2024 the best books of 2023 review

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A poignant and tender story of love, loss, passion, and the fragile threads that bind families together from the author of The Nightingale.

“A beautifully simple, deeply compassionate story.”—Diana Gabaldon

Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school abroad. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Alone in the house that is no longer a home, Annie comes to the painful realization that for years she has been slowly disappearing. Lonely and afraid, she retreats to Mystic, the small Washington town where she grew up, hoping that there she can reclaim the woman she once was—the woman she is now desperate to become again.

In Mystic, she is reunited with her first love, Nick Delacroix, a recent widower unable to cope with his grieving, too-silent six-year-old daughter, Izzie. Together, the three of them begin to heal, and, at last, Annie learns that she can love without losing herself. But just when she has found a second chance at happiness, her life is turned upside down again, and Annie must make a choice no woman should have to make. . . .

Praise for On Mystic Lake

“Marvelous . . . a touching love story . . . You know a book is a winner when you devour it in one evening and hope there’s a sequel. . . . This page-turner has enough twists and turns to keep the reader up until the wee hours of the morning.”—USA Today

“Superb . . . I’ll heartily recommend On Mystic Lake to any woman . . . who demands that a story leave her in a satisfied glow.”—The Washington Post Book World

“A luminescent story . . . Kristin Hannah touches the deepest, most tender corners of our hearts.”—Tami Hoag

“Excellent . . . On Mystic Lake is an emotional experience you won’t soon forget.”—Rocky Mountain News

“Propels readers forward to the final chapter.”—The Seattle Times

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Publishing Group; Reprint edition (April 27, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0345471172
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0345471178
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.15 x 0.99 x 7.99 inches
Reviewer: Sandra Marie
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: a good read and a happy ending
Review: I liked the "coming home theme" and how things worked out in the end. I liked the main character, too.Looking forward to reading more of the author's work.

Reviewer: Payton Stone
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Read this book!
Review: My Overall ThoughtsThis was the first book by Kristin Hannah that I have ever read. I’ve heard many great things about her over the years, just never got around to reading any of her books personally. I think On Mystic Lake was the perfect book to start with because it was definitely a great read, but it didn’t set the bar to exceedingly high. I don’t know about other readers, but I don’t want the first book I read by an author to be the absolute best one they’ve ever written because then all their other books just don’t seem as good and may cause me to lose interest. If that makes any sense. That being said, the book still exceeded my expectations!Please bear in mind as you read this review that I read this book about a month ago so I’m trying to refresh myself using my tweets and other things to bring back the emotions.On another side note, it’s been super hard to write this review without any spoilers.ProsDuring the first part of this book, I didn’t feel a strong connection to any of the characters– which is unusual for me because I typically get very attached to characters fairly quickly. However once the second part of the book started I sympathized with Annie so much it was unreal. The predicament she found herself in really struck a nerve with me and I felt my heart breaking for her. In the second part of the book, readers are also introduced to Nick and Izzy whom I fell attached to super quickly. They are the type of characters that you just can’t help loving. Along with this attachment to some characters came a strong dislike for others–the husband. I may be a little biased, but Blake is the typical man.I REALLY, REALLY LOVE the premise of this book. Mostly because I’ve found myself having to overcome this same struggle. Losing yourself in someone else (a relationship/marriage) and having to rediscover what makes you YOU after that part is ripped away from you. It’s amazing to watch (read) Annie blossom into her own person and find out things about herself that she never knew. I really like the person she turns out to be.However, in the end Annie does rip my heart out. The emotion that Kristin Hannah was able to draw out of me is truly amazing. I was so invested in this book and I just knew how it was going to end. BOY WAS I WRONG!!ConsThere weren’t many downsides to this book that I could point out. The major one for me was that I was extremely dissatisfied with the ending of the novel. Not only because of the decisions Annie made, but because I was left with way too many questions and unresolved feelings. I definitely felt like there should have been a sequel to it and there’s not–which is very disappointing.One More ThingSo I couldn’t figure out if this would be considered a pro or a con. I thought long and hard about it and decided to give it it’s own heading.Annie’s decisions. In the end, these were my biggest frustrations and it’s so hard to talk about without giving any details of the book away. My biggest thing is that Annie made so much progress on finding herself and what makes her HER and it just didn’t stick. I completely did NOT agree with her decisions. But the great thing about it was that it was thought provoking. I found myself thinking were the decisions she made realistic? To be honest, I would like to say they weren’t realistic at all– that people don’t actually make those same decisions. And that’s where I had to stop myself. I came to the realization that those same decisions are made every day by women in her same situation and its unfortunate because I felt like Annie definitely made the wrong decision. BUT, who am I to say or to judge?The book was seriously AMAZING! Check it out and share your thoughts with me!

