What the Valley Knows

**Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS by Heather Christie in exchange for my honest review**

GRADE: D
1.5 STARS

Moving to a new, small town for senior year works out better than Molly imagined. Though she’s a shy band geek, she’s made friends and is dating Wade, a star football player, unaware he’s also an alcoholic. Then a car accident leaves her in a coma, unable to remember what she was about to tell Wade as his Jeep crashed.

Told from Molly’s, her mother Ann’s and Wade’s third person points of view WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS is a quick, heartfelt read that covers some important topics like substance abuse (mentioning more would be a spoiler).

I enjoyed Christie’s pleasant writing style. Including a parent point of view seemed unnecessary, though I understood Ann’s POV allowed another minor character to enter the plot. I would have preferred Ann’s and Wade’s POVs to be first person, his journals/letters made me feel most connected to the characters. All of the characters could have used more layers and personality.

WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS had parts that troubled me. The most glaring:
“But we call him Shady. You know, because he wears the sunglasses all the time and he’s black.” 😳I’m not comfortable with a white writer saying that about the only non-white character I’m the book. The lack of diversity is realistic for a rural PA setting, I grew up in an almost zero diversity similar town in the state.

I was most uncomfortable with Wade’s persistence after Molly broke up with him. She’s a rape survivor. Not taking no for an answer to breaking up is NOT ROMANTIC. It’s creepy and should be a huge red flag to young women about control and dominance. To have a rape survivor pressured as romance is irresponsible.

Another complaint is the glaring lack of research. Even a small town sheriff should know better than guaranteeing a conviction and telling a former boyfriend that his ex was raped. The linear recoveries from surgery and addiction weren’t realistic.

WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS is an enjoyable read with characters worth rooting for, though the drawback of Wade’s lack of respect for Molly’s boundaries prevents me from recommending.

What the Valley Knows is a book about a small town where football is everything. Molly, the new girl in town, enters this world and it is immediately obvious that she is new, and different. She catches the eye of a popular football player and things take off from there. But then a car crash changes everything. Secrets are hidden and forgotten, and people have to find their way back to each other.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I thought it was a light, fluffy contemporary that also touched on important topics. Not many books include car accidents that hide secrets and change the life of the people involved. You follow the characters before and after the accident, which I thought was a great way to get to know them better.

Pros:
-The prologue gripped and had me begging for more. That intense of a beginning only drives you to finish the book.
-I love how each of the POV’s connected. It gave you a more in depth perception of what was really going on and how the characters felt in relation to each other.
-I also loved how the mom had her own POV. You really don’t see that often and I loved reading what she was thinking and what she had to say.
-It touches on important topics that I won’t go into because SPOILERS.
-I was really invested in the book from the very beginning. I kept thinking about it and wanting to continue on.
-I felt that I had a genuine connection with the characters and I cared about what happened to them in the book.

Cons:
-There were cliches on cliches, but I’m a sucker for those anyways.
-Secondary characters weren’t as developed as I would wish because I cared about them too.
-There was insta-love, but again, this could be a personal problem.
-The plot moved very quickly, sometimes without much explanation, and I felt that it could have been more descriptive.

Again, this is a good contemporary read involving more serious topics and gives you a taste of the action up front. I would definitely recommend this. It was fun and thought provoking, and I definitely enjoyed myself a little more than I would like to admit.

I really loved this book. Such an important and valuable story.

Molly is shy and sweet and only just discovering who she is as a young woman, but then something unthinkable happens, and nothing will ever be the same. After an accident that leaves her disfugured and with no memory of the terrible thing that happened to her, she needs to put the pieces of her life back together and find out what exactly happened.

Wade is a senior football player destined to lead his team to state champ victory, he has the girl, the friends, the admiration of his small town, but is Wade's life as perfect as it seems? When his future is jeopardised, he has to push himself to the limit to reclaim the shattered pieces of his dreams.

The only reason this book is not a five star read is something that happens towards the end of the book. Molly places her trust in someone and that trust is broken, along with the law. It is dangerous to spread acceptance for the breach of confidentiality that occurs, and there were other ways the story could have concluded the same way without it.

This novel is going to be popular with the hopeless romantics out there, which isn't a bad thing, it just means I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping to.
The protagonist, I found, annoying and winey. The plot was great, original and moving.

