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Outside the Lines  By  cover art

Outside the Lines

By: Amy Hatvany
Narrated by: Candace Thaxton, Corey Brill
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Publisher's summary

A gripping novel about a woman who sets out to find the father who left her years ago, and ends up discovering herself.

When Eden was 10 years old she found her father, David, bleeding on the bathroom floor. The suicide attempt led to her parents’ divorce, and David all but vanished from Eden’s life.

Twenty years later, Eden runs a successful catering company and dreams of opening a restaurant. Since childhood, she has heard from her father only rarely, just enough to know that he’s been living on the streets and struggling with mental illness. But lately there has been no word at all. After a series of failed romantic relationships and a health scare from her mother, Eden decides it’s time to find her father, to forgive him at last, and move forward with her own life. Her search takes her to a downtown Seattle homeless shelter, and to Jack Baker, its handsome and charming director. Jack convinces Eden to volunteer her skills as a professional chef with the shelter. In return, he helps her in her quest.

As the connection between Eden and Jack grows stronger, and their investigation brings them closer to David, Eden must come to terms with her true emotions, the secrets her mother has kept from her, and the painful question of whether her father, after all these years, even wants to be found. The result is an emotionally rich and honest novel about making peace with the past - and embracing the future.

©2013 Amy Hatvany (P)2013 Simon & Schuster Audio

What listeners say about Outside the Lines

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful real life novel about mental illness

If you have a mentally ill family member, this novel will get to you..my mother in law was Bi-Polar. The effect of her disease impacted my husband his entire life-I totally understood Edens need to make her father better, to guide her father, to find the dad she wanted to have but didn't.

Spectacular writing, it made my heart hurt as I listened. Narration effective but Thaxton isn't a great narrator..still I couldn't stop listening.

A good war for someone who isn't familiar with the impact of mental illness on a family to discover its reality..

Well worth the credit.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The Agony and the Ecstasy

This is a well written novel about loving someone who suffers from a mental illness. I appreciated the realistic dilemmas faced by both the person living with the mental illness and the ones who loved him. How does one support this person without trying to control him? How does a person love one with a mental illness and not lose herself in the chaos? Does medication help or does it create as many problems as it is supposed to be solving? The book was beautifully narrated and executed. The story in no way sugarcoated the issues involved in living with mental illness but the characters were not without hope or sprinkles of joy. It was a satisfying read.(listen.)

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2 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

The bad outweighed the good.

The story line from David’s POV was great. The rest was garbage. I hated it. Another reviewer was more eloquent in her review and said: “she handles the characters of David and young Eden with beauty and grace. The treatment of present day Eden, however, feels like it belongs in a completely different book of lesser quality.” That is bang on!

While David’s then-storyline was poignant, Eden’s now-storyline feels like Young Adult Fiction. To me, it felt written by a teenager who imagines what grown-ups must be like. ESPECIALLY the conversation between the two prostitutes on the benefits of removable teeth. What a farce! AS IF!

The entire book is all about her efforts to find her long lost father, so when near the end she declares she will give up if this “one last thing” it doesn’t work it’s so OBVIOUS that she will now definitely find him; far from a red herring, it’s a dead give-away.

To be fair, I don’t appreciate books that go on and on about romance and recipes, so I would never have appreciated those parts.

Overall, the bad parts outweighed the good parts and I was disappointed.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is a Must Read / or Listen !!!

If you could sum up Outside the Lines in three words, what would they be?

It's been a long time since a book brought me to tears. Make sure you have some tissues handy for this one. It's just a wonderful story of hope between a father and a daughter.

Which scene was your favorite?

The very end broke my heart, made me cry, and smile too. Not many books can do that.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I just could not walk away from this book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story. Solid Read

Where does Outside the Lines rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the middle. I t was interesting and a good read. Not fantastic or horrible. Just a good book.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A surprisingly good story

I was not sure what time expect whiten I selected this book. It is not the type of book I have been listening to lately butI am so glad I did. With a family member living on the streets I had hoped to glean some insight a to why a person would choose this lifestyle and I did. With the story unfolding between the father and daughter, it really allowed us to see this real problem of homlessness from both sides. I definitely gained a perspective on the workings of the thoughts of a homeless person with mental health issues. While this sounds grim (and it is) the story allowed us to learn about acceptance and forgiveness in a great story format. The story was emotional at times but a very good listen and I recommend it!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • 03-10-17

I really liked it!!

I loved this story. It was super sweet and I couldn't stop, I just wanted to finish it in one sitting!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very thought provoking

It made me look at mental illness in a different way. Good character development. Sad story but very real.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

"Outside the Lines" is Awesome

Outside the Lines is a very well written story. It is engaging and realistic. Despite the heavy topic of mental illness, "Outside The Lines" doesn't leave the listener / reader feeling down. The characters are well developed and not "predictable." I enjoyed Eden & Jack's sense of humor. The author did a nice job of transitioning between Eden and David's point of view. Additionally I liked that the author used their Point of View as her way of organizing the story.
Candace and Cory's audio performance added to the story.

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    2 out of 5 stars

Blah...

What disappointed you about Outside the Lines?

the lead character Eden annoyed me...to idealistic for me

Has Outside the Lines turned you off from other books in this genre?

oh no....I will read/listen to anything...

Which scene was your favorite?

none

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

it was an overall good story...

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