Reviewer: Celina Sherman
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Book! Must Read!
Review: Wonderfully written! Had me in tears! Never read a book by this author before! Can't wait to read more by her! Great character development! I don't read books more than once but I would read this book again!

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent read
Review: One of the best new books I have read in a long time. So glad I discovered Kristin Hannah !! She is a fabulous author!!!

Reviewer: Mimi
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Decent story, not great
Review: 3 Stars, good story, not great. Based on the first part of the book, I thought it was going to be really cheesy and shallow — I was wrong. I got tired of the Malibu and Beverly Hills lifestyle with Cadillacs, Waterford and Baccarat crystal, silk blouses and Louis Vuitton luggage. But it was representative a rich lawyer’s family living in Malibu. Once Annie got to Mystic Lake, after learning her husband wanted a divorce, the story got more interesting, and the characters had more depth. I was moved by the storyline of Annie, Nick and Izzie all losing their mothers at a young age and how the author dealt with those profound losses. Annie’s compassion and understanding of Izzy was simply beautiful. The author also explored grief, children of alcoholics, homelessness, alcoholism and losing one’s identity after 20 years of marriage. I loved the daughter Natalie. She was very aware of the flaws in her parent’s marriage. I found the ending a little too hard to believe. SPOILER ALERT. Who drives from Malibu to Stanford with a newborn baby with no toothbrush, change of clothes or baby supplies? And, then decides to turn left/north on the #5 instead of going back home? A little too far fetched for me.There was an issue in the Kindle edition with transitions between events the text. I would be in one paragraph and suddenly, the next paragraph was in a totally different time, place or from a different point of view. It was rather confusing. The book was published in 1999 so the conversion from a paper to an electronic edition should have been better. It is a small detail. Overall, a good story, somewhat predicable but definitely a triumph in dealing with life issues.

Reviewer: Bettyjoan duncan
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: on Mystic Pond
Review: Don’t like profanity it was very explicit but good story

Reviewer: Jjspina
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An emotional and heartfelt read!
Review: I didn’t remember I had previously read this book in 2014. It had a different cover. Here is my review from 10/6/24.On Mystic Lake was an emotional and heartfelt read with characters that were flawed and real. The main character, Annie Bourne Colwater, is living in a one-sided marriage. Her selfish and self-absorbed husband doesn’t know how to love her or their daughter. He thinks only of himself.Annie realizes that she has wasted twenty years with Blake when he announces one day that he is in love with another and wants a divorce. Annie is forced to reevaluate her life and take a break away from him with a visit to her father and her hometown. She hears that her former best friend is in need and she rushes to help him with his young daughter. What she finds is not only a sweet child who is suffering from the loss of her mother but a man in dire need of help when he drowns his sorrow in drink.I felt my heart breaking for Annie who wants only to be loved and for the little girl, Izzy, who needs her father to love her again. It was tough watching these characters and what they had to go through to find love and peace in their lives.I didn’t want this story to end and wanted to know more about these memorable characters and what they would do next. I think this should have another book to continue the story. I highly recommend this book from this talented author.

Reviewer: P Gorospe
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The novel that will inspire a women that after a heartbreak you can find self-discovery, personal growth, change and can love again.

Reviewer: AnneB
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Story told thousands of times: trusting wife betrayed, feels devastated, then realize that there has been something missing from her life for quite a while, reunites with an old boyfriend (himself heartbroken by his wife's death), falls in love with him and with his little daughter, discovers that she is pregnant by her wandering husband, who realizes that he had made a mistake, duty, blabla bla bla bla. Everyone is beautiful, deep and clever, etc. I had to skip some parts as the descriptions were repetitive and getting boring.Chick litt summer read

Reviewer: mlambert
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Lovely book, great writer.People should write at least one book to see.

Reviewer: Alice31
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Es de esos libros que dejan poso y te quedas pensando en los personajes durante días. Me gusta mucho esta autora.

Reviewer: rosiek
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I have read a number of Kirsten Hannah books and have enjoyed every one of them, this one included. Kirsten always captures your interest from the beginning to the end. I look forward to another novel by this author.