In an Instant Kindle Edition

This novel is a tough one to read in that it covers the gamut of nearly every human emotion. Such joy and happiness as the group of 10 are packing the Miller Mobile for a 3 day trip to their cabin. Bewilderment, sadness, sorrow, and more emotions will follow as this progresses. .The author did an excellent job in portraying each of these people ...before, during and after the incident. Some of the characters felt no remorse or regret...not even a little ...whereas others felt the guilt that survivors feel. An amazing weaving of their thoughts previously into the 'now'... Each one of the survivors reacted differently to their lives afterwards.Finn, age 16, keeps a watchful eye on the survivors throughout and the reader will become mesmerized at her 'speeches' and thoughts. The funeral for Finn was poignant and also filled with love for her life. Love and sorrow were in great evidence in the overflowing church.Human nature and its complexity was present throughout in the characters. There is great sadness in survival and one thing is evident to me... we really don't know one another as well as we should in life.As Ann Miller (Mom of the family) stated 'We do not control our reactions, only our actions'...excellent, just excellent.I will admit to getting cold when reading the beginning of this novel. I turned the heat up in the cabin but still felt the chill and the brutal cold the ones in the Miller Mobile were feeling...(Talk about an author getting into one's head!).So glad that I selected this as my First Read for February 2020. I was not disappointed for one page...not even one.Most highly recommended.

The chapters are short and there are a total of 94 chapters. The first 14% (ch.1-5) of the story were days leading up to their trip before the accident occurs. When the accident hit, it really picked up. I couldn't read fast enough. There is a huge "omg" moment that happens while they are fighting for survival. I was astounded, angry, and my jaw dropped when this happened.At 38 % the rescue is complete but not all survive. (Meaning only 14-38% or ch. 6-35 of the novel was their survival story, the rest is what happens after they get back home.) From this point on the family is drowning in blame, grief, and hate. Guilt radiates the life and relationships of those who survived and a secret is kept about that fateful night. This is the bulk of the story, so for most of the book it is not very happy.Paranormal aspect- The narrator is dead and narrates all of the story for the family/characters. Included a photo so you can see what I mean. She watches them while lingering in limbo. Towards the end this narration style got repetitive.There is some minor mundane stuff that happens like watching baseball games, rescuing kittens...to help them cope with their grief. There are hard parts to read, but there are also some cheesy parts. Definitely would classify this as a young adult novel.There is cussing and sex, but not the sexy details.The ending Author's Note is a must read which explains the real story that inspired this fictional novel.

If I could give this book a lower rating I woukd. I just got this book and after a few pages it when back for a refund. I was totally offended by the adult sacrilegious language. The worst I have ever read in a book. I will never read anything by this author. I am sure that the story is interesting as the premise/theme was what made me order it, but th language is beyond offensive for Christian readers.

In an Instant is narrated by a 16-year-old girl who dies early in the book; this is not a spoiler, but rather the premise. After an intense prologue in which I wondered why everyone was picking on poor overprotective Mrs. Kaminski (to whom I totally relate) without considering that there might have been a valid reason for her concern, the first 5 chapters drift off into the bickering minutiae of daily life. Stick with it, because once the accident occurs, the intensity returns. Finn watches her family as they deal with the immediate aftermath of their horrific accident and then as they work towards putting their lives back together. Like an omnipresent narrator, she is there, including during their more intimate moments.Let me emphasis: In its more intense moments, this book is gut wrenching and at one point brought me to tears.Make sure you read the AUTHOR'S NOTE at the end about her own childhood experience on which this book is very loosely based.BOTTOM LINE: Highly recommend but this is not a casual read.

However, if I just wanted a lesson in depression there would be no need to read a book. I read to travel to other places, other view points, other narratives other than my own. Real life is depressing in and of itself. This book never swings back, never gives you the good of it all.Girl dies, life goes on without her. Isn't that just the way it is? In this book the soul of the girl goes on as a voyeur without much purpose to her hanging around.The story feels hollow.Then, at the end in the author's notes we find out this is really about her unresolved feelings about her real life Uncle Bob. Goodness, instead of channeling such anger in a book, perhaps you should have told everyone in the first place instead of carrying it around with you for so many years.I'm glad this was a first read, most certainly will be my last read with this author.

