Review: If We Make It Home by Christina Suzann Nelson

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About:

When four college friends graduated from the University of Northwest Oregon, their lives stretched before them, full of promise and vows to stay connected. But life has a way of derailing well-laid plans.

Now they haven't spoken in twenty-five years. But against all odds, three of them have found themselves back in the same place--at their alma mater, wondering how they got there. When they discover their fourth friend, Hope, has died, Jenna, Ireland, and Vicky decide to embark on a wilderness adventure to honor her memory--and for secret reasons of their own. Jenna wants to show her husband that she's more than a helpless, overweight, middle-aged empty nester. Ireland wants to get back to the nature she loves and hide from the charges being pressed against her. And Vicky wants to show she cares for something besides her ministry--and put off the disaster waiting at home for as long as possible.

They never bargained for the dangers they face in an unforgiving wilderness. Now they'll have to work together if they hope to make it home alive. While the three women fight to survive the elements, their toughest battles may be with themselves. 

My Thoughts:

If We Make It Home is quite a stark title for a novel that really grabs you and will not let you go. Not only from the harrowing adventure these friends find themselves in the midst of, but also all of the crazy, heavy emotions that comes with each of their stories.

Four college friends all embark on their life’s adventure and 25 years later come back for an impromptu reunion when they find out their college sorority house is set to close its doors for good. What three don’t know is that Hope, one of the four (the glue of the group) has passed away. Not only reeling from that shocking news, each of the others is going through life crises’ of their own.

The narrative is told by each of the surviving friends: Ireland, Victoria, and Jenna.  All are heartbreaking and life changing in significant ways and I found myself even relating to a few of their issues. None of them have felt their lives have turned out the way they had hoped and dreamed, and so each of them have different reasons, points to prove, as one by one they all set out on a survival hike/journey for about a week in the Oregon wilderness.

Wow. This was really pretty amazing storytelling, and even though I had to put the book down a few times to collect myself and/or to get over a shocking revelation- I could not keep it put down for long. This would be great on the big screen.

I received a copy of this book for free. I was not required to post a positive review and all the views and opinions are my own.