Make it Stay by Joan Frank
Published by The Permanent Press
Review copy provided by the publisher in conjunction with TLC Book Tours
Married couple Rachel and Neil are preparing dinner for some friends one evening in their home in Southern California when Neil decides to tell Rachel the backstory of their dinner guests, the Spenders. Mike and Tilda Spender have led an extremely strange life, with Mike deceiving Tilda for years, Tilda raging against him when she discovered his betrayal, and in the middle of it all they somehow produced a beautiful, intelligent daughter named Addie. As Rachel hears the truth about these people she’s known for years, she realizes that their catastrophic lives may actually affect her own marriage and future.
Make it Stay has quite an interesting structure to it – the book is almost a story within a story. We have the present-day Rachel and Neil, and then we have the entire history of Mike and Tilda’s marriage, Neil’s friendship to the two of them, and how everything that happened in the past brings us back to the present-day. It is a unique way to tell a story, but I do think that in this case, it worked. I remained engaged with Rachel and Neil as characters while also feeling the need to find out more about Mike and Tilda’s history.
These characters are not people I would want to ever be friends with. Mike and Tilda are truly not nice people, they are incredibly strange individuals, especially Tilda, and Mike is simply a deceitful person. I really didn’t like them at all and I couldn’t help but wonder why Neil and Rachel had continued this friendship with them over the years. Unfortunately, I felt that I didn’t get to know Neil and Rachel very well throughout the book, as it was so focused on Mike and Tilda. That’s quite a shame, honestly, because what I did get from Neil and Rachel is that, although they definitely are not perfect, they seemed like lovely people and I was interested in understanding them better. This is a short book, though, and most of the meat of the story is spent on Mike and Tilda’s story.
While I enjoyed Make it Stay while I was reading it, I have to admit that ultimately I found it forgettable. Not that it’s a bad book or that I didn’t like it by any means, just that I can tell this isn’t going to be one of the novels that will stick with me for very long. But I did really enjoy the writing and the structure, so I would be open to reading something more by this author. Would I recommend Make it Stay? I’m not really sure. I liked it well enough but for me there wasn’t that special something that really makes a novel. If you’re interested in the unique structure of this book as well as Frank’s ability to make me continue reading about characters I hate, go for it. Otherwise, maybe choose a different novel instead.
Book Addiction 
I totally get it. It is intriguing enough to see to the end, but in a week or a month, you won’t remember the details and ultimately probably forget the name of the book. I’ve read so many of these.
I admit how the author goes about telling the story is unique. And I’m a sucker for seeing plot lines unravel in odd ways. Still, might not be my type of thing either.
The structure of the narrative sounds interesting, but I have so much else to read that I don’t know if I’ll plan on reading this one.
I don’t think I would read this one based on your comments. There have been too many books in my past that have been forgettable, and it’s something that bugs me. I think I would prefer to skip this one in favor of something that is a bit more memorable, and with likable characters to boot! I do apprecatie your candid review though!
Darn, I’m sorry that this one didn’t turn out to be a favorite for you, but thanks for being on the tour.
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I agree the characters are not all that likable – I didn’t really even like Neil or Rae either! But, I do think it is the mark of a talented author that Frank was able to keep me reading despite her unlikable characters. I thought Rae and Neil’s friendship with Mike and Tilda survived solely because of Neil…had it been up to Rae, I think it never would have lasted at all. I also found Rae’s narration a bit unreliable – I am not sure we got the whole picture of Tilda other than we know Rae didn’t like her! I bet this would make a good book club pick.