Firstly I want to thank NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for providing me with an e-book copy of What the Valley Knows in exchange for an honest review.
While I had seen this book all over ‘bookstagram’ for a while now and knew a little from the synopsis, I hadn’t heard much about it and therefore didn’t have any pre-conceived ideas about the book, which is just the way I like to launch into my reading.
This story grabbed me from the very first page where we as readers are launched straight into the middle of the action, or in this case the results from a very crucial car accident involving two of the main characters.
While this book was easy to read, the writing was mature and flowed easily, resulting in me not wanting to stop reading and a few nights of very little sleep! The way the story unfolds, I just kept clinging on, having such a feeling of anticipation, and wanting to know what was going to happen and how.
While I was able to foresee one of the issues that befalls Molly, it was still a shock when I read it, and I still felt affected even though the writing of this scene wasn’t brutal or graphic, which I believe is a nod to the author’s ability and writing style.
I don’t usually like changing points of view, but I did enjoy the changes between Molly and Wade and seeing how they each fight their demons and their feelings for one another at times as well. I didn’t really enjoy having Molly’s mum’s point of view included, however I saw the reason for this towards the end of the book when a number of large issues arise, and I enjoyed seeing her really step up for her daughter.
I also enjoyed the way the author describes the setting in this story. Even though I’ve never been to America, I was really able to see and feel what she was describing, even though the writing wasn’t over-the-top or overly flowy, which made it really enjoyable.
Lastly, the growth of the three main characters, particularly Wade and Molly, was really great to witness. It was a slow growth over the whole length of the novel, with some situations pushing them along slightly quicker, but we really do get to see them move from immature teenagers to more world-wise young adults.
Overall, a very enjoyable read and I would certainly recommend for those that love contemporary and a story of great character growth. 4/5!

A tale of young love and all that goes with it. Jealousy,alcohol and a nasty predator. Happy ending.

I really enjoyed this book. Molly is the new student in town, dealing with the death of her father. Her mother works for an attorney and moonlights as as bartender, thus she is not home much. Molly is in the band and becomes friends with another young lady. She also draws the eye of a football player (Wade) that is part of a group of others on his team. The leader of the football team falls for Molly and she for him. Legs also has eyes for Molly but she chooses Wade. Wade has a secret and I must admit, due to the synopsis of the book, I thought Wade was the one who did not want Molly to remember something that happened one night. But, it is not Wade. It is someone else and what is it they do not want Molly to remember? Read the book and find out. Very smooth story flow and will hold your interest. I found myself hurrying through what I needed to do to get back to this book. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

This book was an okay read. The story went a different way than that I had expected!
This book is about Molly, who just moved to a new rown with her mom because of her mom's new job. The beginning of the book was about her finding a new life and making new friends. She is shy, but for some reason gets attention from the most popular boy, Wade, of the school. They get in a relationship, and later into the story Molly wants to tell Wade something important when they get into a car accident. After that its about them getting through these though times.

I enjoyed the story until the accident. After that it was a lot about them being in the hospital, and Molly not liking how she is lookig after the accident. And I get that is what happens if you are in a big accident and that that is how she feels. But for me it was quite boring reading that. I started to enjoy it more near the ending. Than it was more about her recovering, and all the help she got form her friends/family.

What The Valley Knows – Heather Christie

I was fortunate to receive this novel as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

Molly Hanover is the new kid – forced to relocate to a new town during the summer before her senior year of high school, she is alone in her new surroundings, and very lonely. She takes herself out of the house to the park to read, where a chance encounter with a few of the local football players leads to an invite to a party, where she meets Wade.

Wade, football star and hometown hero, is close to being kicked off the team due to his poor grades in class. Forced to see a tutor, he is delighted to discover his tutor is none other than Molly, and the two fall hard and fast for one another.

Meanwhile, Ann, Molly’s Mom, wants nothing but the best for her daughter. Widowed at a young age, she has struggled to provide for Molly. When her employer, Peter, an attorney, offers her a small home, at a super low rental, she jumps at the chance to provide Molly with a stable environment, a decision that proves to be costly.

Then one night, a few drinks, a windy road, and a secret waiting to be shared, become the recipe for a catastrophic accident will change everything for these two teens. But can they find their way back to one another?

This is a fabulous story! It grabbed me right from the beginning, sucked me in, and kept me awake far into the night! The characters are realistic, believable, the writing superb, and the memories provoked of my own high school days were many…a ‘must read’!! I look forward to more from this author!!

What the Valley Knows by Heather Christie is a very interesting young adult book, that deals with family dynamics, addition, and teen romance. This book is not a cute, fun book, it deals with serious issues. Molly Hanover moves to a small town in Pennsylvania with her mom. The football star and rich kid, Wade, falls for Molly. One night Molly has something important to tell Wade, so they leave a party and get in a bad accident, landing Molly in a coma. Once I started this book, I could not stop reading until I was done. I will be reading more books by this author. I recommended this book for people who want more than fluffy romance in their books.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really loved this! It was a lot of fun, well written and the characters were well developed! I highly recommend this for others!! This was an important read and I found the book to be so great!