Grab Little Pieces Of Me Curated By Alison Hammer Viewable As Edition

beautiful character driven story about the relationship between a mother and a daughter and the love and hurt between them.
Really enjoyed this one. I was blown away by Alison Hammer's debut novel You and Me and Us so I jumped at the chance to read an advance copy of her upcoming book Little Pieces of Me, and I was not disappointed.


Paige Meyer's life it turned upside down as a result of a single email from a DNA testing site alerting her that a paternal match has been made with another user.
Initially, Paige feels that there must have been a mistake since her father passed away two years earlier, She eventually becomes determined to uncover the truth however, her mother the one person who can provide the answers she's looking for is unwilling to address the matter.


Told with story lines alternating between present day and her parent's college years, Little Pieces of Me explores the emotional journey Paige takes to determine who she really is as well as the complex relationships within families.


This is a fantastic family drama with complex, relatable characters that I would definitely recommend,

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for review.
Im no stranger to books with dual narratives in which the present follows an adult child and the past follows his/her parents, with both storylines serving to unravel a present conundrum.
In Little Pieces of Me, the author uses this narrative device with a deft hand, and the result is an engaging story that kept me turning pages in search of understanding and resolution for the characters.
And the characters. Ultimately, they were what made this story special, Each was welldrawn and fully human, Most dear to me were Andy Abrams and Mark Meyer, the latter of whom is the only one whose circumstances made me melancholy.
We learn in the opening pages that Mark, Paiges father, is deceased, and all we experience of him is through the perceptions of other characters.
Perhaps he found great happiness in his life, but I felt he deserved more, Even so, that I cared so much for him is a tribute to Hammers writing, Bottom line, this is a welltold tale about the meaning of family and the ways we seek to define ourselves in this world, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.


My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC, This is another story told in two timelines, current day is Paige, an engaged woman in hers whos always been a Daddys girl and he recently passed away and now shes trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life when an email comes in from a DNA testing company that she sent in as a result of a free trial from her former job, and it changes her whole life.

Then we have Betsys timeline, who is Paiges mom, and it covers her college life and how Paige came to be.
Paige and Betsys relationship is rocky and strained, When Betsy was in college, she dates Mark until he gives her a gift for her birthday that shows he doesnt really know her at all, so they take a break and she meets up with Andy, who is a frat brother of Marks and they comfort each other in the wake of both their break ups.
Andy has secrets hes keeping from everyone and Betsy vows to keep his if he will keep hers,
I really enjoyed learning more about these cases of people who found out that they werent who they thought they were.
I didnt realize there were so many until Paige talked about joining a Facebook group for it and lost hours and hours reading similar stories.
And I loved Andy! I just wanted to hold him and make things better for him!
Thanks to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my review.


This is a fantastic novel about selfdiscovery amidst unexpected DNA results, Thanks to William Morrow for the gifted copy!

Emotional and introspective, this characterdriven story breaks down the reasons behind an impossible choice, and the fallout the results.
The dual timeline, multiple POV look into their lives made the story so much richer than having a single POV with lingering questions about the others intentions.
I also enjoyed the way the diverse cast of characters played off each other, and supported each other,

ADD THIS TO YOUR LIST! Check out my full review here: sitelink howdidthatbookend. com/lit

Little Pieces of Me is told in dual storylines: Paige in the present trying to figure out who she is once receiving the DNA results, and Betsy in the past during her college years.
Both timelines converge to tell the story of Paiges parentage, I thought this was very well done, and kept the pages turning quickly, Usually in dual timeline books Im more interested in one POV than the other, but this wasnt the case with Little Pieces of Me.


The dual timelines also helped paint a picture of how Betsy, Mark, and Andy had changed between college and adulthood.
At some points I forgot that innocent, kind Betsy was the same cold, distant person that was Paiges mother.
Even her descriptions of her loving dad didnt match the descriptions of boring Mark from college, No adult is the same person as they were in college, so I thought this was very well done.


I was shocked to realize that Paige was in hers, I thought she acted much younger, maybe my age at midtwenties, I dont think this detracted from the story at all, I just didnt think she acted like ayear old woman in her interactions with her mother and her friends.


Overall, I found Little Pieces of Me to be an interesting look into how one defines their identity.


Little Pieces of Me will be available on April,, Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review,./

Song/s the book brought to mind: Take Me To Church by Hozier

What an emotional roller coaster, sitelinkLittle Pieces of Me by sitelinkAlison Hammer gave me all the feels and it was such a hard book to put down.
I laughed, I shed tears, and I just loved the different character viewpoints, The book centers on ayearold Paige, her mom Elizabeth Betsy, and the man a DNA website proclaims is her father, Andy.
Not only do you have thoseviewpoints, but you also get dual timelines, The timeline set inKansas alternates between Betsy and Andy, and the current day timeline focuses just on Paige's viewpoint.
I found myself forgetting Paige wasand I don't know if her character felt that old to me, but it was so interesting seeing how she took the news that the man she thought was her dad wasn't actually her dad.
I can't even imagine the things you would feel, especially at that age, and I thought the way Hammer portrayed all her emotions was very realistic and relatable.


My favorite POV was probably Andy's and I not only loved him as a character, but his story really touched my heart.
I loved the way Hammer slowly unraveled exactly what happened and why it did, and this along with the two timelines were perfect for the story.
I also loved the behindthebook section in my physical copy where she discusses how she got the idea to write this particular plotline.
I think it gave me an even bigger appreciation for Little Pieces of Me, and I love the choices she made with the writing of the novel.
Hammer definitely became an instant autobuy author for me with this amazing book, and it was super readable as well as emotional and relatable.
I can't wait to read her debut novel now and I hope she writes many more to come!

I received a complimentary copy of this book.
Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own, Having written my own novel, A MILLION REASONS WHY, about surprise DNA test results that link two strangers as halfsisters, I was interested to see how Alison Hammer handled her own very different take on a similar premise.
In LITTLE PIECES OF ME, a woman who is already at a crossroads of sortsplanning her wedding as asomething bride, grieving her father's sudden death, and grappling with unemploymentis thrown further off balance with the revelation that her muchloved and muchmissed dad was not her biological father at all.
Dual timelines show us her mother's point of view decades before as we gradually unravel the real story of secrets kept and lives forever changed.
The result is a moving, easytoread story of coming to terms with identity and healing, I especially loved the supporting cast: Good lifelong friends, a new "DNA dad," and a fiance worth waiting for.
What would you do if you received an email from a DNA website identifying someone you've never met as your parent This is the premise that author Alison Hammer has based this book upon.


Paige is in her early's and still mourning the death of the man she always thought of as her father when she receives an email saying a different man has been identified as her father.
This throws Paige into a tailspin, At first the thinks that it must be a mistake, then she begins to dig deeper and in the process we learn more about Paige and her mother Betsy.
The book is told in the alternating perspectives of Paige in the current day and Betsy induring her college days.
Paige has always felt a distance between her mother and herself and through her research into her own past finds a path to becoming closer to her mother.


This was an emotional novel about family, connection, secrets and identity, This was the second book that I've read by Hammer and both were enjoyable domestic dramas, I definitely look forward to more from this author!

What to listen to while reading, . .
Severed by The Decemberists
The World Turned Upside Down by Coldplay
Space Song by Beach House
The Night We Met by Lord Huron
Havana by Camila Cabello
Friends in Low Places by Brooks Jefferson
Borderline by Tame Impala


Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!.