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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In J.E. Spina’s In a Second, Athena Stone wakes up in a hospital after a violent car crash during a storm and insists her boyfriend Justin was with her, though authorities claim she was found alone. As she recovers, fragments of memories surface that point toward years of control exercised by her father, Arnold Stone, whose influence shaped her childhood and shadowed her adult relationships. When her mother, Carla, makes a life-changing decision, Justin disappears under suspicious circumstances, forcing Athena to confront the possibility that the accident was not random. Guided by Dr. Nick Jasper and supported by family physician Dr. Nettles, Athena begins piecing together what was hidden from her. As past and present collide, she must determine how much of her life was orchestrated and whether she can achieve a future beyond the reach of what was.
There are a lot of creepy dudes in the novel In a Second, and author J.E. Spina does not give any of the women who are forced to move forward an easy time of it. But move forward they do, and even when the brutality of Athena's persistent nightmares and supremely toxic masculinity rock both Athena and her mother Carla, heartening moments, like a quiet seaside dinner between three generations of women offers restoration, showing how safety can be rebuilt in small, deliberate ways after years of fear. Athena has buckets of intellectual integrity, determined to get to the truth behind the stories she has long been told. I adore her grandmother, Grace, who is gifted with sight. Grace can sense danger and disturbances at crucial moments with an awareness that feels inherent. Spina uses this beautifully with Athena by including intuition as part of her lineage. With a series of unexpected twists and accessible writing that is comfortable to follow, this is a book worth picking up. Recommended.
