Half A Heart by Karen McQuestion

Nine year old Logan is being physically, emotionally abused. Neglected by his alcoholic father Robert, he's scared of his next beating. Logan hides in the back of a moving truck.

Unbeknownst to Logan, he ends up in Wisconsin. Hours away from chicago. After finding himself a creek and a treehouse nearby, his main focus is to survive. When a bad storm hits, he has no choice but to take cover in Joanne's backyard.

Knowing Robert isn't looking for him, his maternal grandmother Nancy is on the search. Three years have passed since she has last seen him. With Robert moving all the time, Nancy has no clue where to start.

The story was a bit predictable, but still a good story of good winning over evil. The characters were well thought out. Be prepared to fall in love with Logan.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a copy of this novel for review. This is a heartwarming, if somewhat predictable, novel about a young boy with an abusive father who finds his way to a better place with the help of other caring adults. I enjoyed this fast-paced read.

Logan is a nine year old boy who has suffered too much trauma at the hands of his father. When his mother dies, he becomes mute (kind of like Tommy in the rock opera) and he is told that his grandmother has also died. She was the only one left who really loved him. When the opportunity arises, he finds a way to escape. Being alone at the age of nine is not easy, but somehow Logan manages to survive. He discovers his strength and determination drives his will to live a better life and fortunately for him, he finds some caring people who help him,

This was actually a very heart-wrenching story. Whenever I read about neglected or abused children I get angry and so very sad. This poor little boy who thought no one loved him. The story has several points of view in the story, but Logan's is the main one. I didn't have any trouble keeping the different characters straight in my head. As I started with this book, I was not sure how these stories connected, but stick with it. The writing was quite good. Karen McQuestion did a great job moving the main storyline forward even with the shifting points of view. The pace of the story kept me engaged until the end .Even though Logan was an abused and neglected child, it is actually a very uplifting story and I was very satisfied with the ending.

Amazing story about a little boy who unwittingly runs away from home after yet another abusive tirade at the hands of his father and finds himself having to survive on his own. He is brave and smart and I wanted to grab him up, hug him tight, and tell him everything is going to be okay. He winds up living in a tree house on the property of an older woman, fending for himself. Luckily he has a grandmother searching for him. Unluckily, so is his father. It's a beautiful story which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I absolutely loved this book. I read it in one day. I couldn’t put it down. I cried through most of it. It is one of those stories that pulls at your heart strings. . There are so many layers to this story, give yourself plenty of reading time because once you start this book you will be unable to put it down!

Although she has written many books, I had never heard of author, Karen McQuestion. When I saw today's book, Half a Heart, available through my blogging association with NetGalley, I read the description of the book and found it interesting, so I opted in to read and review it.  Now that I've finished this book, I'm certain I'll try to catch up with some of McQuestion's other books because this one was great!

This story is about a 9 year old boy named Logan.  Logan's father is an angry alcoholic who is very dysfunctional. He is a bully and takes his anger out on Logan by emotionally traumatizing and physically abusing him. Logan is terrified of his father and he runs away.  In addition to Logan's physical and emotional scars, he can’t speak and is mute. Logan's mother is dead and he has been told that his beloved Grandmother Nan has died.

Logan manages to hide and get food for a few days after he runs away.  He hides in a moving van that takes him 3 hours away to another state.  The people he meets along the way are very heartwarming too.

Logan's grandmother follows clues and does her own sort of detective work so she can find out what has happened to Logan. Grandma Nan rescues Logan and at the end, she and Logan's father meet up and have a strong and physical confrontation.  Logan learns that love can heal and help him find a way to communicate.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for my review.  I would like to thank St Martin's Press for allowing me the opportunity to participate, read and review this book. My views are my own and are in no way influenced by anyone else!

What a really good book. You will find yourself caught up in the life of Logan and everyone that is connected to him in some way. McQuestion does a good job of handling multiple points of view (you get Logan, his grandmother, a speech therapist, an elderly woman, and a married couple) while keeping the main story of Logan and his plight front and center. I really enjoyed the ending and I hope that if McQuestion does a follow-up book that maybe we can turn our attentions on the married couple (Paul and Laura).

"Half a Heart" is about 9 year old Logan Weber who runs away from his abusive father. We find out that Logan's life has been a virtual hell since his mother passed away. Unable to speak, he is forced to use his hands or write down what is going on with him. His father is often drunk and abusive. Logan and his father are living with a woman and her young daughter who does her best to ensure that Logan is on the receiving end of his father's violence. When Logan stows away in a moving van, he ends up in Wisconsin and finds a tree house that just seems to be waiting for him.

