My review of Spin the Plate by Donna Anastasi

Spin the Plate by Donna Anastasi


About the book:

Time has done nothing to heal childhood wounds inflicted more than a dozen years ago, nor fade the memories. Now as an adult, Jo has given up on the human race, men in particular, investing her energies in tattoo artistry and animal rescue. Francis meets Jo during an altercation between Jo and another passenger on the Boston subway. Francis, the brains and speech writer for Charles Davis a Boston philanthropist and billionaire, is painfully lonely as his job requires that he maintain anonymity plus have constant exposure to the shallowness, corruption, and cruelty of humankind. From the moment he lays eyes on Jo, Francis sees beyond her rough exterior to the genuine, passionate, fearless, and beautiful person Jo is and pursues her with unwavering passion. In a compelling story on living as an incest survivor and the how-to's of love, faith, and healing, Jo discovers she is not alone in her fight to leave her past behind and move beyond sorrow into joy.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting story. When I agreed to review it, I was told it was edgy. Not kidding there. My eyebrows raised about twenty times, and for me that's a lot of brow twitching. I wasn't expecting strong swear words, or detailed scenes of child abuse, though they did make the story more emotionally powerful. I did enjoy the story overall, though their was some head hopping and a few tangents that took away from the overall quality of the novel. If the point of view had been more solid and the swearing toned down, it would have been a stronger book. However, the story was still good and I could see the author's heart for the hurting people in this world--especially young, abused women--so I commend her for that. It's not an easy beach read, but it does have a powerful message. Hearts don't get much harder than Jo's, but sometimes God will send along the very person who can soften that heart and heal it from the overwhelming pain caused from being victimized by someone who was supposed to love you and protect you. That's what Francis did for Jo. He set aside his own wants and needs to minister to her. It was a beautiful love story in that regard. The ending was touching, too. I enjoyed it.

View all my reviews >>