Leave Me by Gayle Forman

Hello hello everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful day, whatever day that may be in your time zone. For me, it's Wednesday, which means I'm halfway through the week and that much closer to another weekend. Sometimes I wish that everyday was a weekend, but then I don't think I'd survive much longer without money. Sigh.

But if you need a little pick me up today, I have it right here with Leave Me by Gayle Forman!

For every woman who has ever fantasized about driving past her exit on the highway instead of going home to make dinner, for every woman who has ever dreamed of boarding a train to a place where no one needs constant attention--meet Maribeth Klein. A harried working mother who's so busy taking care of her husband and twins, she doesn't even realize she's had a heart attack.

Afterward, surprised to discover that her recuperation seems to be an imposition on those who rely on her, Maribeth does the unthinkable: She packs a bag and leaves. But, as is so often the case, once we get to where we're going, we see our lives from a different perspective. Far from the demands of family and career and with the help of liberating new friendships, Maribeth is finally able to own up to secrets she has been keeping from those she loves and from herself.

With big-hearted characters who stumble and trip, grow and forgive, Leave Me is about facing our fears. 

Honesty time: I've only read one of Gayle Forman's books. I know, I'm a terrible person. She's absolutely everywhere and everyone raves about her books, but I've only gotten around to one. I really liked that one, but I, like so many others, assumed that she only wrote young adult fiction. I was sort of right, because this is her adult fiction debut, and she nails it.

Maribeth is a harried mother of young twins, a wife to a man she suspects doesn't really care anymore, and an employee to her best friend who feels more like a boss than anything nowadays. It's no surprise when she mistakes her heart attack for indigestion, because she does not have time to take care of herself when there are so many others to take care of. Once she checks into the hospital, though, Maribeth realizes that she has to start taking care of herself if she wants to survive. So she leaves, traveling to Pittsburgh to start a new life, even if it's just for a short amount of time. There, she makes new friends and meets a new doctor that could do more than just save her life.

The way that this book is set up makes you really step into Maribeth's shoes. At first, I was so glad when Maribeth left. I was hoping she would leave her house before she even thought about leaving. Her twins are demanding, with one of them a little brat and the other a mommy's boy, and they don't seem to understand that their mother's life was threatened. Then there's Jason, her husband. He helps for a few days, but then expects everything to get back to normal and, when they don't, he becomes mean. I shoved Maribeth out of that house so hard that I'm surprised she didn't stumble to the train station.

But once she's gone, I started to think about what she had done. She had left her children in the care of a father that didn't know what to do. Maribeth had taken care of everything in that house, and Jason was at a loss. It wasn't entirely his fault, because Maribeth is one of those people that doesn't ask for help. Jason didn't know what to do because Maribeth had never told him what to do, which is annoying, but understandable for some couples. 

I think this was the ultimate "stepping away from the fight." You know how you're supposed to take a few minutes to yourself when you're fighting with someone? And then you can see both sides and come to a peaceful resolution? Maribeth just took that to the extreme. She travels nearly four hundred miles to get away from her family and her life, and it takes a little while before she understands the magnitude of her life. She has had a heart attack and she has left her family. She gets so angry when she realizes that Jason never emails her to see where she is or what she's doing, but the reason for that humbles her. I think, in fights, we always want to be the right one, the victim, as it were, and when we realize that some of the fight could be our fault, we suddenly remember that we're human, that we make mistakes, and that's a terrifying idea. Maribeth and Jason don't talk to each other much, due to their busy lives, and living to Pittsburgh, while a huge step, ends up being one of the best things for their relationship.

The characters are written in such a way that you see them in Maribeth's light for most of the book, and then you begin to form your own opinions when they begin speaking back to her. You realize that friends aren't really friends or that someone you thought was a complete jerk is just terrified of everything. Maribeth's Pittsburgh friends, Sunny and Todd, are the best because they accept Maribeth into their little circle without a question. They know that she's hiding things and that she's not who she says she is, but they don't care. They know that she'll tell them everything in due time. Dr. Grant, Maribeth's doctor in Pittsburgh, is a sweet, slightly damaged man that means the world to Maribeth during this time. 

Overall, this is probably one of my favorite books I've read this summer, and I'm glad that I didn't wait on this one. It comes out September 13, so there's a bit of a wait for everyone else, but it'll be worth it when you snap it up on that day!