Then Came You [Paperback]

I'm not a big fan of books about babies. I'm too young to have a baby and I hate hearing about how terrible pregnancy is/how fat it makes people/how utterly painful it is so I don't read too many baby books. Then Came You is a baby book, all about the conception of one very special baby and four women who come together to make it happen, but without sounding stupid, despite being all about a baby, it wasn't as babyish as I expected. I suspect that makes no sense, but I know what I mean. It was about so much more than the baby. When I read the synopsis, I was incredibly intrigued. Four women are linked to one baby. Jules is desperate to get her father clean from drink/drugs so when she learns she can make $20k by donating her eggs, she goes for it, seeing it as her last chance to save her father; Annie, on the other hand, has a husband and two kids not to mention a huge farmhouse to finance and sees money is tight so decides to become a surrogate, knowing the money will really help them; Bettina is the daughter of Marcus Croft, a billionaire and can't believe her Dad has married India, who she suspects to be a faker and India is the woman Marcus marries, who's desperate to have a baby but after numerous miscarriages realises the only way she'll be able to have a baby is by surrogate and someone else's eggs. Clever, no?

I must admit, I found the synopsis to be misleading (the original synopsis, not the one above). Everything it says is correct, but it's actually very spoilery and I do wonder why it was written the way it was written because, frankly, the book would have been just as good - if not better - if the spoilery part of the synopsis had been left out because it would have been a major shock (I would suggest not going to Amazon UK and looking at the synopsis). Spoilery or not, I truly loved the book. Seriously, with this novel I can understand why Jennifer Weiner is a big deal. It was an amazing novel and the way she span all four girl's stories was the stuff of magic. Throughout the entire novel I was wondering what was going to happen next, how each girl would cope with what they were doing and I found each story to stand apart nicely and each voice (as it's told in first-person narrative) to be clear and easily to differentiate between each girl. I was taken in by the plot, by the writing, by it all.

What I liked best were the characters. The story is excellent, don't get me wrong, but the characters are so unique and so different that they really make the novel. Jules was my favourite character, I found her to be so warm and so inviting and I'd have loved an entire novel about her. I could have read about her all day, and I really looked forward to her next chapter and her next chapter. I loved her friendship with Kimmie and I found Jules' entire storyline refreshing. Annie, also, was a character I really warmed to. I felt for her, stuck at home, feeling useless as her husband Frank went out to work each day to try and make enough money as an airport security guard so they didn't get into debt and I admired her for wanting to be a surrogate. I find the whole surrogate thing fascinating - you have to be a proper selfless person to do something like that, it's hugely admirable. I liked Bettina, too (are you sensing a pattern here?). I liked how protective she was of her father, how she wanted to make sure he'd be safe and wouldn't get heartbroken again. She was sensible and rational and it was sweet to see how much she cared about her father. I did worry I wouldn't like India as we meet Bettina before we meet India so it sort of colours of view of India, but India surprised me. I was all ready to hate her and for her to be the horrible step-mother trying to dupe Marcus, but it wasn't like that at all and I found India to be just as good a character as the rest. They're all entirely different, but they all want the same thing: to help someone they love, to make their lives better.

Then Came You was a brilliant novel, let that be clear. I may not have enjoyed Best Friends Forever or Fly Away Home as much as I wanted to, but Then Came You ticked all the boxes and then some. I finally see what everyone else sees. Weiner is a master at weaving an intriguing, absorbing story, I just hadn't happened upon it until now. The novel never lagged, not at all, and I was always intrigued to read more, to see what would happen next to India, Annie, Jules and Bettina. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest and I truly have nothing bad to say about the book. It was pure delight from start to finish and I found all the elements were there. It had everything I want in a Chick Lit novel - characters I love, writing I can get lost in and a dilemma worthy of a Jodi Picoult novel. I hoped so bad that I would one day get to see the brilliance of Jennifer Weiner and I finally have! I'd absolutely recommend this novel, it's a book that will speak to a lot of people - to people like India, struggling to conceive, to people like Jules trying to sort out her addict father, to people like Annie who want to help other women out. It'll speak to people who don't even have problems like that (like me). It was a wonderful read and I appear to be the newest fan on the Weiner train.

You can also read my review here: [...]

The premise of this book had me hooked from the get-go. Having struggled with fertility myself, I found it interesting to read from three different aspects; the donor, the surrogate and the mother-to-be.

Jennifer Weiner's books are always a must-read for me but this one left me wanting more. After getting over my instant desire to call the nearest fertility clinic and sign up for some egg donation of my own, I found the read a bit of a struggle. Whether it was the fact that I was reading two books at once or the fact that my sister had a baby 8-weeks early while I was reading, something just didn't feel right. I enjoyed the characters of Jules, Annie, and India well enough but just felt they were very stereotypical. A snotty spoiled step-daughter, investigating her gold digging step-mother. A daughter who does all she can to help her father get through his addiction and a wife, struggling in a down-turned economy, making money for her family in the most unusual way. It just felt that these characters could have been in any book and that is not typical of Jennifer Weiner's novels.

The story line was also a bit of a struggle. I found it very hard to figure out how much time had passed between each of the story lines. One second, Jules was donating an egg and the next, India was meeting Annie. It was all very confusing.

Overall, a good book with an interesting concept. One that I was happy to be reading but felt left wanting more when I finished.

This book is about a group of 4 women
Jules Strauss- Is an intelligent college student her father is an
Addict and she is ashamed of him. She's offered a chance to make twenty
thousand dollars, which she can use to help her father into rehab, is
it too late?
Annie Barrow - Is married to Frank with 2 boys they have struggled for
years with money she has found a way to make extra money however with
her husband and family not agreeing it's not a good idea will she go
ahead and do it anyway?
India Croft - Is 43 and married to Marcus, who is a lot older than her,
she has changed her name and appearance and has had several failed
pregnancies she is desperate for a baby. However could Annie and Jules
change that?
Something happens to Marcus and Bettina (his Daughter) is left with
everything after India disappears how will she cope and will India
return?
This is the first book by this Author that I can say I have loved, I
was a bit worried as each chapter is about a different character,
however it has been done in a way that it is easy to understand, I
couldn't put this book down I would definitely recommend.