Liz Fenton

Lisa Steinke

"This heartwarming and hilarious novel features three best friends who get the chance to return to the year they turned forty--the year that altered all of their lives, in ways big and small--and also get the opportunity to change their future"--

A Novel

The Year We Turned Forty

I turn 40 this month so my hubby picked this up for me as a themed read. While it wasn’t what I expected I found it to be pretty wholesome despite a slow start. 

Claire, Jessie and Gabriela are the best of friends each with their own problems and regrets. On their 50th birthday celebration they see a magician who offers them a way back to the year they turned 40. They have one year to try and reconcile past life altering decisions but whether to stay in the past or return to the future after that year has to be decided as a group. This causes some conflict with each woman as it tests their friendship on top of their individual problems. 

It’s a must read if you want to find out what each of them discover during their repeat journey. 

Christa Bell

I turn 40 this month so my hubby picked this up for me as a themed read. While it wasn’t what I expected I found it to be pretty wholesome despite a slow start. 

Claire, Jessie and Gabriela are the best of friends each with their own problems and regrets. On their 50th birthday celebration they see a magician who offers them a way back to the year they turned 40. They have one year to try and reconcile past life altering decisions but whether to stay in the past or return to the future after that year has to be decided as a group. This causes some conflict with each woman as it tests their friendship on top of their individual problems. 

It’s a must read if you want to find out what each of them discover during their repeat journey. 

Sven Test

This 4.5 latte review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

The Year We Turned Forty is an alluring tale of three best friends that have to deal with making choices, their friendship and their families. It's a very heart-warming story that highlights how the choices we make, whether bad ones or good ones, can help us grow and ultimately accept ourselves.

JESSIE:
We have three best friends that haven't had it easy with their lives. Jessie has her husband and two daughters. In her marriage, she started to feel neglected and she sought attention elsewhere which resulted in her getting pregnant. She tells her husband and this ends in a divorce. Ten years later, Jessie is still suffering and even more so when her ex tells her he's getting married. When she gets the opportunity to go back in time and relive her forties, she decides not to tell her husband about the affair.

I was so scared for Jessie when she want back in time. I felt like at any moment her life was going to crumble again and she wouldn't be able to get back up from it for a second time. I have to give it to her, though. She tried so hard to give her husband all the love she had for him. She was very sorry for what she did and I'm not saying it was okay but the reader can tell she was beyond sorry and she would prove to herself and to her husband how much she wanted things to work and how much she really loved him. I felt bad for her husband because I felt like it wasn't fair to him but I liked the outcome to the story for them.

CLAIRE:
Claire had it so tough. The first time being forty, she didn't have much time with her mother once they realized she was sick, and her relationship with her daughter was very rocky. Given the opportunity to go back in time, she sets out to save her mom and fix her relationship with her daughter early on, along with saving a relationship with a guy she truly liked. I admire Claire because she's a single mother raising a daughter who's very disrespectful but slowly seeing how much Claire was maturing as well as her daughter Emily.

I loved how much focus Claire got being the daughter as well as being the mother. We get to see two sides of her and how that plays into her character growth this second time around. I really admired Claire and her will of wanting to fix her relationship with her daughter. My eyes would tear up at times because I could definitely see myself as Emily at times and I could see my mom as Claire. These two ladies matured so much and were able to bond and I was so happy for them! Of course, things turned rocky but you have to read the book to find out just how rocky and why it happened ;)

GABRIELA:
Gabriela didn't want to have children until her friend Jessie gave birth and she rushed home to tell her husband Collin about finally wanting a baby. Her husband declines, telling her he has already accepted his fate of no kids and he doesn't want to go through it anymore. This leaves Gabriela heartbroken but she moves on. Knowing she can fix this and convince her husband, she goes back in time to do just that. But things don't always work for the best and Gabriela took it really hard when life messes her plans.

Reading about Gabriela's story was hard for me. I would tear up all the time because she was going through so much pain throughout the entire story! I wanted her to get a break and breathe so she could be happy again. Her story brought so many emotions and I think she got the toughest luck out of all of the friends. In the end, her conclusion was bitter-sweet to me but I think the authors did a great job!

OVERALL:
Despite having some magic involved, I could feel the realism to the story. These are stories that can happen in real life and they felt so real to me, as if they were a family member or a very close friend of mine. I got attached to all three women and my heart reserves a space for each single one of them. They all had their struggles with themselves and they also kept secrets from one another, which ended up exploding unraveling towards the climax of the story. Their stories were so different and they all handled things very different but they were still very close friends. There was a lot of character growth in the ladies. I really enjoyed reading about their journey and slowly see them grow into more mature and experienced women. I ended up seeing myself in each women. Near the end of the story, it's explained what each one overcame and I realized I have either gone through the general aspect of what they overcame or I'm going through it and it made the story all the more meaningful to me.

I wish I could share with you the ending to each story. I just loved how everything came to be in the end and I just want to push this book on you so you can read it and experience how amazing each story-line is, especially their ending.

I received an eARC for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.This 4.5 latte review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

The Year We Turned Forty A Novel

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