Alex Fox is a lady of lists. A mother of two and a driven career woman, she has a lot on her plate. She about to go into surgery to donate one of her kidneys to her husband Sam. Sam is desperately ill and this is the only chance to save him. This heart-wrenching tale of Alex, Sam and their daughters Jenna and Izzy was one of the best reads I've come across in recent times. Such a relatable story of how the past shapes our present, of modern lives and the challenges that gave us. I found the characters intensly relatable, I could feel Alex's anguish, frustrations and need for control, I could feel Izzy's confusion, the need to appear strong for her mother.. A beautiful book, an un-put-downable one, one which will stay with me awhile.

The Rest of Me was such an uplifting book that had me gripped throughout, I really enjoyed it.

Whilst there were some parts that got a bit in my nerves (e.g. climbing a rope in PE with a boot on a broken ankle was just one of several examples), I got really involved with Alex and Izzy as they told their stories. There were times I wanted to shake Alex and Sam but I really felt for them during Izzy’s experiences.
There were a few times when I doubted the outcome would be what it was and a few late nights as I tried to keep reading, wanting to know what happened next.

Ugh! This book had such potential!! As a wife that is often a caretaker for my disabled veteran husband, I was intrigued by the description on the back of the book. I felt a storyline built around a wife who gives her husband a kidney and then deals with the physical and emotional aftermath lent itself to deep character development and a subtle but very real study of “for better or worse, in sickness and in health”. That was NOT this book. This is a book about bullying. The kidney premise is really only about 10%, if that, of the story. It’s as if the author wanted to write two different books but somehow got confused and made them into one. I keep asking myself if I would have liked the book any better if it had been touted as a book on bullying, but the truth is, it still would have been a two-star book for me. The author “dumbed down” these characters for her audience, making their feelings and actions so black and white that it felt not only unrealistic but also insulting, as if we couldn’t read into the subtleties of a character who had the very human qualities of mixed emotions and paradoxical behaviors. I won’t be reading this author again. My Book Club hated it.

I don't even know how to begin this in the hope that it will draw you to the book. I've never read anything from this woman before, but if I can find additional books of hers, I'll give them a read.

Alex Fox has her act together in ways that would dazzle even the most jaded among us. She is highly organized, a list maker of epic stamina. She's the go-to woman at work who has the answers. She is self-contained, self-reliant, and very much in charge.

Those attributes were necessary when her husband, Sam, developed kidney disease and was rendered nearly helpless. Alex and her two daughters worked to hold the house together. Then they discovered that Alex was a suitable kidney donor for Sam, and soon thereafter, he was recovering nicely with her kidney. But Alex wasn't recovering so well, and the family dynamic shifted in a mammoth way when Sam became the healthy vibrant one and Alex struggled to recover for months.

But this is so much more than a book about shifting family roles. Why had Alex been so intent on being the go-to woman, the organized one the tough one? What was it in her past that made her thus? And then there's ten-year-old Izzy. She loves soccer, and she's good at it. She has a solid chance of getting into a prestigious soccer club if her parents approve. But life at home is anything but good since the kidney operations. Mom finds herself out of work, and neither parent can cross the ever-widening chasm to one another. Worse still, things at school are grim, too. Izzy's former friend has turned on her and, with help from other girls in school, has turned Izzy's life into something worse than hell.

These plots are so well written and narrated that you will long remember this book. Marsh taps into emotions you won't even realize she can touch. I literally shed tears in the climactic portion of the book near the end and you very well may also. This is excellent writing at its best, and you'll ponder the impact of family role changes and of the past on the present. I have no idea where I picked up the recommendation for this, but I'm grateful I paid attention to that recommendation.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. This is my first book by Katie Marsh and I honestly don't think it'll be my last. It makes a nice change from the books I've been reading to one that is Modern and up to date.

I absolutely love that it starts and ends from the Childs perspective. Sometimes as an adult, it's hard to do this.

Alex is a driven woman who lives her life by lists which we get to see throughout the book.

This book actually hit home for me and made me realise that I have bottled things up for far too many years. Bullying has always been a touchy subject for me but Katie portrayed the seeds of doubt and worries brilliantly.

The characters were great and Alex no matter what she might think is a superhero.

I’d definitely recommend this to my friends.

I’ve always been a fan of women’s fiction/chic lit by British authors for some reason and this book was no exception. It was the first book I’ve read by this author, but it won’t be my last. She did a great job in creating a very realistic family with real life problems. From health issues, work stress, bullying, family struggles, this book had it all. I enjoyed each of the characters but have to say Izzy was my favorite. The sections that were from her POV were some of my favorites even though they contained some pretty heartbreaking stuff. I kept wanting to give her a big hug! Overall I really enjoyed this story and getting to know Alex, Sam, Jenna, and Izzy. I just wished they were better at communicating with one other along the way!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advanced copy!