What Doesn't Kill You (Dark Choc Lit)

Intense emotional roller coaster of a story that has love, loss, caring, secrets, sharing, intrigue, abuse and a whole lot more.

Griff is a man who is driven by his need to save others. His wife, Evie, is going through a rough patch while caring for Logan, Griff’s father. She is keeping a secret that has driven a wedge in the marriage and then led to a separation. Tess, Evie’s daughter and Griff’s stepdaughter, has her own set of troubles and issues to deal with and is keeping secrets, too. With a toddler, big sheepdog and all of the secrets add in a childhood friend of Griff’s who appears from nowhere and the plot thickens. The complexities of this story are well plotted and presented. Having the story told by Griff, Evie and Tess allows insights that might not otherwise have the same impact.

I came away with the feeling that family is important, love is to be cherished, secrets can be very harmful and communication is essential to healthy relationships. I believe this is a book that has more than one message and is definitely worth reading. It is not a light carefree story but one with depth and discernment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Choc Lit for the copy of this book to read and review.

After an accident killed his friend on a Dorset beach, Griff Hendry has dedicated his life to making sure that no one else suffers the same fate. He works patrolling the shore, keeping people safe from the unpredictable sea. But he can’t keep his own life together, his wife has announced she is leaving him for someone else and is taking the children with her. Coupled with his stepdaughter’s troubling behavior and his estrangement from his father, Griff feels adrift in a sea of human emotion. The Chesil series is a beautiful group of stories, with strong characters and a sense of place so vivid that readers can hear the gulls and feel the salt spary. Highly recommended

Wow, what a spine-tingling novel Laura E. James has delivered with ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’. Part of Choc Lit’s Dark imprint, James’ latest novel is a hard hitting story of love, family and betrayal in its many forms.

We follow this story from various characters points-of-view, all of whom we grow to love and cherish as the novel goes on. Griff, the hero of our story, is in the middle of watching his marriage crumble, yet unable to fix it. I loved seeing his perspective on his relationship with Evie, and his hopelessness in understanding why his wife is so distant. Evie has her own problems, not helped by her estrangement with Griff which she has the added guilt of having pushed him away. The dilemma she faces in trying to help Griff’s ailing father who wants her to aid him in his attempt to euthanise himself, and keeping her own family safe all wells up within her, andnd Laura James does a fantastic job at adding the pressure to Evie’s perspective and making the reader feel Evie’s stress that is constantly growing.

The perspective that I grew to love the most was of Evie’s teenage daughter Tess. Seeing the conflicting thoughts of this girl who has had a traumatic past, an uncertain future, and demons that she can’t share, was so heartbreaking that watching her develop and grow throughout the novel was something to treasure. As outside forces try to pull the only family that Tess has ever known apart, she is the one who shows the most strength and is the glue that fits the broken family together.

This story is a heartbreaking one. There are demons of the past that won’t let go, promises for the future that can’t be trusted, but most of all, a love so strong that giving up is not an option.

5 Stars!

Be prepared. What Doesn’t Kill You is a vibrant, emotional and intriguing darker romance. This is a family in turmoil, people that loved each other, yet harbor secrets that they cannot or will not share.

Griff loves his wife Evie and his step-daughter Tess. To learn that Evie wants a separation has turned his world upside down. With no idea of what is wrong, he has no way of fixing it – and if anything, Griff is a fixer in life.

Told in multiple points of view, we are given the story and the secrets from Griff, Evie and Tess in alternating chapters. There are some serious things going on for this family – and sensitive issues that will come to light.

Because of the secrets that are being held back from the other characters, I truly feel that I must be vague in this review in order not to spoil a touching, compelling and emotional story for anyone who picks up What Doesn’t Kill You. It is a story that will touch you on many levels. And will perhaps make you pause and wonder how you would react to similar situations in your own life. I don’t know that there ever is a “right” way, perhaps more our own way would be more realistic.

This is certainly not the lighthearted love stories that we readers see coming out of Choc Lit Publishing. And there is a reason and a need for the Dark Choc Lit line to be in existence. Some love stories are darker because of their underlying content or the way the characters are feeling and dealing with their situation. I wish life could alway have the answers we need but often we are left with the questions and the answers we get – it’s not the same thing.

I enjoyed What Doesn’t Kill You very much. It is compelling and will make you think. And since life often throws us a curveball, that’s not a bad thing to have to do some deep thinking now and then.

*I received an e-ARC of What Doesn’t Kill You from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

It's always a red letter day when a new Choc Lit novel appears and this is no exception.

It took me a little while to get into it - I wasn't sure what the main theme was going to be, but after a while, I was hooked! Laura's characters are very real - a long way from perfect and I identified in some way with all of them!

Evie and her daughter have come out of an abusive relationship and Evie has found happiness with Griff. But when the book starts, they are living apart and Griff has no idea why.

The book is really like an inter-locking jigsaw puzzle - as you uncover each piece, the whole picture becomes clearer. But it's not until it is finished that you can actually see it as a whole.

There are several thought-provoking themes within the book and Laura handles these well. I'll not mention them all here, it would be too much of a giveaway. But suffice to say any one theme could be the basis for a book!

Really enjoyed it - thank you Netgalley and Choc Lit for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ever since the death of his friend as a teenager Griff has been driven to save lives and works with the sea rescue putting his own life in danger for others believing life to be sacrosanct regardless of circumstances.

