Thanks to #partner @williammorrowbooks and @netgalley for the digital ARC of Alison Hammer’s Little Pieces of Me in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on Tuesday, April 13.

Little Pieces of Me was my first book by Alison Hammer, and I’m eager to read more. This is a book with a catchy premise; real, flawed, human characters; and a back-and-forth structure that worked beautifully for me.

Paige Meyer is a 43-year-old woman with a lot going on. She’s engaged for the first time to Jeff, a kind man who is so, so supportive. She’s recently unemployed, with no real job prospects. She’s still grieving her father, the parent with whom she connected most. And she’s maintaining, with some difficulty, her distant relationship with her mom, Elizabeth. (One telling detail: Paige’s best friends are Margaux and Maks, and Maks has programmed the theme song from Jaws as Paige’s ringtone any time her mom calls.)

And then all of these things fade into the background when Paige gets a strange email. She had done a DNA test a while back when her company was working through its marketing campaign, and she periodically gets emails urging her to try new services or meet new, distant relatives. But this message? It says her father has entered the database, but she knows that can’t be the case. Until she finds out that it is.

Her mother is typically reticent to share anything, but she says enough for Paige to know that the company has not made a mistake: her dad, the man who raised her, the parent who always made her special, was not her biological father. She sets out to discover more.

Hammer tells Paige’s story in two timelines: one focuses on Paige herself, and one flashes back to 1975 when Elizabeth and Mark (Paige’s dad) were in college. They’re a couple in love until Elizabeth (Betsy, then) realizes that she wants more. She breaks up with Mark and takes a chance with a different man, Andy Adams, who has some secrets of his own.

I absolutely loved this novel, the gradual unveiling of characters’ layers, the empathetic portrait of their mistakes and flaws, the small generosities that make such a difference. I loved Paige’s friends, who are quirky and sweet and nuanced. I loved Jeff, who seems almost too good to be true but isn’t. I loved Paige’s family: her younger twin sisters (who at first seem really horrible) and, above all, her mom, who we come to understand.

I read this as a buddy read with @letstalkbookspromo, and I had SUCH a hard time putting this down for our discussion break in the middle. This is a compelling novel that balances character with plot and that explores the inevitable impact of this type of knowledge on our lives. Pick up Little Pieces of Me, and then join me in picking up Alison Hammer’s first book, You and Me and Us. I can’t wait!

Moving story regarding the discovery through DNA testing by the main character Paige that her beloved deceased Dad is not her biological father. The novel explores the present time with Paige's difficulties in dealing with this truth, as well as her always awkward relationship with her Mom. In addition, the past is revisited in telling Paige's mother's college experience and the events leading up to Paige's conception and birth. I thought the book did a great job of relaying the feelings of the main characters as well as the often complicated family dynamics. I did think that Paige's age and that of her younger sisters did not quite mesh with their characters. I would have guessed Paige to be in her early thirties and her twin sisters in their twenties based on their actions and maturity levels. Paige was understandably upset with the perceived lack of closeness with her Mom and inability to engage her in emotional conversations regarding her origins. However she seemed angry at her Mom about withholding the truth about her real father when her Mom was just protecting the relationship with the father who raised her. While the relationship between Paige and her Mom was resolved and the ending was happy, I thought that the main character was a bit immature. The exploration of the different "pieces" that contribute to one's life and character is quite effective

I have used Ancestry.com to have my DNA background analyzed with very boring results. However, this is the second book I have read recently where family secrets have been revealed through DNA testing and it sure makes for an intriguing story!

Paige Meyer believes a mistake has been made when she receives her DNA testing results. How could it be that the man she loved as her father was not her genetic match? As Paige grieves the father that died in real life, she is traumatized to learn she may not have lost her true father after all.

This story told in dual timelines was a hit with me. I love anything 70's, family drama, and charater driven plots.

"The only blank pages in your life story are the ones yet to be written"

Paige Meyer's life is turned upside down when she receives an email from a DNA testing site that she has a new connection. The email claims the new connection is her father. A man she never met. Back in 1975, Besty Kaplan was a sophomore at a college in Kansas. After a disappointing birthday with her boyfriend she makes a mistake and spends the night with Andy Abrams who is hiding his own secret. Paige is desperate for answers and when she can't get them from her mother she goes to the only other person that was there that night.

