Book Review – Mandi Castle’s Dear Stephanie

May 11, 2015 Off By Lisa

I’m expanding my horizons.

I honestly don’t read much contemporary fiction. But maybe I have to stop saying that.

Given the opportunity to read an advance copy of Mandi Castle’s Dear Stephanie, I jumped at it. I read Dear Stephanie in two sittings – and that was only because I had to sleep. I can’t pull an all-nighter with a book like I used to.

But for those who can, I promise you will. I devoured every delicious word.

dear-stephanie

The story is a literary delight for the reader in much the same way as a pâtisserie is for the dessert lover. It is tightly woven, surprising, and positively scrumptious. With each turn of the page, Castle’s words fly straight from the page to penetrate the heart and mind of the reader in ways that may surprise and even shock you. I fear I will reveal too much by telling even a little.

So I’ll move instead to my favorite part of this novel – our heroine.

Paige Preston is everything I hope my daughter will never be. She’s spoiled, manufactured, and far too beautiful. She is promiscuous and unscrupulous. She is egocentric. She has great difficulty loving, trusting, and managing successful relationships. She’s depressed and potentially suicidal. She’s a hot mess.

At first, I hated her. Castle’s descriptions of Paige and her behavior had me positively disgusted at one or two points. But just as a mother would love her troubled child, I found myself terribly in love with Paige. I wanted to help her, to teach her, to see her succeed. As the tale unwound, I encouraged, warned, and cheered her on. Paige made me laugh and cry. At one point, I had to step away from the book and go to sleep because it was just…too much.

Castle creates a character who is so substantive, so engaging, that you can’t help but be drawn to her, despite her many flaws and violent demons. You will find yourself breathless several times throughout the tale, right up to the very last unbelievable word.

I’ve heard some rumblings that readers may or may not have been dissatisfied with Castle’s choice for the ending. I disagree. I thought it was perfect. I won’t give out spoilers but I think I’m safe enough to say the ending clearly illustrates how choices bear consequence. Some are negative. Some are positive. Paige’s story urges readers to always hope and to always choose with consequence in mind.

Mandi Castle’s Dear Stephanie is officially available on Amazon today! Go get your copy right now and get reading!

dear-stephanie

CategoryLife
Tagsbook reviews books reading writing

About The Author

Lisa A. Listwa is a self-employed writer with experience in education, publishing, and the martial arts. Believing there was more to life than punching someone else’s time clock and inspired by the words of Henry David Thoreau, she traded her life as a high school educator for a life as a writer and hasn’t looked back. She is mother to one glorious handful of a daughter, wife to the nicest guy on the planet, and reluctant but devoted owner of three Rotten Cats. You can find her adventures and thoughts on living life deliberately here on the blog.

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