Today I am the last stop of this blog tour. I was so excited when Don of PanMacmillan offered the book for me to read and invited me to be a part of the blog tour. Never have I been so excited to be a part of a blog tour.
The book is a true story written by author Angela Hart, a foster parent, about Lucy, a child who came to her to stay for a few days but ended up staying for a few years.
It took me a few days and lots of tears to get over this book. A beautiful read!!
My review
Omg! Omg! I couldn’t breathe, my heart felt as if it would shatter under this pain. Pain not for me but for Lucy, an innocent child trying to come to terms with her family scenario…
A beautiful story of heartbreak and rejection. A story of patience and gentleness. A story of foster parents and their immense love and understanding for the children.
This is one book I couldn’t put down, I was reading it till 2am. I had to cry the tears, I had to see my heart wrenching when the child is rejected again and again. I had to know the end.
The author Angela Hart has done a fabulous job in writing this true story of Lucy. A child in foster care because of her disruptive behavior and rejected by family and her aunts, who just wants to go back home and live with her family.
This book shows how Angela slowly draws Lucy out by the love in her heart. It is not easy being foster parents, but Angela and her husband Jonathan do it beautifully. I loved the flow of prose, the honesty of words and the pain which seeps through when Angela describes Lucy’s life and how it was pulled apart by her stepmother and stepsister. (The father was pretty spineless in the entire book, though the author has been kind enough to call him a gentle soul, I wouldn’t!!)
Lucy’s love for her father is resalient and never–ending but sadly nobody but Angela could see what the child went through on every visit. Nobody but Angela could see that the child was acting out in pain. Nobody but Angela could see Lucy’s hopes crashing again and again!!
Angela has also brought home a fact that – it just takes a small sliver of love from the parent for the child to blossoms. Sadly enough none of the adults in Lucy’s family could see that.
I was literally breaking into pieces reading this story, yet each piece of me just wanted to know one thing — What happens to Lucy? Does she make it? Does she go back to her family?
Read the book, peruse every line, feel every word. Life is enriched when this story touches the heart!!
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Bluebird, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating : 5 stars
About the Author
Angela Hart, who writes under a pseudonym, is a specialist foster carer for children with complex needs. Angela has been a foster carer for over 25 years, during which time she and her husband, Jonathan, have looked after more than fifty children. Her books Terrified and The Girl Who Just Wanted To Be Loved were top ten Sunday Times bestsellers
Book blurb
Lucy is eight years old and ends up in foster care after being abandoned by her mum and kicked out by her new stepmother. Two aunties and then her elderly grandmother take her in but it seems nobody can cope with Lucy’s disruptive behaviour. Social Services hope a stay with experienced foster carer Angela will help Lucy settle down. She misses her dad and three siblings and is desperate for a fresh start back home, but will Lucy ever be able to live in harmony with her stepmother and her stepsister – a girl who was once her best friend at school?
The Girl Who Wanted to Belong is the fifth book from well-loved foster carer and Sunday Times bestselling author Angela Hart. A true story that shares the tale of one of the many children she has fostered over the years. Angela’s stories show the difference that quiet care, a watchful eye and sympathetic ear can make to those children whose upbringing has been less fortunate than others.
Product Details
Publication date : 23rd August 2018
Publisher : PanMacmillan Bluebird
Amazing, heartbreaking read
31 Responses
Wow! This sounds like one heck of a powerful read! I could truly feel every fiber of emotion throughout this entire review. This certainly doesn’t sound like an easy read, but it is a very touching one. And 5 out 5 makes that even more clear. Fantastic review! 😊😊
Heyyy Michel thank you so much… Oh this was an emotional read… I cried a lot. Read it overnight.. And it was a true story which made it all the more difficult… 😭
Yeah, true stories are always more difficult. I cry a lot at movies too (yep…not ashamed to admit that even though I am a guy lol 😂😂). But yeah sometimes the real stories are the one that tough us the most. I highly recommend reading/watching Lion. I have only seen the film, but that one really got to me. It was very beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time 😊
I will check it out… Knowing me and movies, are you sure you want to send me a recommendation hehehe I have no idea when I would switch on my television. No idea if it works… 📺📴🤔💡😉😂
Haha lol 😂😂 Well…I think there are some manuals that can be found somewhere 😂😂😂🖥 But…it is also a novel, so you could also of course do that: Supposedly that one is just as good as the film, which is pretty rare (usually the book is good, and the movie sucks 😂😂). Hope you will enjoy it!
By whom is the lion? Amazon shows me some weird books
I had to do a bit of research for you 😊 But the books is written by Saroo Brierley and is called A long way home. Apparently the movie was called Lion (and after the film was released the books also said Lion on them) Hope this helps 😊😊
Thanks it does help me… Is it a sad books. No sad books or sad incidents anymore for this year. I have cried enough for this year. So I want only happy books. I will check it out but will read it next year… 😊
Can understand that 😊 Hope you will enjoy it when you get around to it, because in the end I loved the way how it totally gave hope…So…that’s why I really loved it. The film was seriously beautiful and provided a tale of hope how one should never give up on that 😊
Yes… I just read the blurb… It is a sweet book of reunion. Hope of a better tomorrow is still a lie, the entire word tomorrow is a lie.. Hope is good but ultimately I want to live today
I checked it out… It is a nice story and a true story… Emotional read… Sorry I want to live in a dream world where the heroine has sword fights… Or magic… I would like some magic right now… I am not reading real life stories this year…
Totally understand that: there are some terrific and wonderful magic stories out there as well. I loved the Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Truly a terrific series of books, and it’s where my blogname came from as one of the characters in it is Raistlin. Highly recommend that: wonderful wordbuilding, great characters and a truly magical tale 😊😊
Then I would love to read the books which has magic will check it out
This book, for me a as foster kid, was incredible. It was a story that was long overdue to be told and gave me hope tat foster kids were being heard. Its heartbreaking to read, but its a common scenario for many of us. Amazing review, well done x
Thank you so much
What is your biggest takeaway from this book?
This is a true story which Angela Hart, who is a foster parent, has written to show the life of Lucy who came to her for a few days and stayed for a few years…
Wow – you don’t give out 5 stars lightly, this must have been a phenomenal read! Obviously the author has first-hand experience with being a foster carer; no wonder it was such a well-written story!
It was Robbie… Robbie I can’t have kids, yet when I see people who have them not treating them right, my heart just breaks… Simply just stops and shatters. Some kids are damaged by their parents so much that it takes years to recover… Very very sad… But a truth of life too…
Yep. Heartbreaking. Kids are so innocent and they don’t understand that none of it is their fault, either. What a phenomenal woman Angela must be.
Great review ❤
Thank you. A difficult heart breaking read
Looks like it should be required reading for social workers and foster care providers… Well Done!
This sounds like a book that will rip out your heart. I usually don’t read that many books that make me cry. Love the review! ♥
I know… I got the chance, hence read it… And cried and cried
Wonderful review Shalini. This sounds so heartbreaking. I thought you were not going to read any more sad book??? I have this one to read, I had to request it when i saw that face.
Carla I read this in July, and they wanted me to wait for the blog tour… So this was a scheduled post. No more difficult or sad reads😂😂
Reblogged this on Angie Dokos.
Thank you Angie😘😘
I feel upset just reading this review, but I can see where stories like this need to be told and that this one was told well.
I cried for 2 days… 😢😢 True story…