The story follows several people, but for the most part you are going to follow Logan and read his sad story about what became of his mother and how terrible his home life has become with his father. He's very smart and does what he can to survive when he realizes that being in Wisconsin and homeless is still better than returning home to his father and his rages.

Joanne is an elderly widow who is hesitant to go and live with her son and his family in Seattle. She wants to stay in her home with her dog Samson and continue to be part of the community. I did find Joanne to be a bit much at times since she definitely comes across as nosy (with regards to her new neighbors) but she was such a great character to find out more about. Joanne comes into contact with Logan when she spots a young boy who she thinks stole one of her towels and possibly threw a tomato at her dog. She eventually seeks out her new neighbors to warn them that they may have a thief in the neighborhood.

Laura and Paul are happily married though Laura feels like something is missing due to them not having children. Laura is an artist and should be thrilled she got asked to do a really cool installation, but she wants to go forward with being a foster parent. Problem is her husband is not so keen on trying to foster.

Logan's speech therapist even gets a scene here and there and you find out that she did what she could to look out for him, but still worries about what became of him.

Logan's grandmother ends up coming into the story when she finally is able to track down the last place he lived via the help of a private investigator she hires.

The writing was really good. As I said, McQuestion did a great job with moving the main story-line forward with shifting points of view. I was worried the whole time for Logan and how the ending would be handled. The flow was great too and I didn't have any trouble keeping the different characters straight in my head. You don't need a chapter heading or anything to call out who is speaking. I think writing it in third person definitely helped with that.

The setting of this book is Chicago and Wisconsin. McQuestion does a great job of showing Wisconsin and you can see why Logan falls in love with the nearby creek, the tree house, and just the general area.

The ending will definitely make you smile. All parties seem to be on the start of something new/good.

Loved it. It was my first book of Ms. McQuestions but certainly not my last

Karen McQuestion never disappoints. Half a Heart was a great story about a little boy who had lost his mother and was struggling to find his voice, both literally and figuratively. Through what could be construed as an unlikely event, you find yourself not caring about how he gets there, but what he does to survive when he arrives. Later you find yourself rooting for and against all the right people. There are a handful of substories in this book and a dog. You can't go wrong with a dog. My only critique would be that I wish she'd started the 'ending/resolution' of the story sooner. While I felt like she did a great job getting us to the climax, I felt the end was a bit rushed. Maybe I just wanted to know more about Joanne, her neighbors and her dog! Absolutely a great book that I'd recommend to anybody. (As I would recommend all of Karen's books)

I received a digital ARC of #HalfAheart from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really good book. It was an emotional read that quite often read as though it were a true story, even though it is a fiction book. Logan has seen and experienced things that no child of his age should ever have gone through. After an awful time at home, and his drunken abusive Dad getting exceptionally angry, Logan decides to run away. He knows if he stays at home, his father will probably kill him. He ends up far away from home and has to survive on his own. He meets some lovely people along the way, and the story is all wrapped up neatly at the end.

FirstLine ~ He'd never seen his father so angry, and that was saying a lot, because he'd seen him plenty mad the last few years.

What an amazing first sentence, am I right?!?! From there it is more of the same compelling writing. McQuestion has such a grace when it comes to tackling tough subjects, but never compromises the integrity of the truth and journey of the characters. She writes with heart and the rawness, vulnerabilities and strengths of the characters are what draws the reader in and holds them tightly throughout the story. McQuestion is such a force when it comes to capturing and highlighting the kindness of strangers and love in many forms by building the story piece by piece until it unfolds at a perfect pace. This is one of her best books yet. She has once again broke my heart and put in back together in the matter of 230 pages. This is writing at its best and this book will quickly become one of your favorites in 2018, I promise!

A wonderful story with not a little shock value. Logan is a motherless young boy whose father treats him terribly whenever he feels like it. In running away from his father after another nonsensical infraction, Logan hides in a moving van which is then closed up and driven hours away from his home. Logan's experience is a bit scary, quite sad and well written. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good story that will keep them coming back until the very end.

