Title: Remember My Beauties
Author: Lynne Hugo
Date finished: 4/12/16
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Switchgrass Books
Publication Date: April 18, 2016
Pages in book: 194
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE:I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
Blurb from the cover:
Imagine a hawk’s view of the magnificent bluegrass pastures of Kentucky horse country. Circle around the remnants of a breeding farm, four beautiful horses grazing just beyond the paddock. Inside the ramshackle house, a family is falling apart.
Hack, the patriarch breeder and trainer, is aged and blind, and his wife, Louetta, is confined by rheumatoid arthritis. Their daughter, Jewel, struggles to care for them and the horses while dealing with her own home and job—not to mention her lackluster second husband, Eddie, and Carley, her drug-addicted daughter. Many days, Jewel is only sure she loves the horses. But she holds it all together. Until her brother, Cal, shows up again. Jewel already has reason to hate Cal, and when he meets up with Carley, he throws the family into crisis—and gives Jewel reason to pick up a gun.
Every family has heartbreaks, failures, a black sheep or two. And some families end in tatters. But some stumble on the secret of survival: if the leader breaks down, others step up and step in. In this lyrical novel, when the inept, the addict, and the ex-con join to weave the family story back together, either the barn will burn to the ground or something bigger than any of them will emerge, shining with hope. Remember My Beauties grows large and wide as it reveals what may save us.
My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5
My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. Also, this book will count towards my “PopSugar 2016 Checklist” reading challenge, marking off the “a book that takes place during Summer” since this book mostly takes place during the summer, though the last quarter of the book is in October. This book is about Jewel and her family, including her daughter Carley, her husband Eddie, his children Chassie and Rocky, and her parents Louetta and Hack. I don’t even know where to start really because there was just so much going on in this less than 200 page book. There are a lot of drug problems in this family. Jewel’s sister and brother are both drug addicts and so is her daughter Carley. Jewel tries to help Carley as much as she can but she can’t ever seem to find a way to pull her out of the hole that she’s in. Also, Louetta and Hack are invalids and Jewel takes care of them as well. Her parents aren’t especially affectionate people so they don’t really say things like “I love you” or even “thank you” very much. Jewel takes care of her father’s horses too plus holds a full time job so she’s got a lot on her plate right now. It all seems to start going downhill when her mother asks her brother Cal to come stay at the family home with them. From there things unravel in a family drama that is both intense and very dark at times.
Overall I thought this was an interesting book. It is hard for me to say with books like this that I liked/loved the book because it deals with difficult subject matter and what the characters go through is really just heart-breaking. I have to say that I am one of those readers that my emotions get linked up with what I’m reading so this book was a difficult one for me to get through, it was very dark and I found my mood blackening the more I read. The ending was a little more towards healing and heart-warming but still the story line of this book really affected me. It was definitely an interesting book though and was a quick, fast-paced read. I didn’t want to put it down even though it was creating such a riot of emotions within me. The author did a great job of capturing the reader and I think the story overall was wonderfully written. The story switched between character points of view but the transitions were smooth for the most part and it was the best way for the reader to see all the inner-workings of the character’s actions. I especially loved the pieces that were from the horses point of view, it was really a creative move for the author to give the horses a voice.
The bottom line: This was a short read (only 194 pages) and it was definitely not dull at all. I recommend it with a precaution that it does get a little dark so if you get drawn into books emotionally this will be a tough one. Also have a box of tissues handy. Really a powerful story though and very moving.
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page
Rebeccabookreview 
Thank you so much for this fine review of Remember My Beauties, Rebecca. I’m honored that you chose it and appreciate your thoughtful review. You’re right that the novel deals with some tough subjects. Of course, life often does, too, and I think that sometimes readers turn to novels for the different perspective on the human condition that a good story can give us. In this particular novel, I’m hoping that readers get perspective on the healing power of animals and the surprising ways that people sometimes redeem themselves (after making a huge mess of things) and forgive each other. I’m so glad you found it a good story–and again, thank you so much for choosing Remember My Beauties to share with your own readers. Your blog is wonderful!
Thank you Lynne! The book definitely deals with some tough subjects but I think you did a great job handling and presenting them as an author. Thanks for visiting my blog and for your feedback on my review, I really appreciate it!!