A Scattered Life [book review]

SUMMARY

A Scattered Life, written by Karen McQuestion, tells the story of a woman named Skyla. Skyla is a former waitress turned housewife when she meets an older, but financially and emotionally stable man named Thomas Plinka. They meet, fall in love, yadda yadda yadda, get married, and have one child, Nora. 

One day, a new neighbor moves in a few houses down, and Skyla immediately forms a bond with Roxanne, who slightly resembles the woman in the shoe with too many children... and wanting more. While Roxanne's laid back parenting skills are less than par according to Thomas and his nosy mother-in-law, Skyla finds her antics unique and liberating. 

In order to gain a little more independence, Skyla takes a jack-of-all-trades job at a local bookstore, which also moonlights as a place for Madame to read fortunes during the day.

REVIEW

I found this book to be a little boring. The most interesting character in the book, in my opinion, is Roxanne, the neighbor. Of course, then there was the typical mother-in-law and daughter-in-law struggled relationship, which mirrored just about anything TV series with a know it all MIL. 

The whole theme of Skyla's self discovery was such a rip-off. She works in a book store, for gods sake. It's not like she went out for a girls weekend in Vegas. I don't know... maybe for some women, getting a part time job is a really big deal, but I was underwhelmed to say the least. 

There was some attempt at redemption near the end of the book, and while the character interactions and relationships between the three women (Skyla, Roxanne, and Audrey, the MIL) were definitely believable, they lacked depth. The story doesn't really pick up until the end, and by that time, I was over it. 

I really wanted to love this book. I'm all about women having independence from their family home lives, especially with such a control freak like Thomas for a husband. If I could sum up my feelings for this book in one word, it would be "meh." Nothing incredibly exciting happened... if anything, it was mostly sad and a little bleak even. 

I wouldn't say this book is terrible, but I wasn't impressed. I guess if you're looking for a feel good book about friendships and relationships, it might be a good read for you, but I like a little more action and suspense, personally.

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