Book Review: Hope in a Jar

Book: Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison

Edition: Paperback

Description:

Twenty years ago, Allie Denty was the pretty one and her best friend, Olivia Pelham, was the smart one. Throughout high school, they were inseparable...until a vicious rumor about Olivia -- a rumor too close to the truth -- ended their friendship.

Now, on the eve of their twentieth high school reunion, Allie finds herself suddenly single, a little chubby, and feeling old. Olivia, a successful beauty editor in New York, realizes she's lonely and that she's finally ready to face her demons.

Sometimes hope lives in the future, sometimes it comes from the past, and sometimes, when every stupid thing goes wrong, it comes from a prettily packaged jar filled with scented cream and promises.



Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This was a good read as it follows 38 years old Allison "Allie" Denty and Olivia Pelham. Allie's life was fine, well at least that's what she thought. But her reality soon came crashing down when she got home early and found her boyfriend Kevin in bed with another woman. She was definitely mad but not as heartbroken as she should have been now that the relationship was over. After really thinking about it she found she really wasn't in love with Kevin. They had been building a comfortable yet stagnant life together and with hindsight making her realize that she focused more on helping his career than doing anything to create one for herself.

She was also disappointed with how she had let herself go because she had gained weight along with looking and feeling frumpy. It's an understatement to say that Allie was dreading going to her high school's 20th year reunion the next day. She thought buying a few new beauty products would at least help with the frumpy part. Her life wasn't a complete dump, she still had her best friend Noah Haller to hang out with.

Olivia Pelham (Allie's former childhood best friend) was also worried about attending the class reunion. She would rather stay in New York City where her life was actually good if not a little boring but she preferred it instead of traveling to Washington, D.C. for a high school reunion. She was pretty much a workaholic and put in a lot of hours as the Senior Beauty Editor for What Now magazine. Noah tried to get her to attend the reunion but she changed her mind about going but she changed her mind again when her mother unexpectedly showed up in NY for an impromptu visit. A visit that turned into Olivia's mother Caroline "temporarily" living with her after Cassandra's latest failed relationship. Getting her mother settled in was the easy part considering they have a lot emotional baggage between them. However, it's going to the reunion that she was dreading the most.

The reunion was beyond disappointing for Allie because Noah showed up with his new girlfriend who just so happened to be Allie's childhood bully Vickie Freedman. Vickie or Tori as she goes by now, still seems to find joy in making Allie's life miserable when she made a not so subtle comment about Allie's appearance. One good thing happened at the reunion, it allowed Allie and Olivia to sort of connect. Their friendship ended during their senior year of high school and they haven't talked since.

I like how the story gradually builds up to showing how their friendship ended while also showing in the present how they were slowly rebuilding it. This story not only dealt with their friendship but reveal a horrific moment for Olivia that fueled a devastating rumor that ended up being the reason Allie and Olivia's friendship ended. Friendship might have been the central theme of the story but it also dealt with Allie's feelings for Noah. They had been best friends for years but is it a possibility that they both feel something more for each other besides friendship.

I feel like the author has a way of showing how beauty products and makeovers are not some frivolous superficial thing. Because if getting a makeover or trying a new product improves your mood or boost your confidence then shouldn't that be considered a good thing.

This was a dramatically humorous story but there is a scene that made me mad because it shows something terrible that happened to Olivia when she was teenager. I feel like this is a story that focused on many of the characters trying to sort out their lives while reconciling with the past.