Little Pieces of Me is told in dual timelines and multiple points of view. We spend time in the past with both Andy and Besty during their time in college as well as current time with Paige. I found the characters to be relatable, raw and real. I also found the story to be cute and fresh, a new way to do the "I didn't know about my biological dad" storyline. For the most part I enjoyed the story but sometimes I found the main character, Paige, to be younger than she actually was. At times she seems a little immature and not a woman in her early 40's. Certain parts of the story were a little underdeveloped. There were several chapters where one of Paige's sisters, Florence (who is also a twin) comes to visit which I guess is not something she would normally do without her twin sister, but then that storyline doesn't continue much more beyond that. I loved the overall message of the story that we are defined not just by our DNA but life experiences. I find myself wondering if the author was trying to add another layer to that overall message by adding in the Florence piece, (doing things without her twin sister). Overall a cute quick read.

Having written my own novel, A MILLION REASONS WHY, about surprise DNA test results that link two strangers as half-sisters, I was interested to see how Alison Hammer handled her own very different take on a similar premise. In LITTLE PIECES OF ME, a woman who is already at a crossroads of sorts—planning her wedding as a 40-something bride, grieving her father's sudden death, and grappling with unemployment—is thrown further off balance with the revelation that her much-loved (and much-missed) dad was not her biological father at all. Dual timelines show us her mother's point of view decades before as we gradually unravel the real story of secrets kept and lives forever changed. The result is a moving, easy-to-read story of coming to terms with identity and healing. I especially loved the supporting cast: Good lifelong friends, a new "DNA dad," and a fiance worth waiting for.

Little Pieces of Me is another heartfelt novel by Alison Hammer. Although I didn't have quite the amount of tears that I did with her last book, this one still manages to tug at your heartstrings. It's about family and relationships and the philosophical question of "What is it that makes you, you?"

Thank you to William Morrow Paperbacks, Let's Talk Books, and Netgalley for the electronic advanced readers copy.

This story was beautiful, precious, and filled with powerful insight.

Most people, at one point or another, end up questioning their identity. Who am I? How did I become the person I am? How much of who am I is based on genetics and how much is based on the choices I’ve made?

Hammer paints a beautiful story of a woman in her early forties who is hit with unexpected news, rocking the foundation of everything she thought made her who she was.

I loved this story. Honestly, it was a 5⭐️ read for me – except that after the entire story unraveled with a focus on revealing years of hidden secrets, some secrets still remain at the end, and part of me wanted all of them to come out to more than just the reader.

🅱🆁🅸🅴🅵 🆂🆈🅽🅾🅿🆂🅸🆂
𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙋𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙚 navigates back and forth between Paige’s present-time life as she prepares for her wedding, navigates a rocky relationship with her family, and mourns her father’s passing – and Betsy’s (Paige’s mother) college years and the events that led up to Paige’s conception.

Once Paige receives a message from a DNA test company, she discovers that the dad she’s known her entire life isn’t her biological father. With her mother denying it, and her DNA dad saying it’s not likely, she’s at a loss for answers while she grapples for the truth.

Searching for answers comes with more heartache and emotions than she bargained for, though. That being said, sometimes discovering lost family is worth the struggle.

But remember: it’s not your past that’s important but rather where you’re going that’s matters most.

Wow, what a story and so aptly named, "Little pieces of me". Who are your people? This story takes place in the present and in the past (70s). Thinking about the 70s and what the situations were that unfolded and how all the key players handled their lives. Betsy in college (Elizabeth as a wife/mother) her bestfriend Sissy, her husband Mark Meyer, her crush Andy Andrews. Paige (Elizabeth's eldest daughter), Jeff her fiance, Maks her gay male bestfriend, Margaux her best friend. Paige has red hair and blue eyes and doesn't look like any of her family and wonders who she resembles in her family tree as she doesn't see it with her immediate family. Her relationship with her mother is non-existent and strained at all times. Paige and her dad have a great relationship and he recently past away. Paige registered with a DNA ancestry website a while back for free from a job story and gets a ping from the site about a family match. What unfolds is sad, great and unlocks truths about Elizabeth, Paige's mom that she couldn't even fathom. Felt sorry for Mark Meyer and how Betsy treated him until she learned to love him. Still can't believe that Betsy never told Sissy and Sissy didn't figure it out looking at Paige. I have to think that Mark Meyer knew and still didn't care he just loved Betsy so much.

Through a DNA test Paige discovers that her beloved, recently deceased father is not her biological father. With the help of her friends Max and Margaux and her fiancé Jeff, she gradually uncovers the truth of her past. The novel follows two timelines: the present day, recounted by Paige and 1975, related by her mother and fellow college student Andy. Finally Paige learns why her relationship with her mother has always been strained. This moving story effectively deals with the true meaning of family and the revelation of truth and identity that had been hidden by family secrets.

