Review: Fly Away by Kristin Hannah

Description: Once, a long time ago, I walked down a night-darkened road called Firefly Lane, all alone, on the worst night of my life, and I found a kindred spirit. That was our beginning. More than thirty years ago. TullyandKate. You and me against the world. Best friends forever. But stories end, don’t they? You lose the people you love and you have to find a way to go on. . . .

Language: Moderate/Heavy

Violence: Moderate (deaths, drugs, comas, etc.)

Sexual: Moderate (mention of sex and molesting, but never specifically shown)

We all know those books; the ones of which you cannot help but fall in love with because of the enchanting, yet far from complex, writing style and the lovely characters that surround the pages and twist the story until it is completely its own, and not about the past story of Firefly Lane. I can tell you, without a doubt, that this is certainly one of those books.

This isn’t one of those stories that you can easily place on the shelf or toss aside and just forget with a shake of your head. It is an emotional roller coaster that you will not want to escape from. It pulls out your heart straight from your chest and shakes it up before returning it to its rightful place, with a dull ache and warmth of memories to flood your soul.

I was reading some reviews recently, and quite a bit of people stated rather unfairly that the pacing was slow, the plot was reused so much that it was a tangled and shredded mess, and there were more than a few still parts of flashbacks. Yes, the pacing was incredibly slow at some parts, but that brought forth character growth and brought me up to speed with the previous book, which I have not had the privilege to read yet. Sure, the plot may have been used before, but I do not believe that it was written exactly like this—how could something be written with such emotional triumph to the soul as this one? How could there be such original and relatable characters, as this one has? And perhaps there were flashbacks; in fact, it took up the majority of the book. But like I previously stated, it caught me up to the charming storyline and I did not mind reading about their past lives at all.

So, is this story for everyone? No. Why, then, should you bother giving it a try? Because I believe that this is a beautiful story told through the crumbled lives that is uplifting and overall satisfying, that you will never know you can enjoy or not unless you pick up the book and open to the first page.

Cover: The cover appears to be very nice beside the first novel, simple but captivating.

Setting: The story is set in several occasions, but I’d prefer to just put the original location: Firefly Lane.

Characters: All of the characters in this story are original and have their own personalities and backgrounds. You may assume dreadful facts about many of these characters, but as the story progresses you will learn their reasoning and suddenly be unable to judge them on their pasts. The author purposely does this before telling you the full story, letting you see the world through their broken gazes.

Storyline: A family and best friend learn to cope with the death of their precious relative.

Writing: The writing style of Kristin Hannah is unlike any that I have read before. It is not the most intellectually stimulating, but it is rather addicting and flowed so nicely and wonderfully that it in itself was beautiful in its own way. People tell me that her other books are better, but if it is, then I will be both astonished and pleased with this new discovery.

Surprises: This story is not one that will completely shock you, although there are some surprising moments. I did not find a large quantity of it; however, the surprises could have been wavered from trying to catch up with the different sides of everyone.

Overall: 4.5 stars. The only reason I did not give it a full five stars is because of the characters’ unique stories that seemed to pop back and force sporadically.

Recommended: I would recommend this to all fans of Firefly Lane (not to mention Kristin Hannah) and anyone who wants a refreshing and emotional read that will leave you satisfied with the ending and scanning the shelves for more pieces by this bright author.