Cover Image: How to Walk Away

How to Walk Away

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Member Reviews

Margaret's life was about to get even more perfect- she got the news that she had gotten a great job, right out of business school and she was pretty sure her boyfriend was about to propose. Unfortunately, he wanted her to go flying with him first. In one night, Margaret's life is completely changed when the plane she and her fiance are in crash, paralyzing her from the knees down. With the support of her somewhat complicated family and the strong and also somewhat complicated physical therapist, Margaret comes to understand her new normal.

Reading about the struggles but resilience of Margaret's life was inspiring. The author does not sugar coat how difficult it was for Margaret to come to turns with being paralyzed. She goes through being strong and wanting to push to get better and being low and wanting to give up, which I feel anyone in a similar situation would understand.

Although I enjoyed the romance part of the book, I felt almost too easy but a handsome Scottish romantic hero never disappoints.

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Amazing book - I absolutely loved it, I didn't want to put it down and read it in almost one sitting. I fell in love with Ian too.

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Sometimes a book comes along that makes my heart skip a beat. This is one of those times. When you can accurately predict nearly the entire plot of a book, yet you still can't tear yourself away from it—that's when you know you've found a good one.

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As with any good novel, Katherine's grabbed me from the first pages. I could feel Margaret's excitement and hopefulness of her future.

As we transition from the accident to Margaret's recuperation in the hospital, I could palpably feel the hurt and confusion as the seriousness of the accident unfolds.

Not only is Margaret dealing with immense healing, she has a fiance, her parents, and then the estranged sister comes into town. However, when the shocking truth about her family comes light, you find yourself flipping pages as quickly as possible to see how this will play out.

Several things about this book really spoke to me. While it could be categorized as a women's fiction, it lends itself to literary fiction as well. In How to Walk Away, love and/or romance is not front and center of the story. This novel deals with family issues, having the confidence to ask for what you want, and the courage to move on.

It is obvious a great deal of research went into the writing and creation of this novel. There were points and details I looked up, and because of that, I understand things I'd otherwise not thought about.

I laughed. I cried (once). I gasped out loud. I felt a sense of loss when it was over.

If you haven't' read any of Katherine Center's work, make this your first. I'll be reading more of her novels in the near future.

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In How to Walk Away, everyone seems to be walking away, literally and figuratively, and many even walk back or return.
While recovering from a tragic, life-altering accident, Margaret finds surprises and even joy in unexpected places.
The family dynamics and strained relationships make this novel very relatable, readable, and memorable.
Ian's mother's words are definitely something that I'll take away from this book: "When you don't know what to do for yourself, do something for somebody else."
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the early copy of How to Walk Away.

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Though Margaret is a bit leery of flying with her almost-licensed boyfriend, he convinces her to get into the plane anyway. It's romantic that he presents her an engagement ring during the flight and Margaret says yes. She's sure Chip will be the perfect husband--their mothers are best friends and their families have been next door neighbors for years..

Chip hasn't quite mastered the landing bit of flying yet. When the plane crashes, he walks away without a scratch but Maggie is seriously injured, looking forward to a life that will never be the same. When Chip isn't able to step up and accept his responsibility or cope with her injuries, she has to face the loss of all her expectations, hopes, and dreams, and confront a new reality.

With an optimistic ending, Maggie finds love where she least expects it.

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<I>How to Walk Away</I> was the type of book to stick with me when I put it down. As if I was counting the minutes until I could pick it back up again. However, it was not my favorite book that I have read so far this year. I know - total contradictory statements.

I fully enjoyed the writing style and ease of the book's flow. I felt connected with the characters enough to want to know what happened next. The disconnect I felt was with the actual storylines. It read more like how a RomCom plays out on screen. Situations were slightly unbelievable, lending a different quality to the book than I think it deserved. I really wanted to like it but when the scenes came in to play that had me pause and think "This really wouldn't or couldn't happen this way", it started to lose a little bit of luster each time.

Many reviews compared it to <I>Me Before You</I>. I can see where the connection may have made, but I would put this still in a different category. Lovely, quick read - great for the beach. Just try not to take some scenes as literally as I apparently did.

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This was a good read. I was hooked from the very first page. I won’t give any more info so that I don’t spoil it for future readers.

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This is my favorite read of 2018 so far! I loved this book from start to finish and have recommended it to everyone! Such a great summer read!

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Maggie is in a small plane crash, driven by her fiancé Chip. Chip walks away unharmed, while Maggie is facing scars and the possibility of not walking again. How Maggie deals with her situation, the ups and downs, reuniting with her estranged sister, Kit, and a hostile PT named Ian, sows the strength of the human spirit. I loved Maggie, her sarcasm, her approach to life, and highly recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley for the preview.

