Suzy’s Approved Book Tours presents another great upcoming novel, and today I am reviewing The Nine by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg, her second novel that releases on August 20, 2019. So let’s get to it…..

About the book:

Hannah Webber fears she will never be a mother, but her prayers are finally answered when she gives birth to a son. In an era of high-stakes parenting, nurturing Sam’s intellect becomes Hannah’s life purpose. She invests body and soul into his development, much to the detriment of her marriage. She convinces herself, however, that Sam’s acceptance at age fourteen to the most prestigious of New England boarding schools overseen by an illustrious headmaster, justifies her choices.

When he arrives at Dunning, Sam is glad to be out from under his mother’s close watch. And he enjoys his newfound freedom―until, late one night, he stumbles upon evidence of sexual misconduct at the school and is unable to shake the discovery.

Both a coming-of-age novel and a portrait of an evolving mother-son relationship, The Nine is the story of young man who chooses to expose a corrupt world operating under its own set of rules―even if it means jeopardizing his mother’s hopes and dreams.

My review

It’s hard to give an opinion on a book that deals with mother- son relationships when you are not a parent yourself, but let someone lay a hand on, or harm one of my nephews, and hell hath no fury like an aunt scorned. Let my inner “Regina George” be unleashed.

This novel is absorbing, it gives you so many different emotions. You want to really feel for Hannah, this is her son, her one and only, she’s wanted him so bad. She’s wanted nothing more than the best for him since before he was born. I can’t imagine what it’s like to finally have the son you’ve wanted, so I probably would smother the poor kid too.

Sam, finally of age and away from his hovering mother, about to finally make some of his own decisions on his own terms. You’re so happy he gets away from the helicopter mom, off to an elite school, off to make friends and do boyish things. How can you possibly not root for both of them, even though you have two alternating voices speaking with two separate sets of emotions?

As with any coming of age, the difficult topic start to come into play, and it’s no different for Sam. The bulling, sex and drugs, the secret society and brotherhood at the private school and most importantly the decisions that need to be made in order to be socially accepted. We see the pressures that both mother and son need to make as individuals and the continuous misunderstandings between them that frustrate even the most patient person.

This story has many layers, addresses many important and relevant issues of todays world (peer pressure, bullying, drugs) and allows you to get an idea of how strong a parental bond can be. There is enough suspense and stressful moments to keep you turning the pages, and really makes you think. Smooth writing, great sophomoric novel. 4 solid stars. I look forward to Ms. Blasberg’s future work.

I just would like to thank Jeanne McWiliams Blasberg, Suzanne Leopold of Suzy Approved Book Tours and #partner @SheWritesPress for the copy of this book for my unbiased and honest opinion for review.

Buy the Book

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About the Author

Jeanne Blasberg is the author of EDEN: A Novel. The winner of the Beverly Hills Book Awards for Women’s Fiction, and finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best New Voice in Fiction, and Sarton Women’s Book Award for Historical Fiction. EDEN was released in May 2017 by She Writes Press. Jeanne’s second novel, The Nine, will be released by She Writes Press in August 2019.

After graduating from Smith College, Jeanne embarked on a career in finance. Even as she worked primarily with numbers, she always had an interest in writing. She has been an avid journaler throughout her life, eventually taking inspiration from her childhood writings to pen EDEN. She is a student and board member of Grub Street, one of the country’s pre-eminent creative writing centers, where she is working on her second novel. Jeanne is also a board member of the Boston Book Festival. Jeanne and her husband split their time between Boston, MA and Westerly, RI. She loves to travel, play squash, ski, and enjoy the sunset over Little Narragansett Bay.

Jeanne’s writing has appeared in The Sun Literary Magazine’s Reader’s Write, Squash Magazine, InterfaithFamily.com, DeadDarlings.com, BreakingMatzo.com, The Huffington Post, Women Writers Women’s Books, and Adoptimist.com.