Miss Me Not
by: Tiffany King
Blurb ~
Miss Me Not is a beautiful story of self-discovery, forgiveness, caring, and love.
Madison Hanson's past demons have given her a shadow of an existence with little hope. With the sudden tragic death of a fellow student, Madison questions her own life choices, and is now forced to evaluate everything she thought she believed in. When fate intervenes and partners her with Dean Jackson, a popular "all around good guy" from school, Madison gets a glimpse of a life that is filled with sunshine that has the power to break through the darkness she has cloaked herself in.
With Dean's help, Madison discovers a desire to finally step out of the shadows, and embrace life and all its gifts.
My Review & Rating
September 10. 2014
4.5 "Hopeful" Stars
Before you can love anyone, you have to learn to love
yourself. For many this is one of life’s hardest lessons. Madison has been
struggling with this since she was a child. Then again being shuffled from
church program to church program by absent parents can leave any young child
struggling with finding themselves. Madison tries over the years to get her
parents attention. Nothing she does seems to matter and so dressing
provocatively, drinking, smoking and partying with the older kids at thirteen
becomes acceptable in her eyes. All along she had a plan. A simple plan, one
that should have turned her world around, and finally brought her the attention
from her parents that she sought instead exploded and her once awful world
crumbled before her leaving her even more alone than ever.
Now seventeen, Madison makes a new plan. A pact with her one
and only friend. A suicide pact. Madison is 1000% ready and prepared to
follow-through with their plan until a fellow student named Mitch kills himself
and steals her thunder. Witnessing the behavior of her fellow classmates many
whom suddenly act as if they care and the entire school reacts to this tragedy,
Madison feels as if the wind was stolen from her forward sail. Now all she can
do is be thankful that no one was able to overreact at her funeral. Madison continued
to break my heart. This girl is so shattered on the inside it would take a
sledgehammer to the head to get her to see the light. Though she gives up on
her plan, it’s not a quick or easy road in which she learns to be thankful for
the life and the choices she is still able to make.
Madison never expected Dean. Being assigned a tutor should
not have been a big deal. But when that tutor is a senior like Dean and he sets
his sights on Madison, she has no choice but to give in. Dean shows her a
completely new side to life. Happy families are only things that exist in
sitcoms. Parents that love their children are only fictional and seeing Dean
and his family is more than an eye-opening experience, for Madison, it’s more
like entering the Twilight Zone. Dean has the best family, very Leave
it To Beaver as she refers to them. I really loved his family and
wish all of us were so lucky to be loved as unconditionally an without question
as they all were. Madison is accepted with open arms and it was gratifying to
see her change not only outwardly but as a person, her entire belief system
shifting and becoming capable of love and emotions other than repulsion,
self-hatred and loathing.
I’ve been amazed with other books by Tiffany King and Miss
Me Not was no exception. I’ve had this book on my kindle for awhile and for
whatever asinine reason, I kept scrolling over it. Thankfully, I wizened up and
I could not be happier. Miss Me Not was a beautiful story that really touched
on many rough and heartwarming topics. As a YA novel I think this book works
appropriately at tugging the heartstrings of whoever is reading it. Madison is
not a strong character, at least not initially. She has so much potential if
she only can learn to let go of the past and embrace her future. Considering
her life history the fact that she’s continued to live in such a sad state
leaves its mark. Suicide is a real issue with young people and I think this
book helps shed light onto the how and why young people feel this is their only
way for happiness. There is no excuse, there is no reason and there is no
coming back. Make sure those around you know how special they are to you and do
what you can to stop bullying. Madison’s life is something no child should
experience and even though this sounds like a running endorsement, we as human
beings have the chance to help. Read this book, be amazed and share the
love/pain. Life is not easy, we all know that. It is in each day that a new
beginning is offered and we can either embrace the opportunity or let our fears
stand in the way.
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