“Aberrations” is an amazing book from the first words to the last. Penelope Przekop’s debut novel grabs a hold of you and takes you on Angel’s journey of the truth.
Angel is a 21-year-old narcoleptic who is trying to uncover her past, while trying to get through the fog of her narcolepsy. She always has worshipped the mom she never knew, from the stories and cloud pictures her dad told her about. Her life begins to change when her dad’s girlfriend moves in and removes the pictures from the walls of the clouds. From the first sentence in the book “My father is a liar,” you know there is more to Angel’s story then even she is aware.
The book takes on the secrets of our lives and how we determine where the line is between lying and truth. Each character in the book seems to have some kind of secret that they are trying to keep, from sexuality (gays and virginity), adultery, pregnancy and mental illness. Is keeping the truth from someone the best thing sometimes? Angel is determined to find the answers to her past, but doesn’t realize at what possible cost.
I absolutely loved this book. I received it from the publisher (thank you!) asking me to read and review it, which is a good thing since I probably would have never gotten it otherwise. The storyline and characters are all so interesting and enjoyable that I didn’t want to put the book down. When I finished, it made me ask questions about if I would want to know the truth in the same circumstance. I didn’t even realize until almost the end that the chapter headings were alphabetized and were the names of the cloud photos!!
If you want to read a well written book and something different than you might normally read, pick up “Aberrations” now at your book store! HEADS UP ...Some of the content may not be appropriate for some ages!!
You can find Aberrations on Facebook here
You can read an excerpt of the book here.
Rating: 5/5
Jennifer’s life is still in turmoil 18 months after her husband pasted away. She can’t get her life together or move forward, but knows she needs to for her little girl. Both families are supportive and wanting to help her, but Jennifer is unable to accept that life will never be the same. Depressed, grieving and overwhelmed, she decided there is only one way to make things better. Luckily, this is the night she runs in to Henry. He knows Jennifer from the store he greets at and they’ve talked about his homeland,
The author, Karen Maughan, takes the lives of Jennifer and Henry and makes an amazing story that is both heartbreaking and inspiring. She takes us back to before Jennifer’s tragic loss of her husband and brings us through to current day. The ups and downs of her life seem to reflect that something tragic might happen. Henry’s life is rewound for us to see his start in
On a personal note, having lost my husband suddenly, the passages after she found out she had lost him were so clear in my own memory. I could truly feel Jennifer’s grief, inability to focus and being angry at everyone. The steady flow of ‘get over it’ from family is hard to hear when you are still grieving. I needed a box of Kleenex next to me for most of the second half of the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone that loves stories that pull at your heart. The book is short in length (182pgs), so most people might be able to read in one sitting.
Overall, this was an amazing book that brought a woman in anguish to a man full of life stories together. The meaning of our lives is a strong theme in this book from start to finish. Sometimes, the best moments in life are those unexpected angels that come to you and change your life….forever.
