What We Leave Behind by Rochelle B. Weinstein

What We Leave Behind by Rochelle B. Weinstein– 322 pages

ARC from the author

Book Blurb:

It is said that our lives are a sum total of the choices we make, which inevitably leaves us to wonder: what if? What if we had the chance to go back and live what could have been? What We Leave Behind hones in on the fleeting moments and stand-out events that irrevocably change our lives. The book chronicles the life and emotional growth of Jessica Parker as she frees herself from the past and moves forward with her future. At sixteen, Jessica is managing the emotional trauma of her father’s death while surrendering to the profound pain of a failed first love. Jonas Levy, a twenty-two-year-old medical student, has abruptly walked out of Jessica’s life after an intense summer romance, and the wounds are still raw. Is it possible to ever forget the boy you first gave your heart to? Jessica eventually moves on, and in her twenties, becomes a successful music supervisor in Los Angeles. She marries film producer, Marty Tauber, starts a family, and appears to have it all, until things slowly begin to unravel. The marriage struggles through a miscarriage and becomes harder and harder to sustain. With an unexpected phone call from New York, a secret from Jessica’s past comes to light. As the rippling effects of her betrayal emerge, Jessica finds herself caught in the firestorm of long-hidden emotional trauma. Thrust into a modern day moral and ethical dilemma, Jessica must face the pain of her past or lose everything she holds dear. Will she be able to reconcile old feelings in time to salvage her marriage? An honest, tender, and poignant portrayal of love in its many forms, this heart wrenching novel will resonate with any woman who has questioned her past and wondered what could have been.

My Review: 3.5 stars

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Thank you Rochelle for sending me this fabulous book. You have constructed a genre of what I’d call ‘chick lit but not’, because this had so much depth and heart. Filled with heartache, first loves, lost loves, motherhood, marriage, pining, obligations and wonder; this book offered something for all women who enjoy a good read with a heaping dose of romance.

This book brought me back to my years reading Judy Blume, yet Judy Blume for adults. Jess was mature for her age and at first that felt wrong, but as we got to know her, it fit her character well. Weinstein has a knack for creating realistic scenes, likable characters, good plot twists and a nicely drawn out ending.

Her musical background helped make the music industry very believable and honed in on the fact that a movie’s soundtrack is, in itself, its own character. (Note: that isn’t important to the book, just something I also believe in!) I also loved the mixed tape reference. I wish I still had the ones I made for my friends, my boyfriends and me, but alas, I’d have nothing to play them on any longer. I look forward to reading Weinstein’s other books.

Quotes I liked:

I shook off the words of affection as if they were a contagious disease.”

-“Feelings are as real as actions, and their consequences can be just as dangerous.”

-“He was into the rhythm and the noise, and although I enjoyed the music, I was a word girl. In business, I could pick a tune better than anyone, but when I was home alone and flipping the stations and listening to demos and there were no pressures to enlist a song to a particular movie, I was all about the words. Words always told a story.”