Safe with Me: A Novel

This was a beautifully crafted story that puts us in the lives of those personally effected by a tragedy. The story is told from three different perspectives in alternating chapters and Hatvany did a great job of bringing these characters to life for us. The narrators in the audioversion were equally exceptional.Maddie is the young girl who has spent the majority of her life in and out of hospitals because of her illness. Had it not been for an organ transplant she received a year ago, she would probably be dead today. She finds herself struggling with her identity and even goes as far to create a Facebook page with an entirely different persona. The name on her secret Facebook page is Sierra and she looks like a twenty-year-old supermodel. Sierra possesses all the looks and qualities that Maddie does not.Olivia is Maddie's mom, and is thankful for every day that her daughter breathes life. Olivia has been keeping a secret throughout her married life that is about to unravel. She has been able to protect Maddie so far and believes if she stays under the radar she can continue with her escapade. But this becomes nearly impossible when she meets Hannah, who is the first woman to offer her true friendship in years.Hannah is a single, independent woman whose daughter, Emily, was killed a year earlier. Emily was the light of Hannah's world and when Emily was taken from her, that light was extinguished, and she has been floundering day to day trying to live a normal life. When Maddie and Olivia walk into her life, she feels a closeness with Maddie she can't explain. She develops a bond with both the mother and daughter and can't stop the friendship from developing. Suspicions of who these people really are creep into her mind and she knows she will have to reveal her true identity eventually.I truly enjoyed this story that takes the lives of these three wounded individuals and forces them into a hurtful situation that allows them to heal. And let me tell you, the tension mounted towards the end of the book taking my breath away. Since I had technical difficulties with my iPod, I was only able to listen to about two-thirds of the book, then had to request the physical book from my library. I can tell you I thoroughly enjoyed both versions. With themes of family, friendship, secrets, and organ donation, you would probably enjoy this book as much as I did. I don't hesitate to recommend this book for personal leisure or as a book club selection.

This is the first one of Amy Hatvany's book that I have read and I enjoyed it a lot. Single mother Hannah has a daughter who is killed in an accident. After her death Hannah struggles with the idea of donating her organs to help others. In the end she decides to do so and Maddie, the daughter of James and Olivia, receives her liver. And then the unexpected happens when Hannah and Olivia meet and become friends Hannah realises through things said that Maddie is the recipient of her daughter's liver and then is faced with the issue - do I or do I not tell her. Oliivia, on the other hand is in a difficult marriage. Her husband James provides her with the best of everything materially but he physically abuses her and he who does not want to know who the donor was.This book raised many issues very well. First the issue of organ donation that Hannah struggled with. Olivia's situation was so real. She was in an abusive realtionship and wanted to leave but realised how difficult it would be to pay for the treatment that her daughter needed if she was on her own, so she stayed with the hope that she could leave after Maddie had the transplant. And then there is Maddie who has been sick and housebound for so long without a real life. Now she is well and can go to school and find frineds but it is all a bit scary. What does she tell people and can she select the right kind of friends. Will people like her? The characters were really well drawn and believabale and I was able to understand the dilemmas that they were in. A really good read and I am keen to read another of her books.

SAFE WITH ME is one of those books that stirs up all kinds of emotions. Anger, heartbreak, empathy, and hope. It’s the kind of story that rattles you from the very beginning and makes you a part of the characters’ lives. I liked how the author handled some heavy subject matter with sensitivity and compassion.The story is about two mothers, Hannah and Olivia, who are brought together by chance when Hannah’s daughter dies, and her organ donation allows Olivia’s teenage daughter Maddie to live. The donation was anonymous and confidential, but fate has different ideas, and the three women unknowingly become tangled in each other’s lives.Hannah, Olivia, and Maddie were complex, realistic characters dealing with serious issues – Hannah, dealing with the death of her child; Olivia, suffering at the hands of an abusive husband; and Maddie, struggling with the guilt that someone had to die for her to live. My heart went out to each one. Listening to the audiobook helped me connect with the characters even more. Joy Osmanski, Rebekkah Ross, and Cassandra Campbell gave brilliant performances, capturing the essence of their character.SAFE WITH ME is another winner from Amy Hatvany. Definitely sad at times with some nail biting moments along the way, but the ending left me feeling optimistic.Source: Review copy from the publisherRating: 4.5 Stars

