3.5 sad by educational stars

This was a wonderful book enabling me to understand the issues and what a person has to deal with while having Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) considered as a type of anxiety disorder. It was a eye opening experience into the world where people afflicted with this sometimes life debilitating illness deal with. This illness traps people into repetitive behaviors that their mind tells them is necessary in order for them and others to survive. Many now believe that it is caused by biological issues and as we learn later the main protagonist's mother probably had OCD.

Katie Mack is an iron welder who works in the field of art. Years ago, she gave up her new child, her husband and her life because of her overwhelming fear that she would do harm to the child, Maisie. Now through a twist of fate, Katie is reunited with her daughter although it is unbeknownst to her daughter that she is interacting with her birth mother. Maisie is surrounded by love, that of her father and her uncle Jake, her dad's best friend. Callum, the ex husband, is remarried and they are expecting a child. All seems well and Katie might have left this new family alone except she sees within Maisie symptoms of OCD. She knows what Maisie is experiencing, she feels the pain of this illness, and she wants to desperately help her child. This is a story of how all parties work towards the ability to help this child along while helping themselves.

All the characters within this novel have experienced trauma and come away scared and really afraid to embrace life, Ms Claypole-White, herself an OCD sufferer, has done a large amount of research and used her own personal experience to help the reader get into the mind and thoughts of Katie. She created many endearing characters as all the adults try to help this child that they all love.

If you are at all interested in what a person who experiences this traumatic illness goes through, I would recommend this book. There was just the right amount of suspense as we follow all the characters through their realization of grabbing onto life no matter what traumas have occurred to them in their past.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and netgalley for providing an ARC of this novel.

The Promise Between Us is the second book about mental illness that I’ve read so far this year and while I feel like this one didn’t have the emotional depth that the book I read earlier (Mira T. Lee’s Everything Here is Beautiful) did, it was still a worthwhile read, and one that I would definitely recommend. One of the reasons why I love reading is because of the wonderful ability that books have to broaden my horizons and teach me things that I either did not know previously or I knew but perhaps had a limited, even flawed, understanding of. This book in particular was an eye-opener for me in that, through the story of Katelyn (Katie) and her struggle with OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) as well as how it impacted those close to her, I gained some much-needed insight that helped me correct some of the misconceptions I had about the illness.

I will admit that prior to reading this book, I was one of those people who thought that OCD was a minor disorder which involved being obsessed with cleanliness, order, and avoiding germs. Like many others who may not have experience dealing with mental illness on a personal level, my perception of OCD was pretty much in line with the way the illness is typically portrayed in our society – namely that people with OCD wash their hands until they bleed, sterilize every utensil they use in restaurants, refuse to shake hands or be touched by anyone for fear of spreading germs. Now I realize how flawed and misguided that perception was. I was floored to learn the true nature of this illness, its pervasiveness, and how it can manifest itself in so many different ways. I appreciate the tremendous detail on OCD that the author Barbara Claypole White provided via her characters’ experiences and relationships, in a way that made it easily accessible and understood for readers such as myself who, up to this point, had such a flawed understanding of this debilitating illness. There is a particular scene in the book where Katie tries to explain her illness to her ex-husband Callum, tying it back to her past family history and the possibility that their 10-year-old daughter Maisie may be suffering from the same illness, to which Callum’s initial response is reflective of the stereotypical view of OCD: “…Maisie is a confident, happy child…she doesn’t wash her hands until they bleed. She’s not a neat freak.” So many powerful scenes such as this one, where we are given insight into the various manifestations of OCD (i.e. postpartum OCD, harm OCD, etc.) as well as other forms of mental illness such as anxiety disorder, PTSD, depression, etc. – all heavy topics, yet dealt with in a way that didn’t feel heavy-handed or preachy. Reading the author’s notes, her family’s history with OCD, her real-life inspiration for the characters in the story, also helped to put things in perspective for me. Of course, I will never understand mental illness the same way someone who suffers from it day in and day out does, but I appreciate the fact that books like this one help bring wider awareness to such important issues.

The story itself was well-written, the characters well-developed and flushed out. I like that each chapter was told from the perspective of the various characters, though personally I feel that the story would have been more impactful if told in first person rather than third person. Though I liked the characters for the most part and felt that they were realistically portrayed, I wasn’t able to connect as much on an emotional level with them for some reason. Perhaps it is because I read this book not long after reading another book about mental illness, Everything Here is Beautiful, which did such an amazing job in terms of putting us into the minds of the characters and made the experience overall so much more personal – that book set the bar quite high for me, a standard that will be hard to top. Regardless though, The Promise Between Us was a great effort by the author to bring OCD and its impact to the forefront and I would definitely read more books by her!

