No Ordinary Life

 

I liked this. It was a perfectly enjoyable read, and I would definitely read other books by this author - I just didn't love it. I think the focus of the story was one I didn't particularly connect to. It's the story of Faye, a struggling mom of three young kids, recently abandoned by her husband, Sean, and what happens when the youngest, Molly, a precociously talented 4-year old is discovered via a viral YouTube video and lands a role on a hit TV show. To be clear, the video wasn't planned - it was caught by bystanders who happened to be present for the impromptu moment, so her discovery as a new talent comes as a complete surprise to her, and her mother and siblings, Tom and Emily, who have no experience with the life they're about to be thrust into.

What happens when a mom is no longer just mom, but a manager on the payroll? What happens when a dad who's abandoned his family finds out there's something to be gained by re-entering their lives? What happens to the siblings of a famous child? What happens when a parent no longer holds the power over their child's life? What follows is probably a fair attempt at illustrating how destructive that life in the spotlight can be, not only to a child, but to the whole family. It also illustrates how fame and the security of wealth can distort a person's values and decision-making, leading to rationalizations for choices they might previously have never made. As a parent, the stuff in this book made me want to scream naughty words at many of the "adults".

It felt just a tad Lifetime movie-ish, with the drama and requisite romance, but there were a number of interesting characters with their own fascinating backstories, and the author did a good job at keeping you unsure of which ones could be trusted or what their motivations were. I will add one small annoyance in closing: whatever childish speech pattern the author was trying to create for Molly with her repetitive use of the letter "w" randomly placed in words (ex. "wlike", "fowrever", "scawred", "commewrcial") was more distracting than cute, but whatever. I get the intent.

★★★ ½