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Man, this book is pure perfection. How to Walk Away by Katherine Center is a memoir-esque novel about losing it all, and learning to be happy with the changes that may come from a life you never expected. When I first saw the cover of this book and looked at the synopsis, I assumed it was going to be a cliche book about a girl losing a boy and getting him back, and although it's a little bit about this, the story is so so so much more. If you pick up one book this summer, make sure it's this one. It's so beautiful and so powerful.

Margaret thinks she knows what's going to happen when her boyfriend Chip invites her out on a date for Valentine's Day. She knows he's going to propose. So she gets dressed up in her best dress and they head off on their date. One thing about Margaret is that she is terrified to fly, and since Chip is becoming a pilot, she has to come to terms with the fact that he's going to be up in the air most of the time. This doesn't mean she's going to, until Chip brings her to the airport and asks her to board a small plane with him. She doesn't want to, but she does anyway, because she thinks maybe just maybe this is the night he's definitely going to propose.

Chip does propose, but shortly after the celebration of their new engagement, Chip loses control of the plane and the two are spinning out of control. Chip leaves the crash without a bandaid and Margaret, well Margaret has burns on her face, and neck, and she's also paralyzed from the knee down.

Next comes the hard part, Margaret deals with the depression that comes from losing the life that you thought you had, and the even harder part of trying to regain some feeling back into her feet and lower legs. With the help of her PT, sister, and her sometimes obnoxious mother, Margaret may get there, but not in the way she thought.

Without spoiling the book, I just want to say I love the fact that Margaret doesn't find happiness in what she expects to find happiness in. She discovers new ways to be happy with her life, and to live her life with a purpose. Although, there are definitely times that she wanted to give up, there was something that pushed her forward, watching her fall in love, heal, and become whole again was quite beautiful and melancholy all in one.

I'm mad at myself that it took me so long to read this book, because I was truly expecting to read a story that I've read a million times and I wasn't looking forward to being disappointed. Truthfully, though, I found a new favorite in this story and I wish I knew Margaret and her crew in real life, because I need to keep up with her forever now. I received this book from Netgalley, and I give it 5 out of 5 stars, it's the perfect mix of romance, determination and wit.

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Every now and then, you come across a novel that is so wonderful and addictive that you can't help but to scream about it from the rooftops. How to Walk Away was that book for me. I'm pretty picky about my books and who I recommend them to, but I can honestly say if you can't find at least a few parts of this book that make your heart melt, then I'm not sure we can be friends. Seriously though... this book is amazing. THE END.

Ok, not really the end... I'm going to tell you why I liked it. It definitely had some qualities that were easy to predict, but that doesn't typically bother me too much. The characters were intriguing and complex and I loved that the story focused so heavily on Margaret's family as well as her own personal story. It was fun to get to know her parents and see their relationship as well. As evidenced in the synopsis (no spoilers here!) Margaret had to face a lot of hard times and she had to come to terms with who she was as person. The way she handled those heartbreaking circumstances was truly inspiring.

All in all, How to Walk Away is hands down one of my favorite reads of the year and it is filled to the brim with charm, wit, and enough romance to sweep you off your feet. I would highly recommend this novel as the perfect beach weekend read. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Booksparks for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4/5

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This book stayed with me for a long time after reading it. I loved how Katherine wrote about Margaret's relationships with her family (especially her mom) and her sister. I would highly recommend this book to readers of women's fiction even though I do believe she will have some men enjoying it also.

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4.5 stars!

I completely fell in love and was glued to every page, every word. Yes, it was unputdownable!

The roller coaster ride it takes you on is fascinating and totally captivating!

It’s a story of courage. A story of determination and grit! A story of acceptance.

It is also a romance, but don’t expect an alpha take charge, sexy, hot between the sheets kind of read. No, this is a heartfelt, hard fought for, humorous kind of love story that warmed my heart and pulled on it’s strings!

The main characters are one of a kind, down to earth, and so lovable!

If you haven't read this author yet, do it - you will love her writing style!

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3.5 stars, rounded upward.

Maggie swallows her misgivings and agrees to let her boyfriend, Chip, give her a ride in a small plane. He’s taken lessons, but doesn’t have a license yet. Naturally, he crashes. And naturally, he walks away without a scratch, but Maggie is paralyzed and burnt to a crackling crisp.

My thanks go to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the DRC. This title is now for sale. I missed the release date and am sorry about that; I struggled with how to rate this title and how to review it. More on that in a minute.

Most of the story is set at a hospital, where Maggie is treated for burns and receives physical therapy to help her learn to move again. It’s painful and it’s horrible, and on top of that, nobody will let her have a mirror. Once she has one, she wishes she hadn’t looked.

“I would forever be a person that other people tried not to stare at in the grocery store. I would forever be someone who made other people uncomfortable.”