Received ARC from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley

A difficult book to read on some levels....dealing with severe OCD, past sexual abuse. Imagine abandoning your child because you believe she would be safer without you. The story of Katie, her daughter Maisie and a cobbled together family will break your heart, but leave you with hope.

How many of us know about the effects of OCD? I certainly did not. Therefore, this book was an education for me in addition to being an addicting read. I love books where I learn new things!

First of all, I found each and every character incredibly well defined and could picture them as I read the book. There are not many authors who can put that together. Second, the plot held my attention and kept me thinking about it even when I was not reading. This is another feat I don’t find often. Finally, I left the book thinking that I want to learn more about OCD and I want to read more books by this author.

The Promise Between Us is an incredible work of fiction that I will not soon forget. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I have mixed emotions about this book- The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White. On the one hand, she covers an intense and difficult topic, the mental illness of OCD. On the other hand, for those who do not suffer from OCD, it became aggravating, honestly. But isn't that the whole point? OCD would be repetitive and frustrating and incredibly hard to live with. In that way I suppose it was illustrated well.

I did find it at times fairly unrealistic, particularly in that Maisie seemed to be doing fairly well in her life, showing only very mild OCD at the time of meeting Katie, and then quickly devolved into being almost unable to function. It came off as contrived and overly dramatic. The relationships between the characters also did not ring true to me at times.

Overall it was an interesting read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this galley edition. All comments and opinions herein are my own.

This compelling book really opens your eyes to the depths of mental illness. It will draw you in from the start and not let you go. I was drawn to the 9 year old character, Maisy, right away and just wanted to embrace her through the whole story. I highly recommend this book to everyone! You won't want to put it down!

I seem to have a very unpopular opinion of, The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White based on others reviews. It just wasn’t something that I loved; just average for me. I would rate this book 3.5 stars but rounded up to a 4 based on the informative descriptions of OCD, Postpartum OCD, and harm OCD (rumination/intrusive thoughts) which are sub-types of OCD. The author did a good job of depicting the suffering of not only the person with OCD but the ripple effect of all those who surround them. I have worked in mental health for over 10 years and in that time Hoarding OCD has been widely acknowledged thanks to the television show Hoarders; hopefully this book is able to help shed some light on alternate types of OCD.

I didn’t connect with any of the characters and felt anxious often while reading, The Promises Between Us. I’m not sure if my professional experiences hindered my ability to establish connections with the characters due to sometimes feeling like I was in the office and not on the couch enjoying a book in my off-hours.

I can understand why many people have raved about this book as the description and information presented would be interesting to someone who did not have much knowledge on this disorder. I would recommend this book to those who are looking to understand more on the sub-types while being entertained with a storyline. I might even recommend this to clients so they can see they are not alone in their experiences and you CAN improve.

***Thank you Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Another beautifully written, wonderful read by one of my favorite authors! Dealing with a subject as complicated as OCD is a daunting task, but Barbara Claypole White has done a remarkable job of teaching us about this distressing mental illness through her vivid storytelling and character development. You won't forget Maisie or what people with OCD face in their daily lives that you were not aware of before reading this story. Highly recommended! I would like to thank Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the honor of reading this book early.

I was first introduced to Barbara Claypole White with her book Echoes of Family and was blown away with it, it's one of those books that has stayed with me long after I turned the last page. It was the first book I've read dealing with mental illness and opened my eyes, giving me a new appreciation for those that suffer from it but also their loved ones. The Promise Between Us takes on OCD, a subject that I am relatively unfamiliar with.

Told from various points of view (I didn’t find it confusing or overwhelming) I was able to get inside the minds of Katie and Maisie, to get a full understand of what OCD entails and their emotional state. Each of their stories is well written and unique, meshing together into a compelling story with flawed characters centring around this young girl. Though in truth they need to help themselves as well.

The Promise Between Us is a story of love, reconciliation and hope. There is healing and forgiveness, pulling at the heart strings.

What I appreciate most is that the author has first hand experience here, giving this book that extra authentic feel. Definitely an author I recommend.

A page turner. I wasn’t aware of the many forms of OCD. I enjoyed this book. The lengths a mother goes to, to protect her child. A story of love, loss and family.

