This author is really great. I really loved this book. This tale was highly engrossing and highly recommendable!!

Very graphic scenes of sexual assault. Therefore, this book may be very disturbing for some. This book was not my cup of tea. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.

Unfortunately I couldn't finish this book. The description of sexual assault was too much for me. I didn't feel the need to complete the book past this point as I wasn't very invested in the story or characters. Thank you for the review copy! I'm sad I couldn't muster the courage to finish it and give a more thorough review.

This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster. I’ve always loved the depth and development in previous novels by this author, but this one might be my favorite one yet. The story was thought-provoking, moving, and imaginative. It had me engrossed from the beginning and did not disappoint. I have already gifted this book to a few friends!!

I could not finish this book. The graphic scenes of sexual assault were to much for me. As a survivor of an assault myself it just brought up some awful scenes in my head and bad horrible memories that sometimes are to hard to deal with. It was just not for me. I’m sorry that I requested a copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for this book in exchange for my honest review. I give it 1 star.

Everything was just.....off... for me with this book. I could not even finish it. I started and started several times and just couldn't. It may find its audience, but I wasn't for me.

Amazing book. Loved it from beginning to end.
Well written which kept me captivated throughout.
I will definitely be reading other books by this author

Two stars...one star to celebrate that I finished this book at all...one star for the beautiful depiction of Josh, the fifteen-year-old son with cerebral palsy. I almost put this book down when a sexual assault began in chapter four or five. I almost put this book down when there was another BRUTAL scene of a sexual assault a few chapters later. I skipped so much of it, and it still disgustedly affected me. I am not a sensitive reader, but that graphic of a scene seemed unnecessary. So if you do choose to pick the book up, then I encourage you to just skip the scene. Knowing it happened is enough for the advancement of the story.

Our main character, Emma, has been given the gift of her spoken wishes coming to pass. And while I can go with the fantasy of it all, I just think she takes FOREVER to learn her lesson. Months and months of this gift doesn't teach her anything. And maybe that's the point. Maybe it's a Job story. But it was exhausting as a reader to know what eventually was going to happen and for it to be so drug out and her to continuously make the worst decisions over and over.

However, as I said, if anything makes this book worth while, it's her relationship with her son Josh, who has cerebral palsy. He is a light in this book. Her love for him is the light at the end of the dark, page-filled tunnel. And for that I'm glad that I didn't allow that disgusting scene at the beginning to overshadow the rest. I saw a promise made that the author laid down early in the book, and as a reader, that promise drew me to the last page. It was a predictable promise, but a well-laid out promise as it were.

All in all, I can't say that I recommend this book. It has too many trigger warnings and still thinking about that scene makes my stomach roll. Which is sad, because if it been left out, and so much of the repetition summarizing all the scenes of wishes she has changed that we had just read (over and over again throughout the book which I continuously skimmed) were eliminated, this would be a very good book with a beautiful message of not taking your every day gifts for granted.

Brilliant read with all the things I enjoy in a book with a brilliant storyline and characters I will forward to reading more from you from this author

This is usually not my type of book to read, but the more pages I flipped, the more invested I became...... If wishes came true...what would you do?

Emma Davies lives a life very unfulfilling to her. She hates her job, her boss is a sexual predator and abusive. Her son is severely disabled, her daughter is a rebellious teenager and her husband is an unsuccessful writer, which causes Emma to have to be the family breadwinner. Her marriage is pretty much on the rocks.

Emma goes into a antique shop and finds a beautiful pendant she adores. The saleswoman knows what magical power the pendant has but doesn't say anything.

Emma first notices her new ability to wish away the things she doesn't like when, as her neighbor's dog continually barks through the night, she wishes that they had never gotten the dog. Suddenly no one recalls the puppy ever existing, except Emma.

I enjoyed the concept of this story and the moral decisions that Emma has to make. I really liked this book and I'm looking forward to reading more by Janis Thomas!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Janis Thomas's first book, "What Remains True" so I was very excited to read this one too.

I think every married person with teenagers often wishes at some point that things could change. While I was reading this book I kept thinking "oh my gosh, what if that happened to me?". Truly a remarkable read. I loved it.

As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

It took me ages to finish this book and even longer to actually commit to writing the review. Mostly, because All That's Left of Me wasn't exactly my cup of tea. Which isn't to say that it was a bad book--there was simply a bit of a disconnect when it came to my reactions to the novel itself. I found that I neither loved nor hated the book and that while the premise was intriguing, something about the execution of it just didn't fit.

Not my personal preferences, anyways. All That's Left of Me certainly will find an audience that adores it. It has an utterly mysterious air to it that will surely compel others. I do believe that. I am also going to say that it reminded me of a few other stories that I'd read in the past, only more... I want to say, rushed.

The pacing just wasn't right, especially towards the end of the novel. I wanted it to feel a bit more conclusive than it actually did. There was still a lot that I felt could have been done with it. Lacked potential, if you will. Janis Thomas' prose is not bad in the least, I just wished there was something more to the story that she was telling in All That's Left of Me.

Because the groundwork was all there. All there.

And at times, it was quite enjoyable and I didn't hate the characters.

Ultimately, it didn't keep my attention well enough and this just wasn't for me.

I loved the concept and the style is pleasant but I had a hard time with Emma: I just couldn't warm up to her, and for me, it would have been a necessity. She seems too ungrateful and dissatisfied, and that killed my instinctive urge to like her. The other characters are intriguing and complex, though, and the storyline is original, too.

Although as it turned out, the novel isn't really up my alley, I'd still recommend it to others. Maybe they can find what I've been missing.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the ARC. My opinion is my own.

