Saving Noah

This book is absolutely wonderful I know that the subject matter is very controversial which I understand completely but it is good and how she wrote it because as a mother you look at it in different ways and not just one aspect. You see It through The eyes of a mother who is fighting to help her son with what she's seen as just an illness that he's going to get better from. Noah is an SA child offender and he goes to jail and when it's his time to be released his mother wants to bring him home and his dad says there's no way because they have a young daughter in the home so the mom and dad have to figure out a way because the dad just wants to send him off to a place until he's old enough to live on his own and the mom's not okay with that she wants them to either come home or they need to figure something out. So the town wants nothing to do with him and they are trying to be okay with the mom but since she wants to bring him back they are starting to go against her so she gets an apartment by herself to bring him in and the sister she wants to be with him stay the night be around him she loves him it's her big brother. of course the dad wants nothing to do with that and he forbids it there's no way it's going to happen well Noah is completely disgusted with himself and everything that he has done and he wants to make it known he is still sick that there is nothing that you can do to rehabilitate somebody like him and who thinks like him because they're disgusting there are twists and turns in this book because that is the wonderful thing about Lucinda Berry is she keeps you guessing. I would pick up a copy I think you will love it because I did and I will say this i am a survivor and this book helped me see this from another prospective and that's the mother's. I don't care so much about the offenders feelings unless they know they are gross but the mother made me see her side and it broke my heart for her

This book was not one that I went into semi blind, I knew with my past I would need to definitely make sure that I knew exactly what I was walking into. Let me start by saying this book was not at all what I thought it was going to be at all. With that being said, I do think the author did an amazing job at writing about this subject matter in a way that wasn't over the top and not disrespectful? not sure if this is the right word to use but it feels appropriate to me.I'm unsure how I completely feel about this book as it does touch on a very real and hard subject.Noah is a seemingly well rounded teenager. However when he does something unspeakable yet ultimately decides that he needs to tell someone the truth of his crimes...not to get help but to be punished. I found myself wondering what I would do in his mothers shoes, as I do have children. What lengths would I go to in order to protect them? Would I do as Adrianne and try to brush it off as a mistake and hope that everyone else would be on board in order to ensure that my childs future wasn't destroyed? Or would I react like Lucas did and shut down pretending that my child no longer existed?Saving Noah explores these matters, more so through the moms point of view with Noah and Lucas' povs sprinkled in here and there. I thought that I knew where this book was going and what the ultimate outcome would be, and I was halfway right.SO to just put it out there and be blunt about it, Noah is a pedophile. There is no sugar coating that, because at the end of the day he is. Multiple people realize this, but his mother is unwilling to hear or see it until she has no other choice. Noah seemingly feels bad about abusing two minor girls that were in his swim class. Yet also realizes that there is something wrong with him and wants to be punished for this. He ultimately decides that he HAS TO DIE because there is no curing him and to be fair he's not wrong. He sees the facts for what they are and doesn't do anything to shy away from them. In this regard I find it somehow redeeming that he was upfront, honest and has a plan about what he needed to do in order to ensure that the hurt he has already caused didn't go any further than that.Adrianne drove me nuts because she lived with these rose colored glasses on, even when people where like girl WAKE THE F**K UP AND LOOK AT EVERYTHING! On one hand I get it, I get her thinking as a mother I want to believe the best of my children and that I would be able to protect them from any and everything including themselves. However I also understand that my children are human and they do and will make mistakes, all I can do is hope that I've raised them well enough to know right from wrong and how to act with and around others. This womans denial was astounding! I wish that I could learn how to live in her delusion.Lucas on the other hand was the voice of reason (I will regret thinking this later after I think about specific things). However the way he handled things with Noah was awful...especially when you get to the end and find out that the reason he HATED and I say hated Noah, is because he admits it. This is because they are literally the same person!? I should have seen this coming when he is arguing with Adrianne and says more or less you don't understand him the way I do...excuse me sir wt actual f? Which begs the question if he is the same as his son, yet very much worse in my personal opinion because he abused his cousins, how can he live with himself and worse yet be okay being alone with Katie the young daughter? He is the pot calling the kettle black and then scoffing and being like well no one knows so it's different. Not that it makes what Noah did any better however the crimes they committed while still in the same realm are very different in some aspects, yet both are very heinous.In the end Noah kills himself with his mothers help which I don't even want to get into. Adrianne moves back home with Lucas and Katie knowing that her marriage is over. Oh yeah Lucas made her move out with Noah because he refused to have him in the home with Katie. Yet never stopped to look in the mirror...I also want to point out that Katie started displaying behaviors of a child experiencing trauma at the end of the book. And after finding out the truth about Lucas it made me pause and think....its never explicitly said that she's having the responses she is due to her home/family life and not that we now know what we know about Lucas. Not saying that anything happened to Katie but once you know what you know it's hard not to look at the whole situation from a totally different perspective and wonder about it all.While this was not my favorite read so far it was well written and done so gracefully while covering such a heavy and real topic. Definitely a quick read and worth taking the time out to read. 4.5/5

This story ripped me apart. WOW! It was written well, the characters really came to life for me. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose one of my children, but I think I understand it a bit better now. The descriptions of everything were perfectly written. A highly recommended read.

I love Lucinda Berry’s writing style and the way I can read her books but this one provided me with a lot of mixed feelings. Deeply sad and something I can’t explain besides empathy and disgust wrapped together for the narrator. Maybe pity.

The book is a powerful and thought-provoking read. The subject matter is deeply uncomfortable, but the author doesn’t shy away from diving into the emotional complexity of it all. I found myself torn, unsettled, and reflective, wondering how I would react in a situation like this. It definitely stirred up a range of emotions.That said, I did feel the characters lacked development. While the storyline itself was captivating (because I couldn't put it down), I didn’t feel like the characters evolved much over the course of the book. Still, the emotional weight and the moral questions it raised kept me turning the pages.This isn’t a light read, but it’s one that lingers with you.

I love this author so much. Yes, this book was depressing but it also made me think, ‘what would I do in that mother’s position?’ So well written and great character development

Lucinda Berry has done it again. This was a tough read and honestly I wasn't okay after reading it. Yet I still gave it 5 stars. As a mother to a son, this book made me question what I would do if I was in the FMC's shoes.This book hit every emotion. I laughed a little, I cried, and I got angry. Its a book with a heavy subject matter so please check the trigger warnings before going into it.

This engaging story has a surprising ending, and the audiobook is a great listening experience. I finished it in a day. However, the topics are quite challenging, so I wouldn’t recommend it to young readers.