This was a tough book. More than likely, when you think of someone with OCD, you probably have an image of a neat freak or someone who has to have things a certain way. Usually, we see the visual aspect of it rather than understand the behavior. The Promise Between Us, really captured and gave the reader an inside look behind someone functioning with this debilitating, no discriminating disease that can have dire affects on someone's life.

I really enjoyed getting in Katie's head. This was a character that you really could dive into and understand. What I thought made the book so compelling was that we constantly see what she is thinking. It gives you a chance to experience along with her thoughts and understand how and why she behaves the way she does as a result of a situational trigger. You really get an inside view of what it is like living with someone who has this. In Katie's experience, post partum depression kicked in which ignited her symptoms. Much of her behavior stemmed from genetics but life scenarios triggered different behaviors that affected her quality of life. At the time, she didn't know what she was dealing with and found herself agreeing to leave her child. That was such a hard decision but through some circumstances and fate, their paths cross which give her a second chance at life which allowed her to not only help herself but her daughter.

I'm sure there so many people out there who have experienced this and thought they were going crazy but you're not. I applaud the author for developing a story around a subject that people have assumptions about that usually are negative. This really enlightened and showed the positive outcome that can happened given the strength of the person to persevere and find ways that work for you life to manage and function better. We see her face her past and present and find love despite all the inner battles fighting her to let her know she can have a happy life and nothing will happen bad.

Overall, I really enjoyed the journey and thought the story was one that was inspiring and really gives you a up, close and personal experience of someone who is experiencing this cognitive disease. A story of loss, reconnect and finding one's own true path really captivates and will soften your heart with compassion. I would add this one to your TBR!

This was a beautiful story of family and sacrifice. The element of mental illness in this story really shows how it impacts a person’s life and the benefits of family/friend support combined with therapy. It raises awareness that there are not enough resources out there for people with little or no medical insurance. (Makes me thankful to be Canadian.)
I really enjoyed all the characters although Maisie & Katie were my favourite. I enjoyed the way they reconnected & found a relationship that worked for them.
The ending was amazing & showed that, while mental illness never goes away, there are ways to live a pretty great life even with it.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for a copy of this book to review.

This is the first Barbara Claypole White book that I have read. I was intrigued by the subject matter due to the fact I had no notion that OCD could affect an individual's brain like it does to a couple of the prominent characters. Nevertheless, the book might not have been perfect yet the favorable along with the adverse combined to produce a captivating middle of the road novel. Such as, repetitive amounts of “what if” throughout the book was driving me a bit batty. For example:

What if, just by being around me, she’s at risk? What if I was wrong to bring her here? She’s too close to the chop saw. What if I put her hand underneath, lowered the blade, and...An image. A bloody image.

Another issue I did not at all agree with was Callum and Lilah pressuring Maisie into calling Lilah mom when she was not ready. Nevertheless, I do not want to give too many spoilers away. Katie to me was a superhero. She tried to overcome everything negative that was propelled at her. As a parent, shouldn't she have oodles of more access to her child? Unquestionably, there is more I would like to write about, but I have already given away enough spoilers.

I control fire; I am strong
~Katie

Reading this book challenged many of the thoughts I have long held about motherhood. How could a mother leave her child even for a short time much less years? I was able to see through Katie's eyes and realize that sometimes you have to do the unthinkable to save the ones you truly love the most.

http://www.leahdecesare.com/book-reviews/book-review-promise-us-barbara-claypole-white/
This past October, I flew to New Mexico for a writers’ retreat (thanks Women’s Fiction Writers’ Association) and the first person I met at the airport was Barbara Claypole White. We were waiting for our shuttle to the hotel and she was as warm and cheerful as the Albuquerque sunshine. We easily chatted from curb to curb and throughout our five days together. I am so happy to be given the opportunity to review The Promise Between Us, Barbara’s fifth novel, for TLC Book Tours.

In reading The Promise Between Us, I realize that I really had a limited grasp of the ongoing suffering and pain that people with OCD experience and battle daily, hourly, minute by minute. This book, for me, was eye opening and pulled me into the thoughts and incessant voice of OCD. I have a much greater understanding and compassion for people struggling with mental illness.

In my work as a birth and postpartum doula for years, I had hours and hours of training, read hundreds of pages of information on postpartum mood disorders from baby blues to postpartum anxiety and OCD, but not until reading The Promise Between Us did I fully comprehend the stronghold it has on a person. Claypole White shines a spotlight on anxiety disorder, pulling the reader right into the thick of things. We see anxiety as a result of trauma as compared to anxiety as mental illness and how both affect not only the person struggling, but the families and friends surrounding them.

