The Art of Losing Yourself by Katie Ganshert

When I thought about how to sum up this book, two words came to my mind: raw and honest. I know this is a fiction book, but it felt so much like reading someone's autobiography. The story is written in first person from the perspective of both Carmen and Gracie.

Carmen and Gracie share the same mother, who has chosen alcohol over raising her children. Carmen is less affected by it because she's married and moved out. However, Gracie has felt the weight of her mother's choice. To cope, she has made some decisions that aren't the best. She's made them, of course, in order to survive emotionally and in some ways, physically.

Carmen is the one who went to one end of the spectrum in order to hide her flawed family. She tried to be perfect in every way. The fact that things aren't perfect in her life now leads to her feeling exposed. For Gracie, she went the opposite way in dealing with her dysfunctional family. She wasn't afraid to deal out the pain so others could hurt along with her. To say she built walls around her heart is putting it lightly. She's built a fortress.

I love the honesty in this book. It doesn't sugar coat the very real reality that teens face while growing up in a family that has chosen alcohol over their children. This is a very real reality for many people and I think so many can easily relate to this. Not everyone has a sister they can learn to love and depend on, though. Gracie and Carmen find one thing that brings them closer together and reminds them of so many memories.

Katie Ganshert is a new author to me, but I absolutely enjoyed her writing style. I am looking forward to her next book already.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning author, Katie Ganshert, graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison with a degree in education, and worked as a fifth grade teacher for several years before staying home to write full-time. She was born and raised in the Midwest, where she lives with her family. When she’s not busy penning novels or spending time with her people, she enjoys drinking coffee with friends, reading great literature, and eating copious amounts of dark chocolate.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Just like in my dream, I was drowning and nobody even noticed.

Every morning, Carmen Hart pastes on her made-for-TV smile and broadcasts the weather. She’s the Florida panhandle’s favorite meteorologist, married to everyone’s favorite high school football coach. They’re the perfect-looking couple, live in a nice house, and attend church on Sundays. From the outside, she’s a woman who has it all together.  But on the inside, Carmen Hart struggles with doubt. She wonders if she made a mistake when she married her husband. She wonders if God is as powerful as she once believed. Sometimes she wonders if He exists at all. After years of secret losses and empty arms, she’s not so sure anymore.

Until Carmen’s sister—seventeen year old runaway, Gracie Fisher—steps in and changes everything. Gracie is caught squatting at a boarded-up motel that belongs to Carmen’s aunt, and their mother is off on another one of her benders, which means Carmen has no other option but to take Gracie in. Is it possible for God to use a broken teenager and an abandoned motel to bring a woman’s faith and marriage back to life? Can two half-sisters make each other whole?

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Art of Losing Yourself, go HERE.
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I received this book free from CFBA and WaterBrook Press in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.