Love You, Mean It by Patricia Carrington, Julia Collins, Ann Haynes, Eve Charles and Claudia Gerbasi

Love You, Mean It: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Friendship by Patricia Carrington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 336

Publisher - Hatchette Books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Amazon

How would you feel and what would you do if, one glorious, sunny day your partner and love were to die suddenly, when all he did was go to work and you didn't even wake up properly to say goodbye? How could you possibly cope?

In Love You, Mean It, four women whose husbands died in the World Trade Center tell their own, very remarkable, moving and honest stories, the stories of their very different marriages, the paths that led them to September 11th.

They explain how it was only when they came together, drawn as much by their diverse backgrounds as their shared tragedy, that their mutual support and love saw them through their darkest hours. The truths they discovered in the process are universal, compelling and altogether inspiring.



My Review


Four widows sharing their stories of their lives, the morning the twin towers were attacked, the devastation and how each of them started that day and what followed. We hear about how they met their husbands, their lives together, how their morning started that horrific day that changed theirs and so many lives.

Not only do we get to know the wives, we learn about their husbands who died and how much was taken from them. How they found each other, their friendship cemented and how they got each other through some of the hardest moments you can only imagine. Their last moments together, of normality and their worlds being shattered. I remember that day, I think pretty much everyone does, I remember being in shock, horrified, sad and not knowing what to say, you couldn't believe what you were seeing. So to be someone actually living there, having a loved one near or in there, it is very emotive dipping into these ladies lives.

The stories are told through their words, experiences and they share their grief and raw emotions from hearing their worlds have been torn apart to trying to self heal, recover and face a life without their loved ones. It is a very emotive read and I it takes you back to that day, the images and news footage - I couldn't stop thinking about it, 4/5 for me.

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Review - Widows by Lynda LaPlante

Widows by Lynda La Plante

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Blurb from goodreads

Three thieves' widows decide to continue their late husbands' latest burglary . . .

My Review

When you read books like this you really wish there was a and a half rating as I dont think this merits a 3 but didn't want to give it a 2 either.

The book starts fabulously well with a great plot of the men doing a robbery and it going horrifically wrong. 2 and a half pages and I was hooked. However this is a classic example of something that starts so well that quickly goes downhill.

The plot is great that the widows take over where the husbands left off and take charge of the plan. However it started going wrong for my by the portrayal of the female characters. In a situation like that they would pull together and do what needs must and in some parts they do. However quite a lot through it they bicker, act childish and like drama queens and I felt it was a poor portrayal of women put into 'a mans situation'.

There was aspects of the book I liked and I am curious to find out how it pans out so if the second books comes along I would happily give it another go but I must say I was dissapointed by LaPlante this time as I felt the women were childish, spoilt and weak when they had the potential to be great. A reluctant 3 out of 5 for me.



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