When Love Sticks Around by Danielle Dayney is a beautiful tribute to her bittersweet childhood consisting of moving essays on life, loss, acceptance, and everything that comes in between. Each of us has a journey that has led us to become the person we are today, and Danielle’s memoir talks about her distinct journey.
The author pens an honest account of childhood, where she grew up with her mother and stepdad Jim, finding a place for herself in the professional sphere while combating pregnancy and motherhood and dealing with her mother’s sudden illness, which led to her untimely death.
Dayney has also covered her estranged bond with the biological father- Don, who was occasionally present in her life. He bears no understanding of his daughter’s actual wishes and puts in zero effort to make amends for it, making Danielle learn and accept the hard way that little things can add up to your whole being.
Love can be a wonderful feeling if it sticks around, and Danielle has tried to capture the essence of it through her writing. This book is a subtle attempt at showcasing a void and yearning she has experienced since and her gradual accommodation. We fathom so much about her equation with her stepdad, who taught her how to ride a bike when she was little and also tried best to make her feel welcomed into his world—- though still missing a beat or two while substituting for an absent father. He provided her with a warm blanket of love and affection, cementing the fact that family is not always what you’re born into; sometimes, it is also what you gather as you walk.
The threads of step relationships have been sensitively knitted in this book, and for that, I must give Dayney the biggest hug. Just imagine how hard it must get for a child to walk through life after emerging from the ugly setup of her parents’ break-up. The split often affects the child more than the parents, with no room to voice the hurt.
Written initially with a cathartic intention to process her grief, Danielle has truly ended up with an absorbing work. She’s done an incredible job in pouring her heart out in her first book. Give When Love Sticks Around a read and allow your heart to swell a little (or maybe more) for our courageous girl.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
When Love Sticks Around by Danielle Dayney will be out on November 15, 2021, available at all leading bookstores.
To read our interview with the author Danielle Dayney, click here.
Book Details:
| Title | When Love Sticks around |
| Author | Danielle Dayney |
| Publisher | Belle Isle Books |
| Pages | 156 |
| List Price | 23.05$ |