*I received an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Mila has grown used to being alone. She's been in foster care since she was 13. Yet now she's aged out, so when offered a job on an isolated farm in California teaching other kids like herself, she accepts. It isn't til she arrives that she learns about the ghosts. The place, it's a refuge, but it also brings back all the memories Mila, and the other residents are trying to forget. Will she be able to make it, and will she ever find a place where she feels she belongs?
I have a friend who is a foster mom. The things she shares, the struggles these kids go to when they shouldn't have to, and the love she has for them, it's inspiring. The older I get the more I feel called to foster someday. Reading Watch Over Me is heartbreaking. I wish no person had to go through what Mila has, yet so many have.
However, the message at the core of this book is one that everyone can relate too. It's ultimately a book about accepting your past. I realized a long time ago, actually while writing my own book, that the only way to move on to the future is to come to terms with your past. Because whether constantly dwelling on it or pushing it in the back of your mind so you never think about it, it's still there, holding you back. The only way to move forward is to remember that who you were then helped to make who you are now, and what you did then doesn't have to define who you become.
Watch Over Me is a beautifully written story that switches between the past and present. It's a quick, meaningful read, that will make you feel in the way all the best books do.
Mila has grown used to being alone. She's been in foster care since she was 13. Yet now she's aged out, so when offered a job on an isolated farm in California teaching other kids like herself, she accepts. It isn't til she arrives that she learns about the ghosts. The place, it's a refuge, but it also brings back all the memories Mila, and the other residents are trying to forget. Will she be able to make it, and will she ever find a place where she feels she belongs?
I have a friend who is a foster mom. The things she shares, the struggles these kids go to when they shouldn't have to, and the love she has for them, it's inspiring. The older I get the more I feel called to foster someday. Reading Watch Over Me is heartbreaking. I wish no person had to go through what Mila has, yet so many have.
However, the message at the core of this book is one that everyone can relate too. It's ultimately a book about accepting your past. I realized a long time ago, actually while writing my own book, that the only way to move on to the future is to come to terms with your past. Because whether constantly dwelling on it or pushing it in the back of your mind so you never think about it, it's still there, holding you back. The only way to move forward is to remember that who you were then helped to make who you are now, and what you did then doesn't have to define who you become.
Watch Over Me is a beautifully written story that switches between the past and present. It's a quick, meaningful read, that will make you feel in the way all the best books do.