The book stars out with the main character Logan being abused physically by both his mother as well as his alcoholic father. He is also told that the only person who truly loves him, his grandmother, has died. He knows that all the abuse isn't the way that things should be however it is the only life he's ever had. When the physical and mental abuse become to much for him Logan does the only thing he knows how to do and runs away from home. Logan doesn't know how to cope with any of it and doesn't know how to get help so he shuts down and stops talking. No one is able to understand why he has stopped talking and he can't even make himself talk even if he wanted to. This start to come out about Logan's life and it is appalling what is happening to him both physically and emotionally. I really liked this book because it wasn't like other books that I've read. It was very upbeat but had dark undertones that made you sad and worried. I liked how we got a bit more of background information on what was happening from the grandmother, and from her eyes we got a different story. For as it turns out she hasn't died and has been searching for her missing grandson ever since he was taken from her life. I think that my favourite part and the part that made it stand out from other abuse novels was the fact that you weren't seeing it through the child's eyes you got many different perspectives as well as different pieces of information at different times that changed your mind on things. You got to see what was happening with Logan and how he dealt with it but you also go to see from the grandmother's eyes as she searched for her missing grandson after getting stopped turn after turn. Overall good book and I'm glad that I got the chance to read it.

This book tugged me into it and I fell in love with sweet Logan from the start. His story made me cry at the beginning. He has been abused by a horrid father after his mother died from a tragic "accident". As I journeyed with Logan through the story I had many, many emotions. I was super angry at how a little boy was treated so badly by a loser father. I was anxious as he ran away to escape. I was proud he stood up for himself. I was scared when things seemed to be going the wrong way. I laughed. I felt happy. So many things. This is a wonderful story of how love can overcome and bring about healing in a soul and heart. I am so happy I got to read this book and I thank Netgalley and Lake Union Publishers. I am very happy to give my honest review!

A heart warming read,good plotline and use of characters throughout the book.
A page turner no boring long description of characters.
Definately would recommend this book,I would love to see a sequence of this book to find out what happens to Logan as an adult and if Laura and Paul become foster parents.Book2 qreaders are waiting.

Karen McQuestion is a new author for me so I had no idea what to expect. I enjoyed the book a great deal but found the storyline going in too many directions at times. Although they were all tied together I felt that the book would have needed to be longer to give them all the attention they deserved. On the plus side of this is the fact that all of the characters were written in a way that made me want to know more of their individual stories. It was a good read but I was left feeling like it ended a bit too abruptly as if there was a limit on the story length and it all needed to be wrapped up quickly.

What a wonderful story, beautifully written and well told. This book has really touched my soul.

This is the tale of Logan, a nine year old boy who has lost not only his mother but his protective barrier between him and his cruel father. He suffers in ways most of us would never consider and his life is bleak but when he spots an opportunity to escape, he runs. This is a book full of life, following Logan and finding out what happens to him - and to the man who fathered him.

Skilfully created, this novel tells of love, loss and adventure. A man who has a core of such badness and a black soul is counteracted with people of genuine warmth and compassion. It will make you smile and cringe, laugh and shake your head in horror .. whilst all the time creating hope deep in your heart and, with the final few pages, leaving you with the feeling of a book well read and thoroughly enjoyed. A different kind of read and all the more welcome for it. One which I have no hesitation in recommending, and I find myself looking forward to reading more by Karen McQuestion.

My thanks to the author for making me aware of this novel, and to Lake Union Publishing for providing me with my copy via NetGalley. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for an advanced read in exchange for this review.

Logan lives with an abusive father. His mother is dead, and he’s been told his grandma died as well. After an incident with his father, Logan runs away. He’s trying to survive out on his own with only $5. He also doesn’t speak and has not said a word since his mother died.

The story alternates from Logan’s POV, people in the neighborhood Logan ends up hiding in, and his grandma who is looking for him. The story is heart wrenching but also shows the kindness from others. Logan is quite resilient and reading about him trying to get through a day with nothing was powerful to read.

Logan hasn't spoken in three years since the death of this mother. This story told through a few different viewpoints allows the reader to be fully immersed in everyone's world, except from the father's viewpoint (that would have been a good touch). I enjoyed reading about Logan's journey and the ending was just what I hoped for!

Highly emotional- but never over the top- story of an abused child and the grandmother who is searching for him. Logan hasn't spoken since his mother died three years ago and his father just keeps getting worse. Running away is his solution but it's not really. The good thing, though, is that there is someone out there who cares for him. His journey, and his back story, is told in a dual narrative that will make you feel better about humanity. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.