sides of death, grief, beliefs, love, and anger… Lauren Rosolino, author of The Charm Necklace and writer of stories about finding beauty in brokenness. Lauren graduated from Wayne State Universitywith her BA in Psychology and currently lives in Rochester, MI with her techie husband and their dog, cat, and bunny. Lauren grew up in the suburbs of Detroitreading Harry Potter, watching Gilmore Girls, listening (and dancing) to a lot of music, and wondering why people do the things they do. The Charm Necklace is her first novel. Find out more at http://www.laurenrosolino.com. My Review – This was a magnificent book. It had a beautiful story line. It was well-written. The Charm Necklace by Lauren Rosolino was a book that once you picked up, you couldn’t put it down. I laughed and I cried. The book takes you through a tragedy that makes a person either grow or lay down in defeat. The characters chose to stand up and fight. That is what grief does to you. That is what happiness does to you.

Death comes so suddenly, out of nowhere. In the morning, you wake up in the arms of the one you love, that night you go to bed all by yourself. You remain in a state of shock asking yourself questions like ‘Did that really happen? Is he really dead? He can’t possibly be dead, can he?’ And you reassure yourself with statements like ‘He’s just away on a business trip,’ or ‘Just another late night at the office, that’s all.’

There isn’t much more I can say about this book except to recommend you read it and to give it as many stars as I can – 5. I hope this author is around for a long, long time.

During this time, you see friends and long-lost relatives you hadn’t seen since you were a child, and it hits you that nothing really matters: not those five extra pounds you were trying to lose, the back porch you’ve been meaning to repaint, that new show you forgot to record, those new designer shoes you’ve been lusting for. How could any of it matter in the face of death? You’re faced with the feeling that your life, your work, all your accomplishments are obsolete and meaningless when seen in the finality of death. All those things can’t save you from it.

Once you finish reading the book, the author invites you to her website for a final chapter that you won’t want to miss.

I’m still upset that you were taken away from, but it’s no longer the living-breathing kind of hate that eats away at you. It’s the kind of anger that just wishes you could still be here. I can see now that your death was an accident. No one meant for it to happen.

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