Review: Powerful and Realistic
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2014
Sam's Story: Book One is a novel that is going to stick with me for a very long time.  Chronicling several years in the life of the protagonist Samantha Skylar, the book touched on several topics that are, sad, uncomfortable, and (unfortunately) very easy for most young women to empathize with.  From the first chapter the author is able to captivate the reader by introducing Samantha (Sam), her strong grandmother, and her troubled family.What struck a cord with me were the descriptions of Boone County, West Virginia  and Atlanta, Georgia.  I have am extremely familiar with both places (I lived in Virginia for years and currently live in Georgia) and the author perfectly recreated the feel of both places.  The descriptions of West Virginia were particularly poignant since they (in my opinion at least) help the reader relate to Sam's fears of being stuck in Boone County forever and how those fears contributed to the decisions that ultimately led to a 14 year old being forced to grow up too quickly.  Even though the story takes place in the 1970s, I feel the motivations are still incredibly relevant and make the story refreshingly realistic.There are several plot twists that kept me flipping pages well into the night, and even if the author had chosen not to include any plot twists in the story at all I would have kept reading.  The characters were just that engaging and the overall story was very solid and clearly written.  While this book did tear at my heart more than I am used to, I do plan to finish the trilogy and will be recommending this book to just about everyone I know.