TLC Book Tours Book Review: Stay

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STAY

About Stay

Hardcover: 298 Pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (December 3, 2019)

An unforgettable novel about the power of friendship and kindness by the New York Times bestselling author of Pay It Forward.

In the summer of 1969, fourteen-year-old Lucas Painter carries a huge weight on his shoulders. His brother is fighting in Vietnam. His embattled parents are locked in a never-ending war. And his best friend, Connor, is struggling with his own family issues. To find relief from the chaos, Lucas takes long, meandering walks, and one day he veers into the woods.

There he discovers an isolated cabin and two huge dogs. Frightened, he runs. And the dogs run with him. Lucas finds unusual peace in running with the dogs, and eventually he meets their owner, Zoe Dinsmore. Closed off and haunted by a tragic past, Zoe has given up. She doesn’t want to be saved. She wants out. But Lucas doesn’t want her to go, and he sees an opportunity to bring more than one friend back into the light. It’s either the best or worst idea he’s ever had, but Lucas isn’t giving up on Zoe or Connor.

Their unexpected connection might be the saving grace that Zoe thought she’d lost, that Connor needs, and that Lucas has been running toward.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review: There are books that you read and they become just that, books you read. Then there are books like Stay, that become part of who you are.

Lucas' story becomes one that lingers. Hist desire to fix everyone in his life that needs fixing will tug at your heartstrings. He is after all only 14. He's what you'd call an old soul. I loved him instantly and I knew from the first pages that his life was an emotional roller coaster.

Set in the Vietnam Era, the story was bound to deal with turbulence, but there was more than just the political turbulence in this book. He is dealing with parents that have a failing relationship, a friend that's depressed and now a new friend Zoe. Oh and a brother that is home injured from the war.

Its a story of mental illness and addiction, and caring, always caring. Its what will draw you to Lucas. He is so full of caring that it will make your heart want to burst at times.

It was a beautiful story, though not really what I'm used to. I'm more a happily ever after kind of girl, and though lives are fixed and saved, not everything is happy. Of course, Catherine Ryan Hyde writes more about real life, and anyone who is alive knows that life is anything but happily ever after. Its complicated and full of ups and downs and not everyone rides off into the sunset.

This was such an amazing story of friendship and love that will probably make you shed some tears.

Rating: 5 flowers

About Catherine Ryan Hyde

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of more than thirty published and forthcoming books. An avid hiker, traveler, equestrian, and amateur photographer, she has released her first book of photos, 365 Days of Gratitude: Photos from a Beautiful World.

Her novel Pay It Forward was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) for its Best Book for Young Adults list, and translated into more than twenty-three languages for distribution in over thirty countries. Both Becoming Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the ALA’s Rainbow List, and Jumpstart the World was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. Where We Belong won two Rainbow Awards in 2013, and The Language of Hoofbeats won a Rainbow Award in 2015.

More than fifty of her short stories have been published in the Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, and many other journals, and in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories and California Shorts and the bestselling anthology Dog Is My Co-Pilot. Her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and nominated for the O. Henry Award and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in The Best American Short Stories.

She is founder and former president (2000–2009) of the Pay It Forward Foundation and still serves on its board of directors. As a professional public speaker, she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with AmeriCorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.

Connect with Catherine

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Instagram tour:

Monday, December 2nd: @simplykelina

Tuesday, December 3rd: @theliteraryheroine

Wednesday, December 4th: @beauty_andthebook

Wednesday, December 4th: @one_more_paige

Thursday, December 5th: @thebookend.diner

Friday, December 6th: @beritaudiokilledthebookmark

Friday, December 6th: @books_with_bethany

Sunday, December 8th: @novelgossip

Monday, December 9th: @bluntscissorsbookreviews

Tuesday, December 10th: @wellreadtraveler

TBD: Saturday, December 7th: @thats_what_she_read

Review tour:

Tuesday, December 3rd: Helen’s Book Blog

Wednesday, December 4th: Book by Book

Thursday, December 5th: The Bookend Diner

Friday, December 6th: Audio Killed the Bookmark

Friday, December 6th: View from the Birdhouse

Monday, December 9th: Christian Chick’s Thoughts

Monday, December 9th: Blooming With Books

Tuesday, December 10th: Girl Who Reads

Tuesday, December 10th: Wellreadtraveler

Wednesday, December 11th: Run Wright

Thursday, December 12th: I’d Rather Be Reading at the Beach

Thursday, December 12th: From the TBR Pile

Friday, December 13th: Not in Jersey and @notinjersey

Monday, December 16th: @readingmama_reviews

Tuesday, December 17th: Write Read Life

Wednesday, December 18th: The Sketchy Reader and @thesketchyreader

Thursday, December 19th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Friday, December 20th: Palmer’s Page Turners

Monday, December 23rd: Patricia’s Wisdom

Saturday, January 4th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Friday, January 10th: A Chick Who Reads