4.5 STARS | Forgiving Trinity by Liz Reinhardt

Title: Forgiving Trinity
Author: Liz Reinhardt
Age Group: Young Adult
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Liz Reinhardt
Format: Kindle Edition
ASIN: B006PU8NBW
Published: December 23rd, 2011
Source: Liz Reinhardt
Events: Book Tour
Rating: ★★★★.5

At seventeen, Trinity McCabe has already made enough mistakes to fill a lifetime. Especially the one where she got high, drove a car, and almost killed a dog. And then let her friend Aidan take the blame.

She’s clean now and desperate to fix the messes she’s made, but first she’s going to have to get out of her pajamas.

As Trinity struggles to stop sleepwalking through life, she faces the painful, tingling sensation of waking up. It’s sometimes embarrassing (she really didn’t want to have lunch with Aidan’s mom), sometimes terrifying (group therapy is beyond intimidating), and sometimes, amazingly enough, pretty romantic (who’d have though Aidan would be such a great kisser?)

Trin is lucky, though—luckier than she deserves, she’s sure—and she doesn’t travel this road alone. Her family, her therapist, and her new friends are all pulling for her. And it turns out, some of them have made pretty big mistakes, too.

But before she can embrace her new life completely, Trinity has to be forgiven by the one person who is holding out the hardest: herself. It’s not easy changing everything, especially when you don’t think you deserve a second chance. Trinity might make an even bigger mess of things before she figures that out.

When the smoke clears on her latest disaster, will anyone still be standing there?

Forgiving Trinity is a much darker and serious book about addiction that I've read up to this point. There are points when the story is pretty slow, but I think that works best with the seriousness of the story. Forgiving Trinity is a really interesting story, and I loved reading from Trinity's POV as she struggles to come to terms with the events of her past and start living life again. We see this from a psychological viewpoint and what goes through the mind of a person recovering from addiction.

I really liked that Trinity wasn't the only character that needed to overcome past events. Aidan also struggles with recovering from addiction, and Ruth struggles with recovering from an assault. The fact that the two people that are closest to Trinity aren't seemingly perfect and can understand and relate to her was also appealing. In other books I've read about addiction the people closest to the one recovering seem too perfect and the one recovering feels ostracized. That's not the case in Forgiving Trinity. Trinity, Aidan, and Ruth can all find strength in each other and their commonalities.

Aidan and Trinity's relationship was really beautiful, but also really fragile. The fragility is what makes it feel real. I think that they became too close to each other too soon. Aidan was looking for an emotional connection and Trinity was looking for a physical connection, but they ended up offering each other the opposite of what they wanted. There were points when they were completely in sync, but then something would happen to put them out of sync. In the beginning of the book, Trinity and Aidan moved too fast; wanted too much and didn't offer enough. The disruption in the middle of the story is probably the best thing that could have happened for their relationship; it put things in perspective for them. By the end, they slowed down and I'm sure that they can appreciate each other more now.

Though I absolutely loved this book, this story, and these characters; this is definitely not a book for everyone. But I believe that it's worth it to give this book a shot, whether you end up liking it or not. Liz Reinhardt is an amazing writer and I look forward to checking out her other works.

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Liz Reinhardt was born and raised in the idyllic beauty of northwest NJ. A move to the subtropics of coastal Georgia with her daughter and husband left her with a newly realized taste for the beach and a bloated sunscreen budget. Right alongside these new loves is her old, steadfast affection and longing for bagels and the fast-talking foul mouths of her youth.

She loves Raisinettes, even if they aren't really candy, the Oxford comma, movies that are hilarious or feature zombies, any and all books, but especially romance (the smarter and hotter, the better), the sound of her daughter's incessantly wise and entertaining chatter, and watching her husband work on cars in the driveway.


Disclaimer: This review was originally posted in 2012 to my book blogs, Zodiac Book Reviews and A Bibliophiles Thoughts on Books.