I absolutely loved Little Pieces of Me by Alison Hammer. It’s a story about family connections, love, friendship and identity.

On a whim Paige Meyers, the daughter of Rebecca and Mark Meyers, decides to take a DNA test. Months later, Paige is contacted by the DNA testing company informing her of a match. A parent-child match. Suddenly at the age of 43, Paige no longer knows who she is. She feels betrayed by her mother, fiercely loyal to her departed father and uncertain about her identity. With the support of her two best friends and her devoted fiancé, Paige goes on a journey to uncover her mother’s past and try to put her own life and identity back together again.

Such a beautiful heart warming story. This is my first time reading a book by Alison Hammer and I can’t wait to read more. Thank you to Bradeigh Godfrey and Harper Collins for my gifted copy. Make sure you check out Little Pieces of me on publishing day April 13, 2021!

A great family drama and mystery about Paige, a 43 year old woman who has gone through a lot and has a great story to tell. She is mourning the recent death of her father, planning her wedding and looking for a job when she receives an email from a DNA testing site that tells her her father is not who she thought he was. When both her mother and proposed father deny this, she decides to investigate further and look into those niggling questions in her mind about why she had such a strained relationship with her mother and never quite fit into her family. The story is told in both the current timeline and the time around her conception and birth, to show her own journey to find out what happened, her relationship with her mother, and what her parents went through when they were young. Alison Hammer's writing is beautiful and engrossing, the characters and their relationships developed so naturally that if you told me this was a true story I would have believed it! It touches on a lot of important issues around identity and parent child relationships and by the end of the story I could really feel for all of them and understand why they made the choices they did.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Paiges life is flipped upside down when she finds out her dad isn’t who she thinks he is.

A few years after her dad, Mark, dies, Paige receives an email from a DNA testing website that tells her they’ve matched her with her father. Except, they say her father is Andy Abrams.

Little Pieces of me is told in dual timelines, “now” where we follow Paige and her experience trying to find out who she really is. And “then” where we learn about her mom, Betsy, and what led to her pregnancy.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a really good story about figuring out what matters in life, finding out who you are, and balancing what can sometimes be a very difficult relationship with your parent(s).

Thanks to NetGalley, Alison Hammer, and William Morrow for the eArc in exchange for my honest review!

Where do I begin?! While this is a family drama, it is combined with personal acceptance, which takes place on so many levels for many of the characters.

Brief Synopsis: When Paige Meyer gets an email from a DNA testing website announcing that her father is a man she’s never met before, she’s convinced there must be a mistake. As she digs deeper into her mother’s past, however, Paige begins to question everything she thought she knew.

Paige is such a genuine character. She is written with such believable personality traits. Her support system, her two best friends, Margaux and Maks, is hilarious, while focusing on keeping Paige’s best interest at heart, even if Paige may not always agree. The story is written in a dual timeline, flipping between 𝗡𝗼𝘄 and 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻, which works perfectly, especially since I found myself peeking in each section to see which time was coming next because I had to find out what was going to happen!!

When I finished the book and began reading the 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 section, I learned that the story is inspired by something similar that happened to a friend. I find that that makes the novel even more captivating!! I also thought it was cool that Hammer sprinkled places that are a part of her own life, such as the Creative Circus, into the storyline.

This was not the typical woman joins DNA registry, woman finds lost relatives, and they all lived happily ever after (except they seemed pretty happy at the end.)

Paige, 43 (a little older than I expected for this story, but hey) starts an account with FamilyTree.com, does the swab, submits it, and moves on. She wasn’t really interested in learning about her genetic makeup or discovering relatives she doesn’t know. The account was a perk for her job at an advertising firm, research, nothing serious.

So Paige is dumbfounded when she receives an email from FamilyTree.com alerting her that someone new to their database is her father. Which completely throws her because her father has died, and she is still in mourning.

Yet all of her life she has felt as though she doesn’t belong to her family. She looks different. Her mother is strangely aloof. Some things don’t add up. She has to know: Has her mother been lying to her all of her life? Was her dad not her dad? If not, who is? And what happened between him and her mother?

As Paige explores these possibilities with the help of her friends Maks and Margaux, and her fiancé, Jeff, we’re entertained with their antics, banter, and dedication to Paige (these are some great friends.)

This is a fun, funny read.

Recommended for readers who like quick reads, a little mystery, and an emotional conundrum.

