Review: Monday, Monday by Elizabeth Crook

Monday, Monday

by Elizabeth Crook

Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books

Pages: 352

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  On an oppressively hot Monday in August of 1966, a student and former marine named Charles Whitman hauled a footlocker of guns to the top of the University of Texas tower and began firing on pedestrians below. Before it was over, sixteen people had been killed and thirty-two wounded. It was the first mass shooting of civilians on a campus in American history.

Monday, Monday follows three students caught up in the massacre: Shelly, who leaves her math class and walks directly into the path of the bullets, and two cousins, Wyatt and Jack, who heroically rush from their classrooms to help the victims. On this searing day, a relationship begins that will eventually entangle these three young people in a forbidden love affair, an illicit pregnancy, and a vow of secrecy that will span forty years. Reunited decades after the tragedy, they will be forced to confront the event that changed their lives and that has silently and persistently ruled the lives of their children.

Kritters Thoughts:  A little historical with some truth, but mostly fiction as three people are impacted by a school shooting in 1966 and this one event turns everyone on its end and the characters even state the obvious a few times.

With quite a bit of drama, this one isn't for the faint of heart.  Pregnancy out of wedlock, extramarital affairs and sibling rivalry are all in this one, it almost got to be a little much.  I was overwhelmed with the amount of things that could occur to the three main characters and those that surround them.  I think because there was so much packed in, this book read a little slow for me.  

I did love the many reminders that one instance can change the whole trajectory of your life, so if you are a reader who enjoys a little drama in your books, you may enjoy this one more than I did.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from FSB Associates.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.