(Review) With Love from the Inside

With Love from the Inside by Angela Pisel

Publication Date: August 9, 2016

Pages: 320 

Genre: Adult Fiction

My Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Angela Pisel’s poignant debut explores the complex relationship between a mother and a daughter, and their quest to discover the truth and whether or not love can prevail—even from behind bars.
Grace Bradshaw knows the exact minute she will die. On death row for murdering her infant son, her last breath will be taken on February 15 at 12:01 a.m. Eleven years, five months, and twenty-seven days separate her from the last time she heard her precious daughter’s voice and the final moment she’d heard anyone call her Mom. Out of appeals, she can focus on only one thing—reconnecting with her daughter and making sure she knows the truth.

Secrets lurk behind Sophie Logan’s big house and even bigger bank account. Every day when she kisses her husband good-bye, she worries her fabricated life is about to come crumbling down. No one knows the unforgivable things her mother did to tear her family apart—not her husband, who is a prominent plastic surgeon, or her “synthetic” friends who live in her upscale neighborhood.
Grace’s looming execution date forces Sophie to revisit the traumatic events that haunted her childhood. When she returns to her hometown, she discovers new evidence about her baby brother William’s death seventeen years ago—proof that might set her mother free but shatter her marriage forever.

Sophie must quickly decide if her mother is the monster the prosecutor made her out to be or the loving mother she remembers—the one who painted her toenails glittery pink and plastered Post-it notes with inspiring quotes (“100 percent failure rate if you don't try”) all over Sophie’s bathroom mirror—before their time runs out.

My Review: 

I've been thinking about this book all day. That's easy to say because I just finished reading it a few hours ago, but I know I'll still be thinking about it tomorrow, too. 

This is a book that's going to stay with you. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away. We'll see what happens. 

Sophie pretty much has the perfect life. Lovely husband, home, and plenty of money. But Sophie has secrets. Her mother is in prison, on death row, for murdering Sophie's baby brother. This is something that Sophie has kept hidden for the latter part of her life. None of her new friends know, and neither does her husband. 

Things start to change when Grace's (Sophie's mother) attorney finally gets a hold of Sophie. Grace's execution date has been set and she desperately wants to see her daughter before it's too late. 

This book is full of flashbacks, haunting thoughts, and pain. It's told from alternating points of view, from Grace on death row, to Sophie trying to live her life and cope with the lies she's told. The supporting characters are equally important as each of them adds more to the story with each chapter you read. 

There are so many different layers of emotion in these pages. You feel Grace's hope and despair as she waits out her days in her cell. Sophie's hardship is palpable are you read about her struggles and how she dealt with them the only way she knew how to. I was brought to tears more than a couple of times while reading about these women whose lives are so different but so intertwined. 

I tweeted early that I love when authors don't give you the ending you thought you wanted. The ending of this book was heartbreaking, and that's why I can't stop thinking about it. This book is lovely and moving. It's laced with thoughts of love and forgiveness and I love it. Check it out in August. 

Thanks to Edelweiss and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC.