What Doesn't Kill You

whew, i love these ladies, but this main character made one thoughtless decision after another...the way her life began, indicated that she'd make mistakes like the rest of us, learn from them and recover. but this lady dug a hole, so she could dig a hole, so she could fall in the hole. dang,this story wore me out. if it could go wrong it did. but, i gave it four stars,because you can use it as a sneak teaching tool. "in one novel, every (well, not every) pitfall imaginable was covered. "falling into" marriage, motherhood, materialism, divorce, debt, taxes, unemployment, the wrong arms, lousy friends. who has an adj. rate mort.? i could go on and on. if you can take tons of misfortune and mindlessness, if you know a young person who won't hear reason or logic, if you have a strong stomach, get this book.addendum(sp): april 11, 2013. after i read this novel, i allowed my god-daughter to read it. she loved it. she's young enough to be confronted w many of the circumstances facing the main character. many, she hadn't considered, bc theyve not come up. sometimes, young people have a tough time hearing or even believing that you can relate to their issues. they may not say it, but they see you as too old to "get it". sometimes, i just hand them a contemporary novel, where fictitious characters wade through the perils of life. somehow they can see/hear those situations clearly.deberry and grant wrote about real issues confronting any woman. they did, it so that you could relate and crack up laughing at the same time. i found it ironic that my god child could see clearly the perils of the main character's faulty decisions. deberry/grant can save you some lecture time. i repeat: if it could happen and could go wrong, it happened to this character. but she also learned from her errors and worked to correct and recover from her mistakes. good writing/good story. it wore me out (maybe 'cause i'm old), but the god-kid thoroughly enjoyed it.

DeBerry and Grant's novel `What Doesn't Kill You' is an interesting narrative of how a single mother navigates through life's constant of ups and downs. It is a beautifully woven novel by two perceptive authors who had a clear vision of the constancy of this mother's struggles. They also appeared to have a good handle on the hardships and challenges of a divorced mother who is left with making ends meet and with raising a small child with no support from her deadbeat, would-be songwriter ex-husband. Tee, born in an era of change, learns how to adjust to, and possibly escape from, life's punishing woes. She makes every attempt to be a good mother to her daughter, Amber, and to control her independence after her divorce by being opinionated, straight-talking, and witty. Nonetheless, at times, she fails miserably and finds herself succumbing to those behaviors which are outside of her character. In some of Tee's missteps, however, you are left with asking the question 'WHY'. Why did Tee, who was doing so well it seems, surrender to the temptation and wakes up the next morning to learn that she had slept with the best man at her daughter's wedding? Was it overindulging in the champagne or was Tee too busy to find a man to call her own and was just lonely? Some behaviors are just simply crossing the line. This novel follows Tee throughout her journey through life. It shows vividly her indecisiveness and her denial. It painstakingly points out her series of financial mistakes and miscalculations. But, at the end, it brilliantly shows when Tee's light began to shine and she wakes up to face reality. Now, she realized that instead of wandering aimlessly through life, she must start investing in herself. And the fact that she could eventually become a grandmother brought her carefree life to a sobering end.

This book was about T Hodges. A woman who thought she had everything together and it crumbled in a blink of an eye. She planned this over the top wedding for her daughter and was fired from her job a week before the nuptials. To keep up appearances she didn’t tell a soul about getting fired. She got so drunk at the wedding to hide her pain she woke up in bed with the best man the next morning. After that her life began to sink deeper and deeper.If you are looking for a quick read this is not the book for you. If you want to take time to learn about T and her trials then this is it. The things she goes through are very relatable. She could be your mother, daughter, or friend from the pta. The author’s did an excellent job telling this story in the first person.

Just finished What Doesn't Kill You! I was taken aback at first because it was written in the 1st person, and that threw me, especially since that was new for Deberry & Grant. As I read along I realized how much easier that made the reading. A lot of times you got lost inthe characters. Not so this time! :O)I loved Thomasina! She is every woman! And while I don't care for books dealing with "real life" this one was on the money! I am a big time procrastinator so I get Tee to a T! LOL!I loved this book and read it in 2 days! Now I have nothing to read! I highly recommend this book. It's an eye opener for the "now"!

Tee Hodges is the main character in What Doesn't Kill You: A Novel by authors Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant. Tee's life spirals downward after she is let go from the job that she helped build. From there a series of humbling misfortunes causes Tee to realize who has always had her back. This story is so realistic with its trials and tribulations that you wonder if Tee could overcome all the obstacles that she endured. A line from book states, "We start where we start, and some people get a head start, but that doesn't mean that they will always finish first." This holds true in this novel and our lives as well.