Review: More Than Exist by Bethany Lopez


Note: This ARC was provided by InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review.

More Than Exist is the story of thirty-two-year-old woman who finds herself making a journey that was meant to be moving from the home she shared with the man she loved to trying to decide a final destination where she could find work and a house. Author Bethany Lopez gives readers a front row seat to the pit stops and twisty roads that Mirabelle finds herself at and on as she travels, meeting new people and touching base with familiar ones. There was loss and there was addiction, but it was not as filled with angst as I would have expected. Yet, it remained a somewhat compelling read, with Belle learning to truly live once again for the present and future instead of merely existing in the now and wallowing in the past.

A year after Belle receives the devastating news of her beloved husband Ricky's death, she leaves their home and travels cross-country from San Diego to wherever. Her purpose is to find some place new where she can work and have a place to live, but it isn't exactly living that she's been doing for a year. She drowns her misery in alcohol, but her addiction isn't as glaringly obvious as you would think. However, her addiction is very real and when the time comes for her to confront and battle it, it's as if she's at a crossroads, needing to choose which route to take. The pivotal turning points in the story aren't always obvious, but they're there. Sometimes, it's those subtle ones that mean more later on, as proven by Luke.

Belle was far from perfect and like many people addicted to a particular substance, she knows she has a problem but she doesn't really do anything about it, thinking it's manageable or not all that terrible. This really was her story and she has her ups and downs but at the end of the day, she does triumph. This was a good read, though there were times were I felt as if I was skimming through Belle's life, not fully delving into her addiction or her loss. I got to know Belle but not as much as I would have wanted to, not to the point where I wanted to fully invest in her and her story. That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy More Than Exist. I did and it's definitely encouraged me into checking out the author's other books. It gets four stars. ♥

Date Read: 15 October 2016

Learn more about Bethany Lopez.

Purchase More Than Exist on Amazon | B&N | Kobo.

Comments

  1. Thanks for taking the time to read and review More than Exist!

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