These Dreams

These Dreams by Barbara Chepaitis is a beautifully written book full of emotions. This traumatic experience tests Crickett's character and makes her life unfamiliar and more unpredictable as ever. It all begins when her daughter becomes a victim in a local mall shooting. Hope becomes Crickett's best friend when tending to her daughter, while her marriage falls apart and her relationship with her other daughter becomes distant. Crickett finds herself turning in unfamiliar directions for comfort. Devasated, confused, and alone, Crickett looks to herself for support. Her inner strength surprises herself as well as the readers. This book takes the reader through an emotional rollercoaster. I absolutely loved reading this book and enjoyed every moment of it.

These Dreams by Barbara Chepaitis starts off as what seems like a story about a simple woman and her family and their mundane problems, but quickly spirals into a novel about the curveballs life throws at you and the different ways people handle them. No one can predict how they'll react when faced with a traumatic situation, as we see when Cricket Thompson's life crashes down around her. A gunman on the loose shoots one of her daughters at the local mall, just beginning the crumbling of Cricket's life and all she is familiar with. Guilt-ridden and full of grief, Cricket becomes obsessed with tending to her daughter, believing that hope is enough to bring her back from her coma and make her well again. Meanwhile, her marriage falls to pieces, her other daughter becomes distant and moody, and Cricket finds herself unexpectedly turning to her coworker, Pass, for comfort. An innocent friendship crosses the line and Cricket finds herself in a mess she simply cannot undo. Confused, afraid, and with no one to turn to, Cricket looks within herself to find a strength she did not know existed. She is able to finally come to terms with everything that has happened both to her and around her and guiltlessly go after the things she not only wants, but deserves.

This is an amazing book that I had trouble putting down until I was finished. It was unpredictable from the first page until the very last and was filled with a ray of emotions. It is easy to relate to with such a crazy world that we live in today, and in a book where a family suffers through so much tragedy there's still a sense of freedom and joy. Barbara Chepaitis wrote THESE DREAMS beautifully and I highly recommend it to anyone.

As a mother whose child died through violence rather similar to what happened to Grace, I was fascinated and amazed at how the author understood and was able to put into words so many of the emotions and feelings and truths. It was so good that she could describe all that and also write about the strength and growth that pain requires. This book has understanding and hope and a whole lot of wisdom.

I absolutely loved this book. It gives the reader a realistic look at how tragedy can affect a person. How "normal" people can just fall apart. Not one person can positively identify how they would react when put into a tragic situation. This book makes you realize that. You feel empathy and sympathy and disgust and pitty and love and truth and understanding and pride and humility all at once with this book.