Please Don't Lie (Crystal River, #1)

by Christina Baker Kline

Hayley had been in the depths of grief when her sister, Jenna, died two years ago back in Florida, where they grew up.

I can’t imagine losing my sister

Before the rumors that twenty-year-old Jenna, fueled by spite and opioids, set the fire that killed them.

Whoever made up that rumor is very cruel

you turn toward something you’re afraid of, you strip away its power.”

Facing our fears is how we overcome them

What you gain from life is shaped by your willingness to embrace what lies ahead.

It’s not about the past

Emily doesn’t seem to understand that when you’ve experienced as much turmoil as Hayley has, you seek peace. You crave solace. Even if you have to move to the top of a mountain to find it.

People grieve and process in different ways

matter how she tries to feel safe, she knows security is an illusion. A threat can come from anywhere, anytime.

Sad that no one and nothing can create a feeling of being safe

No matter how old you are when tragedy strikes, it can bring out the saddest, loneliest, most bitter parts of you, and it’s damn hard to tuck it all back in.

I know this to be true

The future is a blank canvas, waiting for me to paint it with my dreams.

It’s what we make of it

“Hope” is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all—

Poem

Except when they’re in bed, he seems perpetually short tempered. A creeping sense of abandonment has started to take root.

Red flag

“Please don’t lie.”

If you have to ask this of your husband, you need to reevaluate your relationship

Moving forward isn’t about leaving the past behind. It’s about threading the pain and strength, the doubt and wisdom, into the fabric of who she is becoming.

The past will always be a part of who we are. But it does not have to be the sole defining characteristic of who we are or become.