- Genre: Fiction, Adult, Family
- Publisher: Pan Macmillan
- Release Date: May 19, 2017
- Pages: 337
- My Rating: 3.5 stars
Against all odds by Danielle Steel is about the the lives of Kate Madison and her four children. It is her newest release and after reading Dangerous Games, I was hoping this book to be a little better.
Kate Madison is the owner of Still Fabulous, a store that sells vintage and unique clothes. She is very dedicated to it and is a great business woman. She has a widow and has four grown up children. She meets a Frenchman called Bernard who is a married man and they start a relationship. Even though it was complicated between them, it was nice to see a woman of her age being wooed and romanced. She is constantly worrying about her children but she needs to let them make their own mistakes and learn.
Isabelle Madison is a lawyer. She gets the case of Zach Holbrook who was caught in possession of drugs. He is an irresponsible and spoiled bad boy. Despite his faults, Izzy is attracted to him and they start a relationship.
I didn’t like Zach at all. He was immature and he never wanted to work in his life. He was mooching off his grandmother and Izzy.
It was awful to watch a strong woman like Isabelle destroy her life for him.
Julie was Kate’s other daughter and Justin’s twin. She was dyslexic and a bit shy. She meets Peter who seems nice enough but there’s something off about him.
Justin is Kate’s son. His partner Richard and he decide to have a baby through a surrogate. Everyone is wary of their decision but they are determined to go through with it. Justin was strong and brave and he really wanted a child.
Grandma Lou is an independent and adventurous woman who loves to travel. I wish there was a bit more of her in the book since she was really fun to read about.
I like that the author creates very well formed characters and gives them a rich back story. They are unique and fascinating and it makes us want to know more about them. But what I don’t like is that sometimes, one thing goes on for pages and pages.
The writing is nice and flows well and it is only that what makes the long narrations bearable. But still, the book drags on too much.
This is a family book. I don’t think I’ve read any book with that dynamic before. The whole family is a very close to each other and the plot revolves around their personal lives. I really liked the Christmas parts when the whole family would be together. All of their lives seemed to be heading for disaster except maybe Grandma Lou. They were all adults but had so much to learn.It also made me see how hard it is for parents when their children screw up. Mothers worry about their children all the time no matter how old they grow up to be.
I’d say this is a realistic fiction book. There are happy, sad and terrible times for all the characters in the book, just like real life. There is also a lot of character development. What I loved the most was that they all stuck together through the end and it shows us how important family is. This book is also very hopeful and ends on happy terms for everyone.
One thing I did not like was the lack of trigger warning for abuse in the book.
Even though the book was really slow in the beginning, I did end up liking it. I was really interested in what was happening with the characters and wanted the best for them. I definitely recommend this book if you looking for a slow-burn family book.
“I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.”
