One Small Thing by Erin Watt is Now Available!

I’ve always enjoyed the unique and captivating stories by the writing duo, Erin Watt. This being said, One Small Thing was a completely different reading experience for me!

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Beth’s life hasn’t been the same since her sister died. Her parents try to lock her down, believing they can keep her safe by monitoring her every move. When Beth sneaks out to a party one night and meets the new guy in town, Chase, she’s thrilled to make a secret friend. It seems a small thing, just for her.

Only Beth doesn’t know how big her secret really is…

Fresh out of juvie and determined to start his life over, Chase has demons to face and much to atone for, including his part in the night Beth’s sister died. Beth, who has more reason than anyone to despise him, is willing to give him a second chance. A forbidden romance is the last thing either of them planned for senior year, but the more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings get.

Now Beth has a choice to make—follow the rules, or risk tearing everything apart…again.

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One Small Thing had a great premise with its story of finding hope, forgiveness, and happiness during even the most difficult times, however, it left me filled with mixed emotions.

I really felt for Chase and Beth’s characters on all levels. They were so desperate to find a fresh start, both imprisoned by their circumstances and dealing with the grief from Rachel’s death. Beth took more of a rebellious route, feeling smothered by her parents, and fighting against the constant reminders of her. Chase was almost a glutton for punishment, feeling like he didn’t deserve forgiveness and enduring the bullying from his classmates and teachers. I sympathized with both of them, and their difficult situations really broke my heart.

Chase and Beth had a very unconventional relationship in everyone’s eyes. There were challenges at every turn, and I was very surprised at Beth’s easy acceptance and pursuit to be with Chase. As their story evolved, I could see how well they related and understood each other’s pain, but it still seemed a little odd to me. Although I wasn’t sure if it was ever going to happen, I did root for Chase and Beth to find happiness together.

The story itself was very interesting and addressed a lot of tough topics that teenagers face today. Both as parents and siblings, dealing with the death of teenaged loved one would be very difficult and finding a way to move on from that, even more so. Knowing you were the cause of the loss of someone’s life, and having that hang over your head forever would also be more painful than I could ever imagine. High school bullying and the cruelty of words and actions is yet another. I liked that Erin Watt brought attention to these situations, and they wrote them in a relatable way, really pulling on my emotions.

Where it fell short for me is that this had so much potential to be an incredibly inspiring story of finding hope under terrible circumstances. Even the cover, which is gorgeous, looks inspiring to me. However, I think that the execution of the story really took a lot of the impact away. I always enjoy angst, but everything seemed so dysfunctional and sad throughout the whole story, and all of Chase and Beth’s happy moments were constantly clouded with negativity. Only in the very end was their happily ever after revealed, which was way to brief! Needless to say, I would have liked more development and reward with the ending, and it might have given me more closure and left me feeling like this was more of an uplifting story. However, I did appreciate the overall theme in finding something positive, no matter how big, to focus on when you can’t find any light in your life at all.

So, my emotions are really all kinds of mixed up on how I feel about the story overall. Perhaps I went into it with the wrong mind-set, and possibly it’s just me. As much as I thought this was an interesting and good story, I can’t say that it was a really enjoyable read. Maybe Erin Watt’s goal was to share the cold hard truths of life and growing up, and they definitely did that very well.

ARC kindly provided by the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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Purchase One Small Thing on Amazon Today!

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Erin Watt is the brainchild of two bestselling authors linked together through their love of great books and an addiction to writing. They share one creative imagination. Their greatest love (after their families and pets, of course)? Coming up with fun–and sometimes crazy–ideas. Their greatest fear? Breaking up.

You can contact them at their shared inbox: authorerinwatt@gmail.com

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