Jessica Ryn has done it again! A brilliant meaningful read.

Violet, a book loving blogger, is content living in her own bubble, working and blogging, and has managed the art of interacting that allows her to keep others at arm’s length. That way no one gets hurt. Violet has her books, that’s all she needs.

It is not until she is forced to return home to care for her mother, whom she hasn’t spoken to since she was a teenager, that Violet starts to let others into her life. The return to her childhood home forces Violet to face the past, a past that has carved out her life and dictated her every move. It is only when Violet is compelled to let others into her life that she is able to face the past and start to truly live her life.

We have all had or are still being held back from events from our past – The Imperfect Art of Caring highlights the fact that when the past is holding us back we need to face those demons to enable us to move forward with our lives.

The Imperfect Art of Caring is another brilliant, meaningful story by Jessica Ryn that made me laugh, cry and evaluate my role in the community. Jessica’s writing brings the characters to life and sculptures the story in the reader’s mind. Jessica Ryn is becoming one of my favourite authors.

I would recommend The Imperfect Art of Caring– An ideal book to take on holiday

5 stars

I received AR in exchange for an honest review

"The Imperfect Art of Caring" is about friendship, love and support for both those needing care and their carers. When Violet is told by her sister that she needs to move back home to care for the mother she has been estranged from for many years, her heart fills with dread. She is giving up the independent life she has built for herself so that her sister can have a chance. To begin with Violet comes across as a loner whose best friends are mostly books. The story follows her self-discovery as she helps her mother and her local community.

A heart-warming read.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

The Imperfect Art Of Caring by Jessica Ryn.

Mild-mannered Violet, left home under a cloud when she was just eighteen years old.
Now she has to return to care for her estranged mother Glenys who's struggling mentally and Physically.
Violet meets back up with her childhood friend Adam, who is also a carer for his elderly father.
Together they make quite a team and help each other and fellow carers along the way.

This is a very endearing story. It speaks from the point of view of the carer and the cared for. It’s an honest story with some very real insights into how tough it can be to navigate the benefits system in the UK, the daily grind of caring and the crippling loneliness felt by so many people with poor health and disabilities.

This is a gentle tale, tender and sweet, but also gritty in it’s portrayal of how tough life can be for people in this situation.

An honest, but heartwarming four stars from me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With thanks to #netgalley and #HQ for an ARC of this charming book.

This was a very endearing story on the struggles one faces as a carer, I found it moving and I quickly grew to sympathise with the characters. I like how we are not only given the perspective of the carer, but also the view from the people being cared. Very moving and thought provoking.

However, the story sometimes dragged. I feel this was due to the extensive and sometimes unnecessary descriptions, which I suppose is reflecting the characters’ thoughts, but makes for a boring read.

Overall, a great story with great potential that wasn’t quite met.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“There’s no perfect art to caring - all we can do is our best.”

This book was extremely personal to me. I am usually very wary about picking up any books about disabled people or carers, because I am disabled myself and my mum is my carer, and in my experience, novels about caring have never shown the full picture and have almost romanticised the situation, they also never showed the ugly sides of caring, or the embarrassing things about being disabled which can be “taboo” when they really shouldn’t be. However, I really wanted to give The Imperfect Art Of Caring a go, so I went in to it with wariness, and let me tell you, by page 30 I was hooked.

This was everything I needed from a novel about caring, it was a beautiful, optimistic but realistic read. The details were so exact and were things that only a carer or disabled person would know, so I could tell that Jessica Ryn’s whole heart had gone into this story, and reading that she cares for her husband and wrote from experience warmed my heart and made it even more special to me.

A few examples of subjects that I never thought would be touched upon in a book are things like how hard it is to get PIP and being thought of as ”liars” when talking to healthcare professionals about conditions when applying for it, and the crippling loneliness that comes with being a carer/disabled because everybody leaves when things get hard, or even just because they haven’t heard from you in a while (which is when they should be getting in touch).

As a romance lover, I also loved the fact that a love story between Violet and Adam was incorporated but remained a sub-plot and didn’t take away from the main story.