His wife Evie has her own problems and it comes totally out of the blue for Griff when she tells him that she wants a separation, what is the secret that she is keeping from him and has it something to do with Griff's father that she is a carer for. Griff fell out with his father and struggles with seeing him although Evie is always trying to get them to make up before it is too late.

Tess is Evie's daughter and she is also struggling with secrets - the death of her father and the bullying at school is not making her life happy

The story is told in alternating chapters from Griff, Evie and Tess and so the reader gets a full picture from each persons outlook and as the secrets start to come out you feel for all of the characters involved and hope that they can work it all out. A good read - not lighthearted and quite dark in places but definitely compelling

Now, you all know how much I love everything (well, almost everything!) Choc Lit Publishing does, don't you? When I heard they'd launched a new imprint called Dark Choc Lit, I really couldn't resist. And when I saw the first book was the latest by Laura E James - I really enjoyed her Follow Me, Follow You (you'll find my review here - and it's currently just 99p) - I really wanted to see what it was all about. Compelling, emotional, and hard-hitting they said - not your typical romance story. And they really did mean it - I felt like I'd been through a wringer when I finished What Doesn't Kill You (published by Choc Lit on 26th November for kindle), but I have to say it was really, really excellent.

When you see "Choc Lit" you might expect romance, always a good story, great writing, and a delicious hero. The hero of this one is Griff - separated from his wife Evie for reasons he doesn't understand, loving and caring, dedicated to helping people, damaged by the death of a childhood friend. He's also estranged from his father Logan - cared for by Evie - for reasons we don't understand at first, but that soon become clear. And this is a story that really has a bit of everything - death, suicide, secrets, guilt, abusive relationships, the value of life and so much more. Heavy, you think? Maybe just a little, but so wonderfully handled - some parts aren't easy to read, but the whole story is ultimately uplifting, with hope and love present throughout.

Griff and Evie are such well drawn and likeable characters - you ache for them to talk properly, to resolve their problems, to get back together - and teenager daughter Tess is simply wonderful, with all the emotional baggage she carries. The fact that the story is told by switching from viewpoint to viewpoint is a masterstroke - you slowly get to understand everyone's issues, and where the obstacles to their happiness lie. The book really does give you a full emotional work-out. One of the key scenes mid-book had me in tears and setting the book aside - but I soon picked it up again, because I'd invested so much in the characters that I really wanted to know how everything worked out for them all.

This was excellent writing - I always knew Laura's writing was a little darker than many of her fellow Choc Lit writers, but this was way darker than I ever expected. Laura handles extreme emotion as well as any author I know, and I suspect the strength of her writing might surprise people - the dialogue is incredibly real, the relationships wonderfully described in all their complexity, the pain of her characters something you feel. These are real people sharing very real problems, and the book has an immense emotional impact - it may surprise many Choc Lit readers, but I'd urge people to try it. I absolutely loved it.

This is an intense, emotional family drama set in Dorset that can't help but to get you involved quickly in each characters' struggle as they deal with some really heavy topics while trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel and enjoy some happiness in their troubled lives.

Each chapter is from the viewpoint of a different character so this really helped me as a reader get under the skin of each person and understand their journey.. And as normal subjects are discussed it makes the story more real and easier to put yourself in their situation

The main characters, Evie and Griff, are both likeable and you share their pain as their marriage crumbles while they try to deal with obstacles that life throws up. And you also get to see the perspective of Evie's teenage daughter who is dealing with her own demons from the previous abusive relationship that her mother was in with her father, and how she wonders if her mum will ever get the happy ending as she's sees another relationship end

Really sensitively deals with heavy topics such as euthenasia, self harm , grief and abusive relationships and shows that people are a lot stronger than they think they are and love can conquer all

What Doesn't Kill You is the first book to have been published under Choc Lit's new imprint Dark Choc Lit, for books that are darker and more hard hitting than their usual titles. I knew the idea appealed to me, but it wasn't until I started reading, that I started to truly understand what was meant by darker.

For What Doesn't Kill You includes a lot of tough to talk about, and read about topics within its story. With topics including assisted suicide, self harm, abusive relationships, questions about sexuality you may be forgiven for thinking its not going to be a good story, or enjoyable.

However everything connects in such a way, and with the way the story is told, through the eyes of Tess, Griff and Evie, all with incredibly different views on life, it is a compelling book, that draws you in, so that you want to know all about the characters and the issues they are dealing with.

I don't feel that I can explain the story and do it justice, as its so good, with many different facets to it, I'm not sure I can show it off to the best of its abilities. What I will say is there is a broken romance at the heart of it, between Griff and Evie, for Evie has been pushing Griff away, due to a secret that she is harbouring. Tess is Griff's step daughter, and its clear she has had an awful past, and struggles to express herself some of the time. Dylan is Evie and Griff's son, who is a cute toddler, and they all love their dog Ozzy. Logan is Griff's father, who is disabled, and Evie is Logan's main carer, and its running her ragged.

Logan was one of my favourite characters, and I could only feel great compassion for him, and although at lot of his feelings could be regarded as controversial, as he tries to make various people understand his point of view, I couldn't help but agree with him... there are definitely worse things than death.

This was the first book that I had read by Laura E James, and was incredibly impressed by the writing. Not only was the storytelling very good, but the compassionate way she deals with these hard subjects is thought provoking.

What Doesn't Kill You is a fabulous book, and one I am delighted that I had the opportunity to experience.

Thank you to Choc Lit and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.