DISCLAIMER: Everything Happens for a Reason was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Random Things Tours for having me on the tour.
Summary
Armed with one broken heart and a (borrowed) sausage dog, Rachel is on a mission to find out why her baby was born sleeping.
Because Everything Happens for a Reason…
Doesn’t it?
Mum-to-be Rachel did everything right, but it all went wrong. Her son, Luke, was stillborn and she finds herself on maternity leave without a baby, trying to make sense of her loss.
When a misguided well-wisher tells her that ‘everything happens for a reason’, she becomes obsessed with finding that reason, driven by grief and convinced that she is somehow to blame. She remembers that on the day she discovered her pregnancy, she’d stopped a man from jumping in front of a train, and she’s now certain that saving his life cost her the life of her son.
Desperate to find him, she enlists an unlikely ally in Lola, an Underground worker, and Lola’s seven-year-old daughter, and eventually tracks him down, with completely unexpected results…
Review
Everything Happens for a Reason follows Rachel as she grapples with her grief over losing her baby boy, Luke. It’s a heartbreaking and yet, at times, humorous read.
Rachel should have been returning home with a beautiful baby boy. Instead, she returned with empty arms and a heavy heart and every room reminds her of what she’d lost. Her grief is so fresh that it permeates everything she says or types (in this case). It really is heart-wrenching to read every anecdote she sends to her baby, her every thought is completely consumed by him. She’s still following the growth charts to say what he would be like now had he survived. I found that incredibly sad to read and felt so much sympathy for what she was going through. At this point in time I, thankfully, can’t relate to her story of stillbirth and hope I never have to.
The phrase ‘Everything Happens for a Reason’ becomes Rachel’s crutch because she believes there has to be a reason why her baby didn’t survive. When the sad truth is that he was ‘perfectly healthy’ and there was no medical reason for what happened. She’s convinced that the man she stopped from taking his own life is the reason she lost her baby. This search for a truth that doesn’t exist just shows the depth of the pain she’s in.
I thought this book was beautifully written and it really pulls at the heartstrings. You’re rooting for Rachel to feel better and it’s not a terribly sad book regardless of the main theme. There are many moments of dark humour, sarcasm, and wittiness that make it an enjoyable read.
I highly recommend Everything Happens for a Reason and rate it 4.5/5 stars.