Maggie develops a crush on her physical therapist, a handsome, abrupt, unfriendly Scotsman whose poor bedside manner is surpassed only by his outstanding skill at helping Maggie learn to maneuver her body. At the same time, Chip—who for no reason I can understand, has not been arrested or cited for flying unlicensed or for stealing an airplane—goes all to pieces, turning his few hospital visits into a pity party for himself.

The story is quixotic in its combination of romance, medical information that is sometimes more detailed and gruesome than I want to read, and a beginning that is more an adventure or disaster tale than romance. 14% of the way in I flipped back to the cover, the tiny, almost unnoticeable plane flanked by giant floral bouquets, and I didn’t get how this story went with that jacket. I think the beginning scene with the plane, the toxic boyfriend turned fiancée, and the crash should have been edited down and presented as a prologue.

When Maggie is astonished to see a “lady firefighter”, I roll my eyes and check the copyright to make certain this isn’t a re-release of a title from the 1960s.

I originally designated this galley as my lunch and midnight snack companion, but soon it became obvious that there were too many detailed descriptions of bodily functions, particularly related to the bowel and the bladder, that I didn’t want to dine with.

The parts I like best here have to do with Maggie’s sister Kitty, who left suddenly many years ago and has been estranged due to a mysterious conflict with her mother. Kitty’s character is developed wonderfully and injects light and humor into the narrative.

The other characters at times seemed overdrawn. Chip is too obnoxious; I already hated him when he patted Maggie’s fanny and told her to get onto the plane. As ugliness is added to more ugliness, I find myself rolling my eyes and saying, yes, he’s a dick, I get it already. Maggie’s mother (is there a novelist out there that is comfortable with a protagonist and her mother having a solid relationship?) is too shallow, too obviously obsessed with surface beauty, and although there is some small redemption for her in the end, I want to see more than one attribute given this character, and I want it sooner.

And there’s the wealth, the privilege, and the wealth wealth wealth. When Maggie’s father brings a printer to her hospital room so he can crank out articles for her to read; when her mother hauls in curtains and lamps and redecorates the hospital room; a thousand times I find myself highlighting passages and arching my eyebrows. The hell?

The romance itself, however, is a winner. As I watch the electricity pop between Maggie and Ian, I can’t help smiling. The romance is what most readers are here for, and I find it heartwarming and satisfying. It’s a quick read, and although I had no trouble putting it down, I also had no trouble picking it back up again, which is not always true of the galleys I review.

Recommended to Center’s faithful readers, and to those that like a light romance.

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Providing hope in a dire situation. Loved the premise, loved the book. Really liked that the ending was not
"story book perfect" but very realistic. Gread read

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Simply amazing. This refreshing book is both a coming into awareness as well as a coming back to life story. It is about discovering what is most important to you, what in life is worth fighting for.
The characters and the story are so relatable I have to believe they are based on true events.

This book is wonderful and needs to be shared with book clubs and friends.

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This was my first of Katherine Center’s books and I was totally blown away. How to Walk Away starts with Margaret’s fiancé taking her up in a private plane to propose to her and the flight ends in disaster, leaving Margaret paralyzed and Chip walks away without a scratch. What follows is an inspiring story of resilience and learning to “walk away” in more ways than one and grow stronger. This story reminded me of Me Before You (which is the highest honor) and I am looking forward to reading more from Center!

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This is the first book that I have read by this author and it definitely won’t be the last. Ms. Center has written a wonderful novel that touched my heart. She reaches down into your soul and elicits feelings you didn’t even know you had. I laughed, I cried. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.

I highly recommend this book. If you only read one book this year, How to Walk Away should be that book.

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“The greater our capacity for sorrow becomes, the greater our capacity for joy.”
Margaret Jacobson had it all figured out.
Swoony Boyfriend ☑ New job of her dreams she just landed☑ and said boyfriend just proposed ☑ When all of a sudden life comes to a halt. In a split second everything is changed. Fast forward—she wakes up in a hospital, forced to face her new reality. She is confronted with unimaginable obstacles while trying to deal with the loss of her dreams and coping with the aftermath of her injuries.
Her life is upside down. Her dysfunctional family takes over her hospital room. Her fiancée is a mess. And on top of it all, her physical therapist Ian—sex on a stick with a Scottish accent, is a grumpy A-hole with zero bedside manners.
How to Walk Away is a powerful read of finding the true meaning of life when you thought you lost it all, of strength and hope. It’s inspiring, filled with heartbreaking moments as we follow Margaret, but there are also these incredibly funny and sweet moments balancing this fantastic journey.
“It’s the trying that heals you. That’s all you have to do. Just try.”
It’s a multilayered story of family secrets, strained relationships, and finding yourself in the face of losing it all. I cried, I swooned, I laughed while wiping tears off my face.
“Needing to find reasons to live had forced me to build a life worth living.”
Do not miss Katherine Center’s latest release!!!

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