But the part that made this book warm my heart the most was the sense of community in Violet’s town, everybody was just there for each other. Night or day, no matter what they were doing, they were there. It left me so emotional and I came away from this book with a warm heart and wishing we had a Helping Hands club in my town!

An all around beautifully written book, and I am so excited to read more from Ryn in the future!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for this early read!

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot (plenty of other reviews like that out there already!)

Having read and enjoyed the author's previous book, I was delighted to be invited to read this novel.

This started off as a bit of a slower read for me, but that quickly changed once I got to know the characters better. I enjoyed learning the various backstories of the characters, and it brought home to me once again that we really shouldn't judge people on our first impressions alone - everyone has a reason for being as they are.

This is a heartwarming read - not without sad sections, but worth persevering. Without giving away the plot, the book gave me a hopeful feeling - each character in the group gained a lot from working together and also from sharing their experiences; it showed what people can do for themselves without waiting for intervention from other agencies.

Recommended if you need cheering up - the book will make you feel optimistic I think.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

I enjoyed this book. Tells the story of violet returning home to become a full time career for her mum after years away from home. It’s feel good yet sad in places, but I’m sure a lot of people will be able to relate to this. Thanks for giving me the chance to read this in advance

A good read . Violet is estranged from her family, but her sister visits her, asking her to take on caring for their mother who has multiple problems both psychological and physical . There is an incident in the past which caused Violet to break contact with her family, friends and to move away from the village where she grew up.

Violet does return, the sister disappears the same evening and we hear nothing more from her. The house in which she grew up is now divided into flats and the tenants also are involved with caring as are others in the village. Violet has difficulties putting some of her past to rest , but makes new friends and resumes contact with some friends from her youth.

I liked the characterisations in this book, mostly well done. Descriptions of places and events are also good. Dialogue is also well done, both the difficulties that some characters have in expressing themselves are opening up to each other and the way people communicate is true to their characters on the whole. I thought that some of the background stories (Kelly & her friend/ Jodie the sister) were weak which let this book down a little for me. But on the whole I enjoyed the book

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4124660698

I really enjoyed this book. A great cast of characters and a real insight into the difficulties of carers lives when looking after relatives. Really heart warming.

This book started off quite slow and I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it at all but as soon as Violet got back to the village and her sister left the story the pace picked up and I read it very quickly

A wonderful story of community and friendship, of finding your tribe. I really enjoyed all thé supporting characters and their back stories, just as much as the main story

A really enjoyable read, more to it than some of the books I’ve read recently

This is the 1st book that I have read by the author and it won’t be the last , This book tells the story of Violet who has left home and living her own life in a different part of the country to her mum and sister, violet has to return home to be a carer for her mum as her sister is moving to New Zealand with her husband to start a new life .

What followers is an incredible story about forgiveness, having to deal with your pass that you have run away from, making new memories & helping new people & it’s never too late for yours 1st love

You never know where you find people & don’t judge people from your 1st impression of them as you may be wrong

Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for this honest review

The Imperfect Art of Caring was an easy and fairly predictable read. It didn't really hold my attention in some parts but I enjoyed the community feel of this book and the underlying message of helping others in varied ways whether that was through companionship, having a sense of purpose or caring for others. Gave me a nice feeling at the end.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this book at all, it felt immature and naive, how many times can you thrust the word ‘carer’ at a reader, there was no subtlety or craft to the story.

A really great story with the feel good factor alongside the emotional rollercoaster that the characters are going through. Hard to put down as you need to know what the outcome will be.

A heartwarming story with a lovely cast of characters.

Jessica Ryn's 'The Imperfect Art of Caring' follows aspiring writer Violet as she returns to her home town to care for her elderly mother. As well as facing the challenges being a full time carer presents, Violet must also face her troubled past. After only a few pages I felt engaged with the writing and quickly became invested in Violet's story, as well as those of the supporting characters. What really surprised me about this book was that it dealt with important topics such as loneliness, grief and guilt, as well as caring, yet it still felt like a light, easy read. There were a couple of continuity errors in the story which threw me slightly, but otherwise the book was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who is a carer themselves, or who simply enjoys a warm story of love, family and friendship.

