Saving Toby Review

Saving Toby by Suzanne McKenna Link

Release date: August 26^th 2013

Genre: New Adult

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What they say: Loving someone through their hard fall from grace takes a lot of grit.

Hired on as a caretaker to the ailing Mrs. Faye, Claudia Chiatmetti is drawn into the lives of the widow and her son — a world where sadness lingers and old wounds run deep. Empathetic to the family's plight, Claudia is powerless against the emerging feelings she has for the unruly Toby Faye. Up close, Toby’s blue-grey eyes expose a need she cannot ignore. His dark past will test her fortitude and expose her to danger. Does Claudia have the grit to love Toby through it? 

Saving Toby is a powerful and moving debut novel set on the south shore of Long Island. It is the first book of a two-part story that follows the emotional and inspirational tale of a young couple's journey to find themselves.

*Contains strong language and explicit scenes.

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Author Spotlight:

Suzanne McKenna Link is the debut author of SAVING TOBY. The literary love story follows the moving journey of a damaged young man and his love for a girl who might just save him. An avid interest in psychology has Suzanne digging deep into the reasons for her characters' behaviors. The native Long Islander is fascinated by the how and why of people's actions. As a result, her characters come to life on the pages.

Suzanne is currently working on "Keeping Claudia," the emotional sequel and finale to Saving Toby. To keep up-to-date on Suzanne’s newest writing endeavours.

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I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: Title character Toby has returned home to look after his sick mother, but trouble always seems to find him. Every time he escapes he's drawn into his former friend's disastrous plans and fights. Toby had two sides; the caring son and love interest, combined with the short-tempered player who struggles to better himself. At first I misjudged him because of his past and his friends, but we soon learn there is far more to him and he's all about Claudia. I loved his relationship with his Mum, it helped show his vulnerable and softer side.

Claudia is the good girl with big dreams; she wants to escape her overbearing father and finish Uni in California. Claudia definitely misjudges Toby and is often very judgmental. Their relationship was both sweet, hot and really frustrating! As the story progressed I found myself getting more and more annoyed at how she seemed to keep Toby hanging. Yes, he makes a lot of mistakes but I would have liked Claudia to face their situation sooner. 

What I really liked was how Claudia knew she had to do certain things to achieve her dreams and couldn't let Toby or anybody else hold her back. It's difficult to balance because although she wants him, she needs to let him go to help both of them. BUT by doing this too much she comes across as leading him on, or as I mentioned before, keeping him hanging. Suzanne makes a very good attempt at finding this balance.

I am in two minds about Saving Toby because some parts I really enjoyed and others I wasn't so sure about (namely Claudia's indecision), but in general I enjoyed the book.

I noticed a lot of other reviewers commenting on discrimination from certain characters, but I felt Suzanne always shows this as bad. She discourages discrimination by pointing out how ridiculous certain characters were.

3.5 Stars in my Sky!

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