“Why were these horrid thoughts taking up a whole room in her brain? No, multiple rooms!”

“… closed her eyes as tight as she could and willed the very weird thoughts to vanish. But when she opened her eyes, those thoughts were worse. Stronger. Bigger. And she didn’t want any of them.”

As the story unfolds, I felt secrets bubbling and wonderful tension. I cared about this flawed and hurt and loving cast of characters and really liked how the ending was satisfying without being too neat and tidy, without being expected.

The Promise Between Us explores motherhood: the deepest of loves, the fears, the messes and the joys. We see a step mother figuring out how to parent a child this isn’t her own, and a mother trying to mother a child she didn’t think she could adequately care for. As readers, as mothers, we can empathize with, and root for, them both as they grow and support each other for the child’s benefit.

Art and sculpture are important in the story and in managing OCD. It made me think about a friend who founded an organization in Rhode Island, Peace Love Studios, which uses painting and art as a tool for coping with mental health disorders like OCD. The performing arts also have an important role in this book touching on acting as a career but also for survival. Do OCD and anxiety require sufferers to pretend, to play act? Is that the best way to handle things or is honesty and openness better?

Layered and thought-provoking, The Promise Between Us is a powerful story of coping with mental illness and how love prevails for one unconventional family.

(4.5) Barbara Claypole White has written a mesmerizing book about the effects of OCD and how damaging it can be to someone if not treated. After reading The Promise Between Us, I realized I had a misconception of this mental illness, always thinking it was more of someone constantly washing their hands or touching something the same way every day the same number of times or even just fixing a picture that is hanging crooked on a wall. I never realized that voices can take over in your head and make you think you'll do unthinkable things to someone. That's what happens to Katie after giving birth to her daughter Maisie. The voices have her thinking she'll hurt her daughter so she makes the difficult decision that leaving her home, her daughter and her husband, Cam, is in her daughter's best interests. A chance encounter with Maisie nine years later has her wondering if perhaps her daughter has inherited this devastating illness and she wants to do all she can to help her.

The story is very well done, it is beautiful but also filled with sadness. It is engaging from the very beginning with very likable characters. This book truly opened my eyes about what a horrible illness this is, and hopefully it will open the eyes of others who read it. And I do hope many will read The Promise Between Us.

I received an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

The Promise Between Us, is a deeply riveting page turner.
It focuses on the horrific and devastating effects of mental illness if left untreated.
The author, Barbara Claypole White, delves deeply into her characters personalities and lives.
This book captures you the beginning until it’s riveting conclusion. Truthfully, it stays with you beyond the last page.
This novel takes on many faces.., redemption, love, hope and suspense.
I highly recommend this book. I promise... you will love it!

This is a story of family, love, betrayal, secrets (lots of it) and friendship set against the backdrop of mental illness - obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) and anxiety.
I really enjoyed reading this book and it is my first book by this author. It is well written with distinct characters. Gives insight to OCDs without being boring as the facts are woven into the plot. With all the drama in the story, it is so easy to get invested in the lives of Katie who walked away from her home for fear of harming her baby and Maisie the plucky ten year old who has to deal with the anxiety and compulsion that comes with OCD. There is of course Callum who has secrets of his own, Jake the constant friend and Lilah who is caught in all the secrecy.
Despite all the pain it all ends on a happy note. Phew. Wish there weren't so many HUGE secrets but it made for an entrancing read.
This is a book I would definitely recommend.

5 Stars!
This is my first book from Barbara Claypole White and I was flooded that I have not read her before! She is AMAZING!
The Promise Between Us was AMAZING!  The story and characters were amazing and completely relatable! Maisie was my very favorite and Jake, loved him too! The topic of OCD was amazing!!! I mean I totally have OCD (not at the depth this book dealt with but still lol).
This book is a MUST read!! Go One Click NOW! While I go and stalk Barbara’s amazon page and one click the rest of her books! #hopingThereAreTons

This was the first book of Ms. Claypole’s that I’ve read but certainly not my last. The characters were absolutely adorable and so relatable especially Maisie. I loved Maisie right from the beginning and even more as the book went along. I had issues Jake but as I read more of the book, my heart melted for him. I love all the characters so much. Please tell me that there will be more of this amazing family The OCD was described amazingly in detail. I discussed the book with my mom describing how much I loved it. She precedes to tell me.. I’m a moderate OCD which is true in regards to books, food, dvds and tv shows