"She wanted to warn them, to tell them how quickly everything can change, but she knew it was useless. There's simply no telling whose life will be touched by tragedy. There is only a before and an after, with no way to predict the moment when one is over and the other begins (Safe with Me, pg 46)."What would you do if you were faced with the loss of a child and then the possibility to save many others due to this loss? Would you be able to let your child live on inside others? What happens when your path crosses with one of the people your child saved? Answer: Your world is turned upside down and changed in ways you never imagined! This is a book filled with tragedy, loss and emotions. And also healing, second changes and unexpected friendships. "Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone who doesn't have preconceived notions of who you are, no expectations based on past behavior, no running commentary on the choices you've made in your life (Safe with Me, pg 225)." Safe with Me is complex, raw and real. I was so completely drawn into the pages of this novel. Safe with Me will cause you to think and to be grateful for everyday you have with your loved ones. You will feel emotionally connected from page one and be held tight to the very last page. 4.5 stars

Told from the perspectives of Hannah, Olivia and Maddie, Amy Hatvany’s Safe with Me is an emotive story of tragedy, grief, friendship, secrets and second chances.A year after her twelve year old daughter’s tragic death, Hannah is still struggling with the loss, burying herself in work to distract herself from the memories, the crippling grief mitigated only by the knowledge that part of Emily lives on in those who received her donated organs.Olivia was just days away from losing her daughter to liver disease when fifteen year old Maddie received the transplant she desperately needed and after decades of enduring an abusive marriage to ensure the health of her child, Olivia can finally make plans for the two of them to escape.After years of illness and hospitalisation, Maddie can finally lead a more normal life but she’s worried about fitting in at a regular high school, and devastated when the first girl she meets makes snide remarks about her hair and clothing.To cheer Maddie up, Olivia treats her to a cut and colour at the new and exclusive salon in town where they meet stylist, Hannah. Hannah is stunned when Olivia reveals that twelve months previously, Maddie received a transplant and can’t help but wonder if the teenage girl before her lived because her daughter died. Tentatively Hannah initiates a friendship with Olivia, and the women are surprised at the ease with which they confide in each other but there are some secrets neither are willing to share.I was absorbed by the intensity of tragedy and emotion that unfolds from the first page of Safe With Me. Hannah’s grief is raw and visceral as she faces the loss of her precious daughter, the agonising decision to donate her organs and then living without her. Olivia’s love and concern for her ill daughter is evident and when we learn of the physical and emotional abuse she has endured for Maddie’s sake we both admire and pity her. Maddie evokes immediate sympathy as a very ill girl and then as an awkward teen as she struggles to rebuild her life.But if I am honest, on reflection, the plot of Safe With Me resembles a soap opera episode or a lifetime movie. I wish Hatvany hadn’t opted to combine two such emotive issues – organ donation and domestic violence. While I think the author approaches both issues with sensitivity and compassion, it also seems calculated and somehow cheapens the seriousness of both.I also took issue with some elements of the storyline, I would have liked the author to have developed the friendship between Hannah and Olivia more, for example. Hannah and Maddie’s outrage over Olivia withholding her suspicions that Maddie was the recipient of her daughters liver, seems disproportionate, after all they had shared little more than a hairdressing appointment and a coffee date.I’ve struggled with this review because while my heart was touched by this story when I was immersed in it, as I began to write down my thoughts I grew increasingly cynical about it all. I can’t deny that Safe With Me is a gripping, affecting read in the moment but some readers, like me, may ultimately find it disingenuous.

I had not read a book by Amy Hatvany before "Safe With Me" but now I will certainly be reading all she has written. Her writing style is so easy to read! I could just relax and go along for the ride. But the story itself had me in suspense. Hannah's daughter Emily is hit by a car and dies. Olivia's daughter Maddie is a recipient of Emily's liver. Through an odd fluke of chance Olivia and Hannah become friends. Sounds like a "they lived happily ever after" scenario. But there are deceptions throughout the story. Hannah doesn't reveal that she knows Maddie has her daughter's organ; Olivia hides the fact that her wealthy husband beats her; Maddie has her own deception with a male on-line. Why the deceptions? How do they play out? It all builds to a suspenseful, explosive conclusion.(I received an Advance Reading Copy from BookBrowse's First Impression program.)

I was fortunate to receive an advance reader copy of this book. I have mixed feelings about the book. On one hand, it was a compelling read that was hard to put down. On the other hand, I was only prepared to read about the devastating loss of a child and her organ donation; I didn’t expect to read about a book about domestic violence, and I didn’t really want to. I have read enough books about domestic violence, and I think this didn’t add to the genre. I would have preferred the book to have focused on the organ donation part of the story. I didn’t appreciate the addition of wife beating, and it detracted from the more interesting and unusual theme of organ donation for me. I think fans of Jodi Picoult would appreciate this book, but the stress I felt reading it would keep me from recommending it to book groups.