**I received an electronic copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The cover and the author of this one had me curious. So I opened it up and bam! I couldn't put it down. Never have I felt so connected with a character. She's depressed, has incredibly low self esteem, and huge regrets. But slowly, so slowly she pulls herself out of it. She has help, she has love, she has more strength than she gives herself credit for.
It starts with an accident, one that Shelby survived and her friend Helene really did not. Helene is in a coma, totally unresponsive. But Shelby is the real tragedy. She blames herself, and clearly depression runs in the family, so it just exacerbates something she was probably going to have to deal with anyway.
I'm not doing this story justice. Shelby is a sad person, and you will probably get frustrated with her and tell her to stop whining. But that's depression folks, it's not pretty and it's not something you just come out of when you feel like it. She sees all the sadness and pain around her, and feels responsible for it. But to give her credit, she doesn't just observe, she jumps in more than once and rescues animals and people. I've never had a story that had me weeping with sadness and joy.
Shelby - you are officially my new favorite fictional character!
Excellent!!!!
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