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Book Review: Brand New Human Being by Emily Jeanne Miller & Giveaway (US/Can)

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Brand New Human Being by Emily Jeanne Miller is a novel that encompasses family, marriage, love, and the struggles of connecting your own childhood to that of being a parent.

Logan Pyle is trying to keep his life together.  He just suffered the loss of his father Gus a few months ago, it seems he and his wife Julie are drifting further and further apart, and his four-year-old son Owen is regressing to babyhood and grows ever more withdrawn.

While Logan is currently being a stay-at-home dad, Julie is a lawyer and a busy one at that with more causes than you can count.  Logan worries that they never seem to be able to connect anymore.  He feels his thoughts justified when at a party he finds Julie laying in bed with another man sharing an intimate moment and he completely snaps.  He heads home and packs up his son and himself and takes off with no real idea of where he is going and no note left for Julie.  Along the way he does some crazy things but eventually ends up at his dad’s old cabin where his father’s widow Bennie is living.  They have an interesting relationship as Bennie is only five years older than Logan and they have a lot of unresolved feelings stemming  from her marriage to his father and how Logan felt about her that they need to confront and deal with.  While Logan battles with what to do and what is right things spiral ever more out of control for him.

For the most part I enjoyed the novel.  It’s a look into the life of a man trying to deal with the loss of his own father but having no idea how to go about it and because of that really only makes things worse. My feelings towards Logan weren’t the best though.  On one hand I liked that he had it in him to be a good husband and dad and yes he was struggling but his utter lack of responsibility when it came to his son really turned me off towards him.  Taking off with a young boy and putting him through some of the things that Logan did is just totally unacceptable to me no matter what was going on in his head.  Julie wasn’t blameless either and no matter what the problems were in their marriage their first priority should have been to keeping things stable for Owen.

So, as you can see the author most definitely brought out the emotional side for me but I found I really couldn’t connect with these characters except for little Owen.  I could never put a child through emotional turmoil like that and for that reason I couldn’t connect with or like Logan at all.  All of this aside though I did enjoy the story – it was like reading about people heading for a train wreck and I just had to keep going to know how it would all turn out.  I think this story would appeal to those who like to read about marriage troubles, grief, and just generally trying to handle life’s problems.  Truthfully I think it would make a good book club pick because I’m sure that everyone would have a lot to say about the goings on in the novel.

I read Brand New Human Being by Emily Jeanne Miller for her book tour with TLC Book Tours.  Be sure to pop by all the other tour stops to see what others think of this story.  Emily can be found on her website, Facebook, and Twitter and you can purchase your own copy of Brand New Human Being here in the US or here in Canada.

 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US/Canada)

I have one copy of Brand New Human Being by Emily Jeanne Miller to share with my readers.  To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
  • For 2 entries, follow my blog. If you already do, thank you, and please let me know so I can pass the extra entry on to you as well.
  • For 3 entries, blog or tweet this giveaway and spread the word!

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, July 28/12.  Good luck!

Source:  Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours via the Publisher and NetGalley.  No compensation was received for this review and all opinions are my own.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  7. This sounds like an interesting read, parents have such a great influence over their children.

    pjames330 at aol dot com

  10. I am not sure that I would like this one, based on the main character’s choices in parenting his young son. I can imagine that I might become a bit enraged! Great review today, Dar. I think I will skip the giveaway though!

  11. This sounds like a very interesting story. One that I would love to read.

    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

  13. Alright, I’m interested…I’ve seen the book, but this was the first review I’ve read. The main character, Logan sounds a little like my brother. Thanks for the giveaway!

  17. Interesting read! I’ve noticed that more and more books are focusing on issues of fatherhood and the types of relationships fathers are attempting to develop with their children. It seems the father here is grappling with a lot of feelings, some appropriate, some not, so it would be good to see what he learns from the experience.

  19. I love that fatherhood is being spotlighted but I wish that there was a more positive vibe on it as a whole.

  20. I would like to read this book to see if Logan gets his act to together, and to find out what happens to Owen. Sounds like an interesting read. Please enter me. Thanks!
    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

  30. Please Enter Me In Your Book Giveaway.
    It Would Be Great To Win A Copy Of
    Brand New Human Being by Emily Jeanne Miller.
    Thanks For Having This Giveaway!!!!!!

  45. Thank you for the great giveaway please count me in 🙂
    kathypease(at)gmail(dot)com