Shelf Addiction
  • Home
  • The Podcast
  • Blog
  • Monthly Read-Alongs
  • About Shelf Addiction
    • Media Kit
    • Advertising
    • Privacy Policy
  • Support Us
  • Shop
  • Tee Public Merch Store
  • Book Club Guide
  • Giveaways
Sign up for the FREE Shelf Addiction Newsletter!

Throwback Thursday | Review Edition: You Gotta Sin to Get Saved, by J.D. Mason

4/25/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Throwback Thursday is my weekly feature which I created to post a review that I've written from the past. Every week I will post a review that I've written prior to my blogs existence. I'll be sharing both the books that I think you'd enjoy and the books that I should warn you against wasting your time on! ;-)

I chose to post the last J.D. Mason book I read because I enjoyed a few of her other books in the past. They were better than this one, but You Gotta Sin to Get Saved was still pretty good.  Ms.Mason storytelling makes you think about how crazy and messed up the world is. It made me thankful not to have that drama in my life! These characters are screwed up and believable ..totally unfortunate.  Like drama? This may be a good one to check out! ;-)

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: AA Fiction
Original Review Date: October 3, 2011
Rating: 3 bookmarks 

Synopsis: Charlotte Rodgers has always wanted too much. Too much love, too much attention, and had too many big dreams.   It was how she ended up abandoning her two daughters, Connie and Reesy to chase after a man and the promise of a dream life.   But Charlotte never anticipated how her world would be irrevocably changed.  Now, twenty-seven years later, her whole world shifts yet again with a letter from one of her daughters.  And the past is about to bust wide open.  

Reesy has always been obsessed with something.  Obsessed with finding her birth mother. Obsessed with her sister’s life. Obsessed with her own adopted daughter never finding out that Reesy is really her aunt.  With a neglected husband, who is unknowingly drifting further and further away, a sister who is trying to escape her well-meaning clutches, and a daughter becoming more and more curious about her true parentage, finding the mother she always dreamed about seems to be an answered prayer to Reesy.  That is until Reesy is brought crashing back to earth to find that her perfect life is in tattered pieces.
Connie has always expected too little. Too little from the man she’s been living with for years. Too little from her modest jewelry business.  And too little from her relationships, or lack thereof, with her daughter, mother and sister. And too little from herself.  Until she discovers she is pregnant again and decides that this time she is keeping her baby, sending her life and her relationship into a tailspin.  And rediscovering the mother who left them behind is the last thing she wants. 
 
Thrown back together again, in a maelstrom of shocking truths, Charlotte, Reesy and Connie will discover on their journey to forgiveness and redemption that you just might have to sin first in order to be saved.


I ended up reading this book for my book club, this was selected by the majority to read. I wasn't thrilled this was picked because I found out that this was the 3rd book in a series. For one thing, I don’t like coming in at the end of a story, so I wasn't happy about that. I remembered reading the first book, One Day I Saw a Black King a very long time ago but I didn't recall the details. Nor did I want to reread that or even read the 2nd book because I know J.D. Mason’s writing is heavy and there is no way I could take 3 of her sad books in one month. Because I’m committed to reading all the books, I went ahead and read the 3rd installment.
I end the end I was glad I went ahead and read it. There really was no need to read the previous 2 books (thank goodness). There was enough detail and back story that you could figure out how things became how they were. The three daughters in this book were done so wrong by their mother it’s sad. Charlotte abandoning Connie and Reesy at a young age left them both emotionally damaged. They both have tons of baggage that they carry and it shows in how they handle their relationships and life in general. The same goes for Cammie, the youngest that Charlotte had years after she left the older two kids. Even though Connie and Reesy were abandoned, it was like Charlotte did them a favor by leaving them. They found better situations, people who cared for them. Cammie on the other had was raised by Charlotte, which in my opinion, really leaves her more worse off than her sisters.

Charlotte really is a nut case. She is abusive and mean and just hateful. I guess that was learned behavior based on how her mother treated her compounded with her experiences with men dumping on her and abusing her…but I kind of feel that she brought on those situations by being just plain dumb and arrogant.

