Book Review : Beyond Grace's Rainbow by Carmel Harrington

Title : Beyond Grace's Rainbow

Author : Carmel Harrington

Publication Date : 12 September 2013

Publisher : HarperImpulse

Source : Pressie from a dear friend (Thanks!)

Overall : A teary 5/5!

When Grace is diagnosed with cancer her best chance of survival is to find a bone marrow transplant from a family member. Only Grace is adopted and her one previous attempt to connect with her birth mother resulted in bitter disappointment.

But with her young son, Jack, to think about, and the return of her ex Liam, Jack’s father, reminding her of feelings she’d thought she’d buried long ago, Grace refuses to give up hope just yet. With the help of her friends she bravely embarks on a journey of discovery.

This search will bring her from her home in vibrant Dublin to the unspoilt beauty of Wexford where she must unravel a web of lies and deceit that has spanned over thirty years.

What a powerful, successful debut by Carmel Harrington! Wow! I knew about this book long ago but I was so silly not to pick it up. The cover has the image of a pretty girl and the cover concept is really simple. Who knows, underneath the cover is an earth-moving, heart-wrenching story and it covers the most feared, incurable Cancer. I spent days weeping in bed.

Beyond Grace’s Rainbow follows the story of Grace Devlin, who is adopted and she’s a single mother with an adorable kid, Jack. Grace found out she has cancer - leukemia and her only chance to survive longer is through bone marrow transplant. However, her blood type is rare. Her biological mother has no plans whatsoever to reconnect with her.

Liam, Grace’s ex is an alcoholic and makes a sudden appearance in her life and promises to take care of them. She has disease to fight and she’s not ready to give up on life. As she fights cancer, stories of her past begin to unfold. Liam is not a perfect hero. He has quiet a lonely life and the only thing he needs other than oxygen is Grace. She is all he ever wanted and after some time apart, he tried to find a way to fit into her life and give his family a happy life and to be a better father.

I loved Grace from the beginning and I really wished for her to have a better life. She’s brave, despite her torturing, endless battle with cancer. The characters are all really supportive towards each other and it’s not unusual to find characters like such in a book like this. The plot is so greatly planned and the twists and turns resulted in an unpredictable story. I was hoping for a happy ever after and guess what? Though this book is focused on a sad, vulnerable side of human with an incurable disease, it is balanced perfectly with cheers and humour of two great gay characters, Tom and Gerry. They are just too cute together and I almost wanted to minimize them and make them my pocket-sized friends.

I suffered a massive book hangover after reading this. I was crying like a baby when I reached the last few chapters. I cried more for this than I did for The Fault in Our Stars. I think I am going to keep this review really short as I believe this book will move readers’ hearts as much as it moved mine. A big hug to my best friend for giving this gem to me and the note that was left in it. Thanks!

Though the story is not focused on a happy topic, this book is warm and it’s a real page turner and totally unputdownable. This is definitely a book I will be passing to my friends and will stay in my bookshelf for a very long time. I was completely into submerged in the story waiting for events to be revealed. I cannot wait to read her second book, The Life You Left. Perfect for fans of Ali Harris's The First Last Kiss.