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Mary G. (Greensboro, GA)
One Crazy Ride!
Wow. I just finished reading "He Started It" by Samantha Downing and it was a wild and crazy ride from start to finish. The estranged Morgan siblings are tasked by their recently deceased grandfather to recreate a road trip he took them on when they were children, as a condition for inheriting his estate. The story is told by the third child, Beth, and she parses out the history of the original trip—in one surprising and demented snippet after another—while also narrating the current trip, which isn't much more sane than the original. This is definitely a family that should stay far, far away from one another.
…more As each new snippet was revealed I was caught completely off guard each and every time. It was hard to put this book down. I still feel emotionally spent but it was so worth it! (less)From the beginning to the end I kept asking myself what am I reading???!!! At first I thought this is a road trip book and something must happen along the way, but then you actually read the book. It took me just over a day to read this book and at just under 400 pages it's not that short of a read. It's a fast ride across the country with Portia, Eddie, and Beth. I loved every minute of it and all the twists and turns it took.
Portia A. (Monroe Township, NJ)
The shortest review I ever wrote...
Wow!
Sandi W. Illinois
Surprise...
From page one I started enjoying this book. It is a book of secrets, told through a family trip. And a trip it is, not a vacation.
A family of three sibling, plus spouses, take a cross country trip, one they took as children. Then they took the trip with their Grandfather and things did not turn out well. Now they are re-stepping the same path, although mandated, to be included in their Grandfather's generous will. As they travel, they become a smaller group and many secrets are revealed.
Of the four siblings and others you begin to pick your favorites. Then you follow them with expectations. By the end of the
…more book your alliances may have changed.
This book reads really well. It is smooth and easy to read. My only objection was the ending. It seemed very abrupt and not a good closure. I believe this portion could have been done better. (less)Siblings Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan, the sole survivors of an extremely dysfunctional family with violent, even criminal tendencies, reunite for a road trip. The at-first likable Beth tells the story, sharing truly odd details about the others that draws us to her, an intimacy that slowly dissolves with revelations of Beth's own unstable self. The siblings wealthy grandfather has died, and to collect their inheritance, they must re-create the cross-country trip they took together as children after grandpa abducted them from their parents. Childhood issues resurface and it gets nasty quickly, but they drive
…more on fueled by their greed, with a black truck in pursuit. It's difficult to relate more without endangering a chillingly dark reading experience or spoiling the shocking conclusion. Suffice to say that the family's obsession with the game of Risk has conditioned each of them to betray one another as easily as they once conquered continents on the game board. (less)If you are planning a family road trip anytime soon you may wish to reconsider...
This all-over-the-map, insane, scary, funny story of a family fulfilling their Grandfather's wish to recreate a long-ago road trip in order to claim their inheritance will turn you upside down.
Then, it grabs you and insists that you stick it out until the ending. And what an ending it is!
You think you have family problems? Hop in the car with Eddie, Beth and Portia and take it for a spin.
This was a fun, fast, shocking read!
Rebecca K. (Grayslake, IL)
Dysfunctional family road trip
Three siblings from a dysfunctional family, along with two of their spouses, gather for a cross-country road trip to echo a trip they took with their grandfather decades earlier and to spread his ashes at the end of the trip. They must do that in order to gain their multi-million dollar inheritance. But nothing is what it seems.
Beth, the narrator, never told her husband that she had an older sister who disappeared during the original road trip. He doesn't even know the truth about her parents. And he's got some secrets of his own.
Portia, the youngest, is now an alcoholic who doesn't remember much of the early
…more trip. Nevertheless it had a profound impact on her life moving forward.
Eddie, who sided with their grandfather in a decades-old feud, takes charge and navigates throughout the adventure. But does he even know where they're going?
This book started a little slowly for me, but as it progressed I was genuinely curious to see what would happen next. The dysfunctional family dynamics were simultaneously entertaining and puzzling. It's clear as the reader that you don't know the full story.
My biggest complaint is the ending. The last 15-20 pages had so many crazy twists I practically had whiplash, but the FINAL ending was frustrating and a bit of a cop-out, I felt. Additionally, I hate the book cover. It makes the story seem like it's a cheap romance when instead it's much more than that (and it's not a story about jilted lovers). I don't think it fits with the plot at all. (less)Do you ever worry that your family might be a bit "off"? Read this and never give it a second thought because the Morgans can make nearly any family look like The Brady Bunch. Embarking on a cross-country excursion with her estranged siblings in order to fulfill her grandfather's dying wishes and to receive a sizable inheritance, our narrator Beth assures us from the get-go that this won't be your traditional family road trip. And things start to go off the rails pretty quickly from there. With unexpected plot twists, a questionable narrator, and an ending that no one could possibly see coming, Samantha Downing
…more crafts a refreshing, entertaining, and unique domestic mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. (less)
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