I love this book ! It is fiction with the element of fantasy. Emma is disgusted with her awful life, she has a husband that won't work and is beyond cheap, a sick disabled kid and another teen that is awful. She hates her evil boss and her neighbors got a dog that barks constantly. She works full time and does all the housework and takes care of everything her lazy husband refuses to do. She is at her breaking point in her life. Her life is going no where and its getting worse day by day.

She goes into a antique shop and find a beautiful pendant she adores. The woman who sells her the pendant knew what it could do and that it is magic. The wishes you say out loud, they will come true ! When the first wish came true, she believes it was just coincidence. The neighbors dog disappears. Then she makes anther wish taking her down a dark path but the wishes are irresistible to her.

I loved the concept of the book and the moral decisions that Emma had to make. The wishes concept was intoxicating and she was swept up into changing her life . This book is entertaining and held my attention. it was a interesting transition for Emma to make the wishes to the moral choices she had to finally realize. I love it.
A good read !

Emma Davis's life is anything but easy. Her boss is horrible, her husband quit his job to be a full time author so money is terribly tight, her daughter is seeing a terrible boy, and her 15 year old son has cerebral palsy and needs full time care. Emma makes a wish that her next door neighbors didn't get their new puppy who barks constantly. When she wakes up, she realizes her neighbors never got Charlie. As Emma realizes her wishes are coming true, her life begins to drastically change and not all in good ways. I really enjoyed this book. Who hasn't thought about wishing away the bad things in their life? I loved the characters but Emma and Josh were my favorites. I truly sympathized with Emma. Life is hard and definitely takes a toll on you. But there are wonderful things in life as well as Emma learns. I received an advanced readers copy of this book from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing. All opinions are my own.

If wishes came true...what would you do? Herein lies the predicament of Emma Davies, who is struggling with the way her entire life has become a to-do list. Emma first notices her new ability to wish away the distasteful parts of her life when a stray thought crosses her mind as her neighbor's dog continually barks through the night. "I wish they never got that dog." Emma is baffled when her wish comes true and no one recalls the puppy, except for her.

Who hasn't imagined their life without certain troubles? Doesn't everyone toss out the phrase "I wish" on occasion? And if you knew it would work, what would you wish for?

As the wishes pile up, Emma's life brightens up. Her initial wishes are simple and certain problems just disappear, but as her wishes get bigger they come with repercussions. Emma battles with how far to take her wishes—that appalling boyfriend of her daughter? Her lack of connection to her husband? Her cruel boss? Her addict ex-husband? Her son's cerebral palsy? If Emma chooses to wish away any of these defining facets of her life, what will be left behind?

Janis Thomas does a wonderful job displaying Emma's inner struggles as she decides which wishes to make. Even so, I can't give this a full 5 stars because the two chapter resolution is at first completely odd, then maddeningly trite. I'll settle for 4.75 stars and wishing that Chapter 38 hadn't existed. (Strange, that wish didn't work.)

I really enjoyed Thomas's playful approach to this fantastical novel about ordinary life. A great read for those contemplating a mid-life crisis or anyone who's ever wondered if the grass is really greener on the other side.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

An entirely emotional and engrossing story of a "wishes come true" life without thinking of the ultimate cost. Discovering she has been given the power to change her life, the main character begins using her power without realizing wishes cannot be undone. Thought provoking and making the reader question whether what we think we want will ultimately create happiness. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book prior to publication--definitely a keeper!

When I requested this book, I thought I was getting a fun romance fiction novel. It turned out to be different. The writing flows pretty well, but it was an unexpected read.

A strange magical realism novel that had me captivated from the start. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys magical realism.

There's so much in All of That's Left of Me that works and sucks you in to a world where wishes coming true is possible, that it's hard to believe it was such a disappointing read for me.  (Maybe my hopes were set just a little too high???)

The story itself was compelling and it definitely keeps you interested enough to keep reading!

The supporting characters were great!

Emma's children are incredibly lovable, funny and realistic teenagers.  This is something I haven't found in adult novels lately (was starting to think most adult novelists have never met an actual teenager).  As the mother of two teenagers, it was refreshing to get "real" teens in this read.

I felt for Emma's husband throughout the novel.  She wasn't happy in her marriage, but it didn't seem to be through any real fault of his own.  Emma seems to still be pining away for her college boyfriend and I often wondered if he knew this on some level.  I was definitely rooting for him and found myself thinking "What the heck is wrong with you, Emma?  You've got a great man right there."  But that's the thing...

The whole book can be boiled down to Emma's dissatisfaction with her life.  She isn't thankful for a single piece of it.  Her children, her husband, her job, her clothes...she wants it all to be "better." Emma herself sums it up nicely:

...I had love. I had a husband, two children, each of them flawed, but no more so than I. Less flawed than I. But instead of accepting them for the gifts they were, instead of letting them in and allowing them to love me, I saw them as challenges to endure, hardships to survive, encumbrances that dragged me under. I wanted a life with no burdens, no conflicts, no struggles...

Unfortunately, not everything seemed to make sense to me.

For instance, supposedly all of Emma's wishes come true, but one of her first wishes is to be transported to another dimension without cerebral palsy.  There was no "rule" to say this wish couldn't happen, and would've actually been in line with some of her other wishes.  While this wasn't a huge killer for me, it definitely didn't help.

Her son has cerebral palsy and she translates for him all throughout the book.  I feel that this could have been handled a different way.  As it's written, it continuously pulled me out of the story even though I pretty much skipped the "Josh speak" for most of the novel.

Because of Emma's constant complaining and her insistence on continuing to make wishes, even after it's obvious every wish results in something negative, it was hard to ever make an emotional connection with her.  This was maybe my number one issue with this book. You spend the entire novel in someone's head that's not all that likable.

As I said above, the story itself is great and it's worth the read, it just wasn't as great as I had expected it to be.