Fly Away (Firefly Lane, #2) in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 03, 2014 Kimberly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, publisher-sent, series, chick-lit, 2014-bookshelf

After reading Firefly Lane and being completely ripped apart emotionally by it I didn't think that Kristin Hannah could top it in terms of the brutally real characters and their dramatic lives. I am happy to say I was very wrong.

After the way Firefly Lane ended, it's no surprise that I went into this one a little frail, and more than a little apprehensive since it is no secret that Kate was my favourite character in Firefly Lane and I missed her in this one.

This one while I found it to be a gr After reading Firefly Lane and being completely ripped apart emotionally by it I didn't think that Kristin Hannah could top it in terms of the brutally real characters and their dramatic lives. I am happy to say I was very wrong.

After the way Firefly Lane ended, it's no surprise that I went into this one a little frail, and more than a little apprehensive since it is no secret that Kate was my favourite character in Firefly Lane and I missed her in this one.

This one while I found it to be a great example of how people can change was a little to dramatic for my tastes sometimes. Anyone who has read Firefly Lane knows that Tully is often very childlike. She's one of those it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission types, and I found that very annoying because of how she dealt with the loss of Kate. I understand everyone grieves differently but Tully didn't really grieve for so long, I just wish she had had a better handle on things because as an intelligent woman in her late 40s I was annoyed by her and how she tried to help Kate's family through the loss.

I hated how Tully tried to step into Kate's shoes in terms of trying to help Marah but being so wrapped up in herself that she failed to notice and care that Marah was slipping away, not only from her but from the rest of the world to because she didn't have a good support system in Tully because Tully was so ill equipped to even take care of herself in many ways.

Marah, what can I say about her? I pitied her. I never liked her. Not even in Firefly Lane. She was so self centered, selfish and horrible to everyone that I wished that she had died. Is that wrong to say? I just hated the fact that she turned out that way because of Tully always undermining Kate and her husbands parenting. She spoiled Marah so much as a child she created a monster, but didn't even realize it. I hated Marah's inability to take responsibility for her own life and stop acting like a brat. She was such a whiner I just wanted to reach into the book and strangle her. She had no right to make everyone else suffer, when if fact they were experiencing the same loss. I just hated her.

The strange thing is though, that despite by dislike for her, I still thought she was a great character. She was realistic to me because she reminds me of someone I know. I might not have liked her personality but I did like her character. She had many faults but she played a huge part in the novel and I enjoyed seeing her change in the story.

As for the plot of this one, I enjoyed it. The pace was good, although there were a few spots in the book that I felt added nothing to the overall story. I liked how this one was mainly focused on Tully whereas Firefly Lane was largely told by Kate (though Tully had a fair amount of the book to herself). Yes Marah, and her drama was a big part of this one but I liked that Tully, and her evolution as a character played such a big part. Certain aspects of her life changed by horrible circumstances, and relationships were lost, while others were made. I really got a sense of how everyone in the story was moving forward from the loss of Kate while still keeping her close to them.

Overall, Fly Away had all the drama, heartache and exceptionally written characters that Firefly Lane did, it was just written in a different tone, but one that I would say was appropriate. This was a more somber novel than the first but it still had those moments of brightness that I've come to look for in Hannah's writing and I'm very happy with the way this duology ended.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my free and honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are 100% my own. ...more

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Feb 09, 2014 Farhana Faruq rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

I've read quite a few books by Kristin and love them all, this one probably being my least favorite. The story starts getting interesting only after page 80, and before that I found every character annoying. I suppose once you learn each persons 'life-story' they aren't as annoying, but by then you don't really care what any of them have to say.

Lots of repetition, which means the book could have been half the number of pages. Just not the usual from Kristin unfortunately. ...more

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