Synopsis
From the outside looking in, Lily Lockwood, popular star of the hit TV show St. Joe’s, has it all. Recently nominated for an Emmy, her star is definitely on the rise. She shares her gorgeous Malibu beachfront home with her even more gorgeous actor boyfriend. Perfect, right? Not so much! Within a matter of just a few days, it all falls apart. The wind is knocked out of her when she finds out that her boyfriend, on location shooting a western, is riding horses all day and his curvy co-star all night. Before Lily can catch her breath, she gets word that her mother, best-selling author Daisy Lockwood, is in intensive care after a near-fatal accident. Lily flies across the country to be by her side. The girl, who has a hard time deciding if her Chai Latte should be Grande or Venti, is now faced with making crucial life and death decisions. While rifling through Daisy’s papers, she comes across shocking information about her mother that threatens to shake her very foundation. Lily embarks on a journey of self-discovery and closure as she seeks to unlock the mysteries of her mother’s past.
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My Review
Lily Lockwood seems to have it all. She’s a famous actress on a TV show called St. Joes, she’s got the perfect boyfriend, her mother is her best friend and she’s just become nominated for an Emmy. All seems completely perfect to her. BUT within a few days everything turns upside down. Her boyfriend is cheating on her with his busty co-star and her mother, best-selling author Daisy Lockwood has been in a fatal car accident and is in a coma. Everything has fallen apart and now Lily has the crucial decision over what to do. While trying to sort out Daisy’s papers for the hospital, she discovers things about her mother’s past that she never knew of and it takes her on a journey of self-discovery and closure as she starts to unlock the secrets of her mother’s past.
The story starts off with Lily at her mother’s hospital bed, sobbing and asking her to wake up. As she waits for the doctors to tell her the news of her mother’s condition, Lily begins to reflect on her life and relationship with her mother, who brought her up single-handedly and supported and helped her into the Hollywood world – always being there for Lily throughout everything in her life. As the days pass by, and with tests and operations being done on her mother, Daisy’s close friends come to be with her and Lily to await the news of Daisy’s condition and to support Lily.
I really felt for Lily, because Daisy, although her mother is her best friend and the only person that she can lean on, and for her to be in a coma – it was so sad to read as she just wanted her to be okay and wake up. My mum is one of my best friends too and I would be completely lost without her if anything happened to her, which I’m sure everyone can relate to as well, so yes, I definitely felt for Lily having to go through this. As much as she’s a famous TV star, she’s still a scared, vulnerable little girl inside; scared about what is happening to her mum.
Although this book is focused on Lily and her self-discovery, it’s all centered on Daisy, You never get to read Daisy speaking in the present, but you do in the flashbacks and stories that Lily thinks about throughout the book. You do get a feel that you know Daisy as her voice is pretty strong and even if she is in a coma, I did fell like I knew her, regardless of her not speaking. You also get to know more about Daisy in her diary entries, which Lily finds and reads. They give Lily and the reader an insight into Daisy’s childhood – one that she has never told Lily. You find out many a secret about Daisy and there’s a huge shock of a secret which I was not expecting at all!
It was great to see the supporting characters coming to the hospital to visit Daisy and support Lily throughout the ordeal of the accident. The friends were completely special to read about and definitely felt like a small family to Lily and Daisy to me. Her Auntie D, who is childhood friends with Daisy, was such an amazing character to read. She was there for Lily when she was younger and is still there for Lily years later. Her and Daisy have been through a lot in their past and they are still best friends to this day. It was brilliant to see so much support and love coming from Donna, even when she was hurting because her best friend was in a coma. You can see that Donna will always be there for lily, no matter what happens.
Alison’s writing style comes to life. You can see she has really researched all the hospital scenes and the jargon used in this book. She writes about a colourful and lovely mother-daughter relationship that you just want for yourself and it’s the bond of the two that really gels this book together. It’s the heart of the book. It seems exceptionally realistic, especially the hospital scenes as you could really feel yourself acting the way Lily was with the Doctors (Who was a bit of an arsehole) and just wanting to know what was happening with her mother. I felt every single emotion she conveyed and this book actually got me thinking about if I was in Lily’s position. The story really did make Lily stronger, in a way, and really make her see life as being precious. It’s a great book to read and I would definitely recommend it as it was difficult to put down once I started it!
Z. Elizabeth 