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Return to Me    by Justina Chen Amazon.com order for
Return to Me
by Justina Chen
Order:  USA  Can
Little, Brown & Co., 2013 (2013)
Hardcover, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Lyn Seippel

Rebecca Muir can't believe her family is moving with her when she goes to Columbia University in New York City. Her dad has taken a highly paid executive job there and has already bought a house for the family in New Jersey. Even though Rebecca will be in a college dorm, her mom will be right there, organizing her life just like she's always done. Unfortunately, there's not much Rebecca can do about it.

Rebecca adores her dad. It's always been the two of them against her organized, practical mother. But when they arrive in New Jersey, she realizes her adored dad is thoughtless, arrogant, cruel and a cheat. As soon as they arrive, he is off on a business trip leaving them without funds. When he returns, he tells Rebecca's mother he is seeing another woman. The smirk on his face shocks both mother and daughter.

Rebecca is a likable character and Chen is a wonderful writer, but the book is made up of Rebecca's internal thoughts and her waking insight into things going on around her. She is more like her mother and grandmother than she knew. Although the book is filled with wisdom, there is a lack of drama and action.

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