Handle with Care by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Handle with Care by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

5 Stars

I went into this book with realistic expectations from other reviews I have seen and knowing exactly what I was getting - an intense action, women's fiction read with a suspenseful hostage situation plot. This was one of those books that pulled me in, immediately, and didn't let go. It was SUCH A FAST READ. I read this in 1 day! 

The audio narrator is fantastic, very much a good storyteller where it felt natural and emotionally involved with the tension of the plot. I listened to the first 40% and then read the e-book copy for the remaining portion, just because I was reading faster than I was listening in that "I need to know" feeling.

The majority of the book happens inside a post office, where a woman is working there...and she is covering while her co-workers have left briefly. Several other woman are there to mail something that each contain something important to their lives to get out to who they are mailing them to. In comes her husband, drunk and upset about the divorce papers he was just served to the girl working at the Post Office. She shuffles him outside and then he comes back in with a gun and holds the women up hostage inside the post office....

What stood out to me most was the character driven focus of this book. As the situation unfolds, we get layered glimpses into each woman's lives...their choices, relationships, struggles. You learn so much about each of the women and their stories while they are held hostage inside the post office that you really become invested in the whole group and situation. Those details added so much depth to the book.

This book reminds us of why reading fiction matters. It gives us empathy, compassion, understanding, puts us in someone else's shoes...and we learn from their experiences. 

I really connected with each character and their story. We really got to see what they were walking through each individually and each person came out changed from the experience. They will never be the same again after this and neither will I. 

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for a complimentary audio and e-book copy to read and listen to for review. All thoughts are my own.

Content/Trigger Warnings: Language: 4 D*mn, 2 a**, 1 BS, 4 B**ch. (I felt the language was minimal and situationally understandable but wanted to notate either way.) Mentioned of parental death by cancer and another parental death that was an accidental death, mention of possible dementia, domestic violence, hostage situation by gun, intense action, drinking

Amazon: https://amzn.to/42feYHR
Baker Book House: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/9781400345052_handle-with-care
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