Even Connie’s “boyfriend” John has major issues with commitment among other things. Reesy’s husband also has his own situation of feeling left out to deal with. Not to spoil the story for you, so I’ll just say her husband takes drastic measures to feel wanted and it blows up in his face.

The book was written well and was a fast read. Just beware there are some very violent scenes in this book. To top that off, everyone in this book is messed up…don’t expect anyone to be the voice of reason here. The state of these characters is really sad. Although the ending was kind of open, it did leave some small sliver of hope for these people. I want to believe they all got their happy ending…except Charlotte of course.

Happy Reading, 
~Tamara
1 Comment
Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic link
4/30/2013 08:07:10 pm

I don't prefer deep reads either, especially if they are sad. Glad that this one worked out.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Gain access to exclusive content!
    Picture
    Click for Shelf Addiction merch!
    Follow on Bloglovin

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Get ONE month FREE!

    ​Rating Scale: 

    Picture
    Wonderful! Loved it! Add it to your shelf!
    Picture
    ​Very good read! It's bookshelf worthy.
    Picture
    ​I liked it. Borrow it from the library or a friend.
    Picture
    I got through it...barely! If you must read it, borrow it.
    Picture
    Don't waste your time.

    Picture

    Currently Reading

    Somebody I Used to Know
    Hidden Bodies

    Follow on Bloglovin

    Read the Printed Word!
    Picture

    DISCLAIMER 
    All affiliate links used on this site are links which I will receive a small commission if you purchase using them. A percent of all monies earned goes to help pay for this website and giveaways hosted by me .
    Click here to read the 
    Privacy Policy for Shelf Addiction


    Categories

    All
    1 Bookmark
    2 Bookmarks
    3 Bookmarks
    4 Bookmarks
    5 Bookmarks
    Aa Fiction
    Armchair Bea
    Audiobook
    Author Features
    Autobiography
    Biography
    Blog Tours
    Book Conventions
    Book Haul Tuesday
    Bookish Bargains
    Bookish News
    Bookish Pod Chat
    Book To Movie Adaptations
    Book To TV Adaptations
    BookTube Weekly
    Buddy Reads
    Chick Lit
    Christian Fiction
    Contemporary Fiction
    Contemporary Romance
    Cover Reveal
    Dystopian
    Erotica
    Fantasy
    Fantasy Series
    Feature & Follow Friday
    General Fiction
    Giveaways
    Guest Posts
    Historical Fiction
    Horror
    Inspirational
    Literacy Events
    Memoir
    Movie Reviews
    Mystery
    Narrator Interviews
    New Adult
    Non Fiction
    Paranormal
    Paranormal Romance
    Pop Culture Sunday
    Read Along
    Read A Thon
    Romance
    Romantic Suspense
    RTU
    Sa-book-club
    Saturday Book Chat
    Science Fiction
    Seasonal Reading
    Shelf Byte
    Short Stories
    Steampunk
    Summer Of Indie
    Suspense
    TBR Jar
    The Book Exchange
    The Recap!
    Thriller
    Throwback Thursday
    TPCP
    Tv Show Reviews
    Urban Fantasy
    Why I Love Wednesdays
    Womens Fiction
    Ya Dystopian
    Ya Fantasy
    Ya Fiction
    Ya Historical Fantasy
    Ya Historical Fiction
    Ya Mystery
    Ya Paranormal
    Ya Retelling
    Ya Romance
    Ya Science Fiction
    Ya Steampunk
    Ya Thriller
    Ya Urban Fantasy

    Reviews Published

    Sponsor Love

    Picture
    Advertise on 
    ​Shelf Addiction!

    Picture
    Picture
    We can't do this without you!! Support this podcast! Use the referral links, leave a review on your platform of choice, donate a coffee or checkout the merch store. Even show your support on Patreon!

    Podcast Book Chats, Bookish Topics, Book Reviews, Audiobook Reviews, Author and Narrator Interviews, Online Book Club

© 2012-2023 shelfaddiction.com. All rights reserved.