Cover Image: Pivotal

Pivotal

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Member Reviews

Too many characters and it went boring when that happend. I hoped i would enjoy this because it sounded interesting, but it was meh.

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I was drawn to this book because of its focus on therapy and the lives of seemingly ordinary women that are full of depth and meaning, However, it’s also a mystery that begins when the lives of four apparently unconnected women receive the same bequest. Each woman then begins to reflect on their live, with the help of hypnotherapist Dr Hanlon. The chapters are short. with each focusing on one of the women and their examination of how they arrived at this place in life, but also how they feel about the paths they didn’t take, I found the women’s stories had incredible depth and I enjoyed thinking about what I might have asked or challenged had they been in therapy with me,
Towards the end the author brings in an unexpected twist that really made me think about what had gone before, and in a couple of cases made me go back and read a section to see how this twist challenged my own assumptions about these characters, Four great character studies here and a real meditation on the extraordinary lives of ordinary women.

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

The coverart is beautiful.
It was an interesting premise, but I found that there were too many characters.. too much going on to follow.. and ultimately it was just too difficult to keep track of everyone and their stories.

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Pivotal is not a quick read. There are many characters and it can be hard to keep track of them and their storylines. Interesting premise.

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Everything about this book was too contrived: the writing, the characters, the plot lines, the dialogue.... The first 20% I was painstakingly trying to remember and distinguish between the multitude of characters and by 40% I completely lost interest. This one wasn't for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers tor the ARC.

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The women in this book are given a choice of whether or not to attend a meeting with a solicitor where there are given the option to opt in or out of a legacy with unknown partners. This book was a bit confusing with so many characters and names to remember, I must admit I found that the middle of the book was drawn out quite a lot and it was a struggle to finish it. The ending section of the book was much better.

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This book was one I requested from Netgalley in a bit of a whim. It seemed like a book I might be interested in, but not one I was desperate to sink my teeth into.
In fact, for the first few chapters I thought I might have made a mistake... but once I kept reading I was glad I did! It gets a lot better. The characters were deep and well fleshed out. It was much more interesting than I thought. I loved how it made me think about every decision I had made in my life and how it had got me to where I am today - an awesome high point of reading this book is the questions it throws up!

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OMG! At first, I thought this book revolved around long-lost relatives that some grandmother/great aunt wanted to reunite, like they were from estranged branches of the same family. Learning about each of the women, their lives, their hearts, their personalities, their secrets, and their choices supported this theory. None of the women are mentioned as having met the others. All of the women save Annie were estranged from their families; all were betrayed in some unmentioned way. As I read, I discovered that their parents and siblings had the same names, but assumed this was a coincidence. Some families are like that. Pia emerged as a long-lost half-sister to one of the women. They have to accept a mysterious inheritance unconditionally based on conditions like opening a school of tango, using the money to renovate the house and then for the business, and agreeing to work with other beneficiaries without even knowing who they are. Dulcie, Elizabeth, Annie, and Liza all decided to use hypnotherapy as a means to help them make their decision.

The book is beautifully written. The author clearly differentiates between each of the characters in her writing style, the characters voice, and their individual characterization. The mystery of the inheritance, their decisions, and if/when the women would finally meet each other really drove the story. The short chapters shifted between the four main characters regularly, introducing Pia in part 2, and kept the story from stagnating. I felt a little short-changed by the big reveal at the end of the book, but ultimately feel like the twist was worth it. I cannot stop thinking about this book!

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