Another Piece of My Heart (Green)

Book Reviews
In New York Times bestseller Green’s latest (after Promises to Keep), Andi faces the difficult decision of remaining in a marriage that is being ripped apart by husband Ethan’s rebellious teen daughter, Emily. Though the wedding happened five years ago, Emily hasn’t accepted her father’s remarrying and repeatedly starts fights at home that have brought Andi to the breaking point. Emily’s rage is further fueled by drinking, drugs, and reckless casual sex, so her pregnancy comes less as a surprise than as the final straw for this floundering family. Andi’s love for Ethan and his younger daughter, Sophia, coupled with her desire for a big family and her identity as a mother, have kept Andi in the marriage, but each day Emily tears away another piece of Andi’s heart. Andi can’t break through her own upbringing and generational ties to understand what’s behind Emily’s backlashes and bad choices. Though Andi and Emily are both highly self-involved, making it difficult to like either of them, Green finds honesty in their alternating voices.
Publishers Weekly


In her latest, Green (Promises To Keep; Dune Road) takes a clear-eyed look at our idealized notions of love, family, and motherhood. Marriage-minded Andi, at the age of 37, finally meets the man of her dreams. Ethan is divorced with two daughters, but Andi is thrilled to become part of Emily and Sophia's lives. Through her own immaturities and insecurities, Emily works hard to drive a wedge between her stepmother and father, causing resentments within the family. Matters intensify when the teenaged Emily becomes pregnant, and Andi realizes that the chances of having her own child are dwindling as Ethan's desire wanes. How can Andi put her own wishes and dreams aside while enduring Emily's vitriol? Verdict: Green is at her finest with this compelling novel. Deeper, more complicated, and more ambitious than her previous books, it will keep readers on edge as they wait to see how these tense family dynamics play out.  —Anne M. Miskewitch, Chicago P.L.
Library Journal


Green (Promises to Keep, 2010, etc.) ramps up the emotional stakes by presenting both Andi and Emily's points of view, even as her prose is a bit on the dull and repetitive side. Topical family melodrama.
Kirkus Reviews