The Story Of You By Katy Regan

[amazon_link id=”B00DTKPQH0″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Story Of You’ is the latest book by Katy Regan.

There is no story of me without the story of you. I want to explain it all to you. How this happened. How that summer – the summer I was 16 – made me the person I am today. I want to share my memories with you: the happy memories are like sunbursts, sparkling on the sea. But then, like a current dragging me under, there’s that summer of 1997.

The summer my life exploded.
The summer I had to grow up.
The summer you came into my life.

And so this is the story of you.

‘The Story Of You’ is a story of a woman struggling with life and a couple wanting to give their relationship another chance.

The story is seen through the narrative of the leading lady Robyn. The middle daughter of three sisters, her life has never been the same since her mother dies and her father so quickly moved on and forged a new relationship with a woman who is the polar opposite of their mother. The daughters relationship detoriate with their father, all distancing themselves and keeping secrets. Through the story, it is told in the past tense. There are flashbacks to the summer, seventeen years ago that changed Robyn’s life. She met and fell in love with Joe, the love of her life and thought that she would spend the rest of her life with him but fate had different idea. Fast forward to now and Joe gets back in touch with Robyn, when his own mother dies and requests for Robyn to attend the funeral. Having been there when her mother died, Robyn returns home and all the feelings that she thought had long since been buried and gone, resurface and finds herself reminiscing with Joe, remembering the good times when death didn’t get in the way. But things step further, when they end up together resulting in Robyn becoming pregnant. Joe is delighted at the thought of giving their relationship another go, whilst Robyn is terrified that history is going to repeat itself.

Robyn is a psychiatric nurse, working with people that she see as more than patients and wants to create trusting and safe relationships with them so she properly help them with their issues. Robyn has problems of her own, a past that won’t leave her alone and is constantly in her thoughts and causes her to have secret panic attacks, especially with an unexpected pregnancy, she is terrified that something will go wrong. Hiding her panic attacks, insecurity and flashbacks from her past, Robyn has more in common with the patients than she lets on and that is why she has gets on so well with them. A caring, considerate character and a lot more patience and understanding than her fellow colleagues. She has a particularly heartwarming relationship with a young woman called Grace, a troubled woman who has bad episodes brought on by her abusive past. Grace is outspoken and gruff, but has a soft sweet side when talking about her daughter who was taken away from her. The main love interest in the story is Joe, a man who has never let his love for Robyn waver. He is fun and vibrant and distracts her from the fears in life.

Another interesting addition, is the letters that Robyn writes throughout the story, confiding worries and remembering times past, these inclusions in the story adds a sweet sentiment to the story. At the start I thought it wasn’t terribly clear who the ‘you’ was in the story but thought that the ending chapter, it was revealed and captivated the innocence of the story wonderfully.

With one of the most prettiest cover of recent times, this book is a beautifully written story that is an compelling and an emotional tale, which highlights serious issues as teenage pregnancy, rape and mental health. ‘The Story Of You’ is a story warm that flows at a gentle pace and is filled with heartwarming characters, witty dialogue and tells the story of moving on and second chances.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”B00DTKPQH0″ target=”_blank” ]The Story of You[/amazon_link] and will be available in paperback from 25th September 2014.