Can't Buy Forever by Susan Laffoon

Summary

In the early 1950s, Odessa Drake (Dessa) is rescued from a bleak existence with a single mother. She takes a chance on the unknown to work in a boarding house owned by a widowed great aunt in Mineville, New York. Dessa is devoted to Aunt Flo and especially a young man, Nicholas, who appears and takes shelter in the attic, the only available space. Four years pass. She looks forward to each day because of his presence, in spite of the tedious work. Dessa is now eighteen and knows little more of Nicholas than the day he arrived to work the mines. She knows only he is a remarkable man who has a limp and she trusts Nicholas explicitly. There is a familiarity both recognize and an unshakeable bond develops. Nicholas has reasons to keep his past buried. Dangers loom and become evident when Nicholas gets too close and exposes their bond. What is the mystery behind this threat? To discover the answer, they escape by railway heading West, colliding with treachery and uncovering secrets, mile by mile. Their journey is impossible, but, they are supported by friends who risk their lives to make sure a great love and lineage is preserved. Or is it? None will forget their odyssey as they proceed to their destiny farther than they imagined.


My Thoughts

The summary of this book sounds wonderful.  The cover looks great too!  I was immediately intrigued and excited to read this book.    I jumped into the first chapter and liked it pretty well, although when you read this book you are kind of thrown into the story without much of a backstory.

As I continued reading, a few things started to bother me.  First of all, the writing style was a bit hard to follow.  It was pretty choppy and it jumped around to the point that I would feel like I missed something so I would go back a bit to see if I accidentally skipped something.

Then the way Odessa loved Nick... without even knowing much about him or his life!  It was kind of weird.  And the way he basically took ownership of her rubbed me the wrong way.  I wasn't a fan of that at all.

Things became more and more confusing with every chapter.  Actually, probably with every page!  I still don't think I fully understand the book.  I'm pretty disappointed, to be perfectly honest.  Can't Buy Forever became harder and harder to read the further I got into it.  I really wanted to just quit but I had already gone so far I wanted to see it through.

I hate when I'm not able to give a good review but sometimes it just happens.  In my opinion, this is a 2 (maybe 2.5) star book.  I feel so bad but I have to be honest!

*Note: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.