Whatever It Takes by Jessica Pack

Whatever It Takes by Jessica Pack

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from Kensington Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

At 25-years-old, Sienna has found herself in the slump of all slumps. She was unable to conceive, her marriage is failing, and she’s been living with her dad for the last year. Just to top things off, she’s now facing a breast cancer diagnosis. Sienna is not ready to share her cancer scare with anyone, but she does want to find out more about her mom, who died from breast cancer when she was kid… or did she? Her dad clams up when questioned, her husband reveals he thinks the milestone letters her mom left behind are bogus, and she can’t find any information about her mom across her dad’s home. Watch Sienna battle the sea of lies that begins to stack up between her and her dad as she investigates the truth about her maternal lineage.

I had a difficult time getting into the story because I felt like I never really got to know Sienna. It’s a shame because it is an interesting story with a good plot, but I felt like Sienna was closed off from us, the readers, even though she is the primary narrator of the story. She holds her cards close to her chest and runs away from her problems, but I just couldn’t get a hold on her because it seemed like part of her was hiding even from her own narrating. That said, I really do feel for her. Between the startling cancer diagnosis and discovering that her family lied to her about her mother, she was under a tremendous amount of shock and stress from beginning to end.

I loved the rotating narrators, but I wish that there were more chapters told from Mark and Grandma Dee’s perspective. I liked their chapters because they gave me more insight on who they were as people and what began the lies about Sienna’s mother and the fake letters. It would’ve been cool if there was a chapter or two from Mark in the present to see him trying to deal with the aftermath of Sienna questioning him.

I had an idea about where Sienna’s mother was and why her family lied to her about it, but it was still interesting to watch the story unfold. The truth was a little different than I thought it was going to be and then there was a twist on top of that, which left me surprised. What a reveal! I am a bit shocked that the big conversation between Sienna and Mark was cut off. We already knew both sides of the story at that point, but that conversation was important, and it cut off and jumped to a few months later. It’s sad that we only got to see part of this conversation, bringing an end to Sienna’s journey, only to skip ahead to the aftermath.

I do recommend this book because it’s fun to watch the story unfold and see how the characters interact with each other. Plus, it’s got a great plot. I’m a sucker for family mysteries like this, which is what drew me to the book. There are a few misses, but overall, the story is a good one.