Brilliantly written, such a sad and awful tragedy for everyone involved but beautifully told with some humour, mainly from Finn, (it isn’t unremittingly bleak) and with such a depth of feeling. Ultimately, the tragedy and it’s aftermath can’t be undone, everyone is altered in some way but light does begin to shine and some good things do eventually start happen. I read this book over the weekend, it is now Monday and I can’t stop thinking about it - that’s never happened before!I haven’t mentioned the plot as you can read that in the book description and in other reviews, but I I highly recommend that you read this book.

Sensitively written story about loss, love and difficult choices. I didn’t think that I was going to like a book that used a dead narrator ( I hated The Lovely Bones) but the author uses Finn in a way that is sympathetic rather than sentimental and the characters and their stories remained in my mind long after I’d finished the book. Highly recommended.

Soooooooperb is what I noted down at the end of reading this book !! And indeed it is. Granted, there isn't a lot of cheeriness involved, though neither expected if you've read the synopsis, but it is so well done and so well presented that I for one just loved it. Despite the fact I found myself snivelling and sobbing in probably half a dozen places at least !!I picked this in all honesty as my Kindle First choice this month where not one of the offerings really stood out to me so that made it an even better experience, since I wasn't expecting to get quite that invested in it. It was all over too soon, really. If I had paid fullprice for it I'd be feeling robbed that it only took me a day to read. Hehehe.......I really just couldn't put it down.There are some terrific characters, real people here. I found your mood with each of them pretty much alters as things progress. Aside from Finn there probably isn't one of them you rolled your eyes about or cheered for at differing sections......quite a clever feat. Usually I like or intensely despise a character from the word go and stick with first impressions but this bunch keep you on your toes. My favourite character is probably Mo. Though many had heroic and not-so-heroic characteristics, she shone through for me. I really liked Finn's philosophy on alcohol, too, an highly interesting observation.But the tears.....for the carrot, for Charlie, for kittens and of course for our narrator Finn.The only things I spotted I think are wrong was writing coal and not kohl and not capitalising Greek and French so altogether this is definitely going to be one of my top reads for 2020, without a doubt.Off now to look up the author's other books to add to my wishlist.

I really enjoyed this book, I read it until I fell asleep and carried on with it as soon as I woke up. It hooked me in very quickly. The story seems quite straightforward but soon becomes deeper. A family go to their cabin in the mountains for a weekend. Mum, dad, daughter and boyfriend, other daughter and her best friend, son with special needs and even the family dog. Plus their best friends with their own daughter. But what starts out as a fun adventure soon turns a lot darker when they crash down a cliff side in terrible weather conditions. I don't want to spoil the story, so I won't talk about the aftermath. Suffice to say, you never know how you will react in extreme circumstances. The book really is very interesting and thought provoking, with a lot of sadness mixed in. The only reason for not giving five stars is that I felt the book lost some of its depth towards the end and things got wound up a bit too neatly. But it is a worthwhile read and I shall definitely look out for other books by this author.

In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn a five-star read that will transport you. This has been the hardest review I have written in a long time. I finished the novel well over a week ago, its just trying to put into words how powerful this little story is, one 16-year-old girl telling her story will just captivate you and leave you in knots. I have sat down to write this and then deleted what I had wrote so many times, as I don’t want to give any details away, but I wanted to portray how much this story needs to be read. The whole premise was a little off and I nearly didn’t bother to pick it up as it sounded a bit dreary and boring. All I will say is that it was so much more than I imagined, one incident changed so many lives so much, it makes you second guest everything. Allowing Finn to be the storyteller just made this an intense story, watching the aftermath unfold just broke me, but as you get through the story the pieces start getting put back together. Do not miss this powerful story, I suspect it is going to be a big favourite of mine this year.