This book is my favorite read so far in 2021! There was so much to love about it.  It's a story of self discovery and identity, interesting and often tense mother-daughter dynamics, family, friendship, an upcoming wedding and an unexpected DNA match which ended up bringing out secrets that had been hidden for many years from many people. I really enjoyed the dual timelines and different perspectives and the interesting twists made it almost impossible to put down. Overall I found this book to be heartbreaking but hopeful and I highly recommend it!

4.0 stars

I received a copy of Little Pieces of Me from NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank NetGalley, William Morrow, and Alison Hammer for the opportunity to read this book.

YOWZA!!

This book is everything that the new technology of DNA testing brings to the surface. What if you find out that who you thought was your dad wasn't your biological dad? It is a pretty accurate description of what really happens!

Plus, I loved that the family was Jewish so I learned so much more about the culture which was interesting and helpful with my worldview.

This book has helped me get out of my "book funk" during the end of this pandemic. Ironically, I went to bed early due to my first COVID shot and devoured the last third of this book!!

DEFINITE recommend!! 4.0 stars

I love a good family drama, and Little Pieces of Me fit the bill! Thank you to William Morrow & Custom House for providing a NetGalley ARC through the #BLCVIPBookClub giveaway!

Paige Meyer had a special bond with her father Mark, and she's feeling a bit adrift after his death. She's never been able to connect with her mother Elizabeth the same way, and when Paige gets a message from a DNA testing service, family secrets threaten to destroy their already fragile relationship. It turns out that Mark wasn't her biological father after all - that man is Andy Abrams, a college classmate of her parents. In dual timelines, we learn the true story behind Paige's parentage and see how Paige comes to terms with this bombshell.

DNA testing is a really popular topic for a novel, but I loved how Hammer brought something really fresh here. Usually, the mysterious bio-father is a bit of a throwaway character - instead, we get a deep look at Andy and his struggles during college, as well as his work as an artist in the present day. I loved the story of Andy, Mark, and Elizabeth in college, and how one night changed the course of all their lives. This is a family drama, not a thriller, but there were some great plot twists that kept me guessing!

Paige was a great protagonist as well. Her unemployment and identity crisis mirror her mother's struggles. I loved how supportive her friends Margaux and Maks were in her journey to meet her bio dad. I got a little emotional towards the end - I was really rooting for Paige throughout the book! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes family dramas with a bit of mystery!

Review posted to Instagram and Goodreads 4/2/21.

I had just sent away my DNA sample to one of those testing places when I received this book. The story is contemporary and I believe many people will be able to relate to the characters and the conflict. Modern technology is wonderful until it turns your world upside down. Such happens to Paige when she sends her DNA sample in and discovers the man she has always called Dad is not in fact her biological dad. Because Paige and her mother, Elizabeth, do not have a good relationship, the mother will not answer any of Paige’s questions.
What to do? Fortunately, Paige has good friends and a sympathetic fiancé to help her navigate this life-altering development.
Dual timelines show us the young Elizabeth in college making conflicting decisions. Then we see how these decisions have an impact on Paige and on herself. The lies told from those actions don’t stay buried when the DNA results are confirmed.
Little Pieces of Me moves smoothly and quickly from one timeline to another. I felt the emotions of the primary characters and asked myself several times What would I do? in this situation. I am extremely glad I read Little Pieces of Me and would recommend it.
I want to thank #williammorrow #earlyreadsprogram #littlepiecesofme and #netgalley for and advanced copy of this marvelous book. @thishammer

Such a heartfelt read! Hammer ripped my heart out with her debut novel last year, and while this one didn’t do that to me this time she did make for a great story.

I honestly have no idea what I’d have done in this situation. Daddy’s girl finds out through a DNA test who her biological father is, and it’s not her beloved dad who raised her. We go along through her journey of how she copes, what she does and how she handles it.

It also is a duel timeline going back and forth to when and how her dad and biological father met and how she was conceived.

All in all it was a great, quick read! Can’t wait to continue getting more books from Hammer!

Looking for your next book club selection? You've found it! This novel will spark many great discussions about family, self-identity and the role of technology (specifically genetic testing) in society today. When the main character, Paige, receives an email from a genetic testing company linking her to a mysterious 'father', her world is upended. Everything she thought she knew about herself is unraveled by the email. Who is this mysterious DNA father? What secrets has her mother withheld all of Paige's life? The story is told from dual timelines of Paige and her mother. An interesting read with lots of meaty issues for discussion!