I turned the last page of The Imperfect Art of Caring with a huge lump in my throat, tears in my eyes and a heart full of joy. I loved meeting Violet, Tammy and the whole Helping Hands gang. A story of hopelessness, loneliness and isolation, and how friendship, community and compassion can bring love. Wonderful stuff.

I adored Jessica Ryn’s first book The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside but I didn’t have any doubt that this book would probably be just as good. I was proved right, in fact I think I’ve decided that this one perhaps melts your heart ever so slightly more than the last one.

They’re both quite similar in that they both highlight the grave failings of our welfare system. With the last one it was homelessness and this one covers care of the sick and the vulnerable and the friends and relatives that do their level best to care for them. With precious little in the way of practical or financial support, it’s often a lonely struggle.

But, lets not get maudlin, because this book is far from that. It starts off with Violet Strong. In her early 30’s she lives in her flat (her cosy safe haven) in London and works as a cleaner. She loves her job, and she loves her hobby of reading books and writing reviews on her book blog. She chooses to live a quiet life, because Violet has long since decided that she ruins lives so tries her best not to get too close to anyone. She hasn’t seen her sister or her mother for 14 years so it comes as something of a shock when her sister tells her she will have to come home and look after their mother. Jodie has been looking after their mother for the last 14 years since Violet left home at 18 and now she needs a holiday. All Violet knows is that her mum hates her so how on earth is she going to cope meeting her mum who wouldn’t even speak to her last time she was at home.

There are lots of other supporting characters in the book. They all have problems of their own, from loneliness to being carers themselves. For me, and probably anyone who reads the book, the star of the show has to be Tammy. Tammy is a young girl of 18 who on first meeting her appears to have learning difficulties. But has she? You will have to read the book to find out more about Tammy but she brings such fun and joy to the story you can’t help but love her.

I won’t go into the plot any further but it’s a story of community, friendship, coming together and making the best of things the way they are. It’s funny, it’s incredibly sad in places, it’s very realistic in that I’m sure anyone reading this who is a carer will completely identify with the characters and understand their struggles but also rejoice in their successes.

It’s a lovely, hug of a book where you’ll always need tissues, sometimes for the teary bits but also for the funny parts and the tears of joy as well. I loved it and I know the author is now writing her third book, I can’t wait to find out what that one will be about. She’s a wonderful writer who brings lots of warmth to her stories but still reflective of some of the hard knocks of real life – so good.

**Will post review to blog on or close to publication date and to Goodreads around August as publication date is some way off.**

After being disgraced in her hometown as a teenager, Violet has to return to care for the mother she hasn't seen in fourteen years. As a book blogger living in the city, she's not impressed at having to return to the sleepy village where everybody is talking about her. As she has no experience as a carer, she starts a support group for others who are carers and bonds are formed. It's quite a light and pleasant read and I got through it pretty quickly. It's predictable but a nice read.

Thank you for the advanced copy, a brilliant read with some really good characters.
I finished it in one sitting with a few cups of tea. I enjoyed the story and it was really well written and developed well.

Highly recommend

The imperfect art of caring is a beautiful, tender, compassionate read that delves into the world of carers and caring, a subject close to my heart being a nurse and many moons ago for an exam I had to write an essay entitled “who cares for the carers” so I could totally relate to the subject matter and found it very realistic!
Violet has been called back home to look after her mum who has poor mental health, poor violet has no experience of caring, doesn’t get on with her mum and left the village many years ago under a cloud of doom! Now tasked with being a carer and all it entails from personal care, psychological care, form filling, selling property, and trying to find employment violet is floundering! Fortunately her first love Adam lives upstairs and is also caring for his elderly father, together they are a mighty force and initiate a group for carers, support,advice, friendship and in doing so open themselves up to others and rekindle their love for each other!
Thank you netgalley for this early read