Something Worth Saving by Sandi Ward, 2019

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A boy and his cat. It's an unconventional friendship, perhaps, but for Charlie and Lily, it works beautifully. It was Charlie who chose Lily from among all the cats in the shelter. He didn't frown, the way other humans did, when he saw her injured back leg, the legacy of a cruel previous owner. Instead, Charlie insisted on rescuing her. Now Lily wants to do the same for Charlie.

She's the only one who's seen the bruises on Charlie's body. If she knew who was hurting him, she'd scratch their eyes out. But she can't fix this by herself. Lily needs to get the rest of the family to focus on Charlie--not easy when they're wrapped up in their own problems. Charlie's mother kicked his father out weeks ago and has a new boyfriend who seems charming, but is still a stranger. Oldest son Kevin misses his father desperately. Victoria, Charlie's sister, also has someone new in her life, and Lily is decidedly suspicious. Even Charlie's father, who Lily loves dearly, is behaving strangely.

Lily knows what it's like to feel helpless. But she also knows that you don't always have to be the biggest or the strongest to fight fiercely for the ones you love . . .

(309 pages)

I hate to quit a book before I've finished it, but once in a while I just can't make myself get through a book. This is one of those times.

I like the premise: the story of a dysfunctional, separated family is told through the eyes of the family cat. Unfortunately, right out the gate I took a disliking to the narration. It's cute, the idea of having a cat tell the story, but Lily is the most un-cat-like cat I've ever read about. She acts more like a dog than the family dog does, honestly, and it's really disorienting.

I was willing to brush that aside, though, so I kept reading. I actually made it about 2/3 through the book. I pushed past the growing implication that Charlie was gay and the bad language, interested in the nuanced portrayals of Charlie's father (a hero and a cop who was injured and developed a crippling addiction to alcohol) and Victoria's boyfriend (a bad boy who is a real, flawed, hurt person who sometimes enjoys hurting others).

Then Charlie's mother slept with someone, and Lily was observing the whole thing. And describing their dialogue and everything. And that was it.

So I put the book down, and I'm not planning on picking it back up. I'd hardly recommend anyone else reads it either, which is a shame because there actually was a very strong core story about the different stories of all the people in the house as it was being torn apart. It's a nuanced tale, just such an explicit one, and it could have been so much greater.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.