A Reader's Opinion: Reconstructing Charlie by Charmaine Gordon

Originally posted on An Avid Reader's Haven

http://www.avidreadershaven.com/mkclintock.htm

 

Title ~ Reconstructing Charlie ~

by Charmaine Gordon

Publisher ~ Vanilla Heart Publishing

Published ~24 Jan 2011

My Rating ~ 4 out of 5 stars

The Book:

(Blurb from Amazon)

Charlie Costigan has a secret. Home life gone from bad to the worst when she protects her mother from another vicious attack by her drunken father. Midnight. Clothes thrown into an old suitcase, she races for the bus with a letter to an unknown aunt and uncle. "This is my daughter. Embrace her as if she were your own." Determined, Charlie begins again. Alone with her secret.

A Reader’s Opinion:

What happens when a choice you make can be the worst and best thing that ever happened to you? This book was a bit of a surprise for me. First, it’s written in first person, which I always have a difficult time with, but after the first chapter, it really didn’t bother me and I found myself interested in the story—Charlie’s story. Charlie is strong, tough, and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. Her only way is up and that’s the direction she takes the moment her life took a complete turn. Charlie’s story is inspiring and only a fool wouldn’t encourage her. She has an admirable determination and the author did a good job of making her a believable character. I didn’t care for the language use, especially the F-word used multiple times by Charlie. Personally it bothered me because, despite her initial upbringing, the use of the word seemed really out of place. Having said that, it didn’t ruin the story for me.

Other than Charlie’s way of inspiring herself and those around her, the best part of this book for me, were the secondary characters. The people who helped shape Charlie during those important years. Her aunt and uncle, her college roommate, the house staff, her coaches—they all had a significant part to play and enjoyed each of those parts. 

This is an easy read, but for me I wouldn’t call it a pleasure read. It’s not a story I would pick up to sit back and enjoy a few hours of my time. It doesn’t make me want to live in Chicago or have similar experiences. So what does it do? It inspires—plain and simple. 

I would recommend this book to just about anyone, though because of the language use, I wouldn’t recommend to anyone under 18, though I suspect that some young adults could learn a thing or two from Charlie. 

Content Note: Language previously mentioned, but this is otherwise a fairly clean read—no graphic sex scenes. 

Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

Visit Charmaine's Web site 

Please read the FTC Disclosure page.

In accordance with FTC guidelines for bloggers and endorsements, I would like to clarify that the books reviewed on An Avid Reader's Haven are provided by the publisher/author free of charge. I am neither compensated for my reviews nor are my opinions influenced in any way by the avenues in which I obtain my materials.