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An Imperfect Plan
All it takes is one lie for the best-laid plans to go awry.
After decades of pushing away traumatic memories from childhood, Colette De Luca is ready to start a family of her own. It’ll be healthy, a wish come true, with a man she believes is the love of her life. Thankfully, she thought ahead when she was younger and froze her eggs for this very moment.
Greta O’Brien, a wealthy hedge-fund manager, is forced to confront the making of her own family when tragedy strikes her twin teenage sons. As she debates whether to confess a betrayal to her husband, the ripple effects of the family’s devastating circumstances begin to spread far beyond their home.
These two women, hopeful, disillusioned, and desperate, are on an emotional decades-long journey to motherhood by any means necessary. Strangers whose lives explode in the wake of a shocking event—and converge in more ways than one—Colette and Greta are forced to face the twists of fate and the choices they’ve made.
After decades of pushing away traumatic memories from childhood, Colette De Luca is ready to start a family of her own. It’ll be healthy, a wish come true, with a man she believes is the love of her life. Thankfully, she thought ahead when she was younger and froze her eggs for this very moment.
Greta O’Brien, a wealthy hedge-fund manager, is forced to confront the making of her own family when tragedy strikes her twin teenage sons. As she debates whether to confess a betrayal to her husband, the ripple effects of the family’s devastating circumstances begin to spread far beyond their home.
These two women, hopeful, disillusioned, and desperate, are on an emotional decades-long journey to motherhood by any means necessary. Strangers whose lives explode in the wake of a shocking event—and converge in more ways than one—Colette and Greta are forced to face the twists of fate and the choices they’ve made.
381 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2022
978 people are currently reading
4447 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
November 18, 2023
I should have read the blurb more closely before starting this, because I was frustrated by not knowing how the two POVs were connected and why we needed the long timeline. When I got it, however it was more interesting. I didn’t quite get the motivation to hide that she used donor eggs, I mean, if your husband isn’t understanding enough, why stay with him? Their relationship got on my nerves.
May 30, 2022
Audio - 5 Stars
Story -4.5 Stars
Story -4.5 Stars
August 9, 2022
I feel like I have lived a long life of suffering in a loveless marriage just reading this lol
March 18, 2022
An Imperfect Plan by Addison McKnight ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Colette DeLuca has struggled in her past but she is ready to start a family with the eggs she froze when she was younger. Greta O’Brien struggles with a secret after tragedy strikes her family. Colette and Greta may not have much in common but their individual paths to motherhood come together.
I love a family drama and this one is comprised of two of them. Both are very different stories and very different women, but they come together. Usually with books like this I look forward to one story more than the other, but not with this book! The pacing of both women’s stories mirrored each other so they were both exciting at the same time, and then when they came together it got even more interesting. There are some difficult topics in this book including miscarriage, infertility, addiction, mental health, and death. While there are hard topics, it’s an amazing story.
“It was hard to be happy when your whole life was built from a lie.”
An Imperfect Plan comes out 5/10.
Colette DeLuca has struggled in her past but she is ready to start a family with the eggs she froze when she was younger. Greta O’Brien struggles with a secret after tragedy strikes her family. Colette and Greta may not have much in common but their individual paths to motherhood come together.
I love a family drama and this one is comprised of two of them. Both are very different stories and very different women, but they come together. Usually with books like this I look forward to one story more than the other, but not with this book! The pacing of both women’s stories mirrored each other so they were both exciting at the same time, and then when they came together it got even more interesting. There are some difficult topics in this book including miscarriage, infertility, addiction, mental health, and death. While there are hard topics, it’s an amazing story.
“It was hard to be happy when your whole life was built from a lie.”
An Imperfect Plan comes out 5/10.
February 16, 2022
Stayed up super late needing to finish! Twist after twist!!
June 26, 2024
5 stars audio
4.25 stars story. This was truly riveting and although it had a happy ending, it still left me feeling a little sad and I don't like when thriller stories have the affect on me.
4.25 stars story. This was truly riveting and although it had a happy ending, it still left me feeling a little sad and I don't like when thriller stories have the affect on me.
June 19, 2022
Snail's pace
I plodded through this book hoping something would happen but when it finally did it was farfetched and disappointing.
This book could have been interesting if only the authors and their editors had shaved the first half of the book. It was two books for too long.
I plodded through this book hoping something would happen but when it finally did it was farfetched and disappointing.
This book could have been interesting if only the authors and their editors had shaved the first half of the book. It was two books for too long.
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May 20, 2022HAIKU REVIEW
Woman freezes eggs.
Another uses donor's.
Soon their lives are bound.
The debut novel with - by the way - a fantastic book cover - is by Addison McKnight, the pen name of Nicole Moleti and Krista Wells. Though I loved the book cover I must admit I initially thought I was reading a psychological thriller. This isn't. This engaging drama follows the separate lives of two women who want to have children and will do anything to achieve their aims. It tells the story of Collette, a nurse who slowly sinks deeper and deeper into drug addiction as we impotently watch (yes, pun intended!), fascinated by the car-wreck of her life unfolding and subsequent developments. Greta, the second Lead character has twins by desperate means. Her choices will eventually return to haunt her. As the novel dips between each of the two characters' stories, it develops into full-blooded family drama lasting decades which eventually merges the two storylines. With writing that is both accomplished and absorbing, I'll be on the lookout for more from the author(s).
Woman freezes eggs.
Another uses donor's.
Soon their lives are bound.
The debut novel with - by the way - a fantastic book cover - is by Addison McKnight, the pen name of Nicole Moleti and Krista Wells. Though I loved the book cover I must admit I initially thought I was reading a psychological thriller. This isn't. This engaging drama follows the separate lives of two women who want to have children and will do anything to achieve their aims. It tells the story of Collette, a nurse who slowly sinks deeper and deeper into drug addiction as we impotently watch (yes, pun intended!), fascinated by the car-wreck of her life unfolding and subsequent developments. Greta, the second Lead character has twins by desperate means. Her choices will eventually return to haunt her. As the novel dips between each of the two characters' stories, it develops into full-blooded family drama lasting decades which eventually merges the two storylines. With writing that is both accomplished and absorbing, I'll be on the lookout for more from the author(s).
May 12, 2022
A page turner!
The parallel lives of Greta and Collette are bound to collide…you just aren’t sure exactly how! This story reminds you that the search for a perfect life can’t be constructed without consequences.
The parallel lives of Greta and Collette are bound to collide…you just aren’t sure exactly how! This story reminds you that the search for a perfect life can’t be constructed without consequences.
June 28, 2022
What an amazing book! Absolutely loved it from beginning to end
June 24, 2022
Twists and turns!! I could not put this book down! It’s been awhile since a book made me stay up in the late hours trying to see what happens next!!
Great story and great read!!
Great story and great read!!
June 17, 2022
A new author for me and really enjoyed this one. We follow Greta, rich and married to Patrick. She uses donor eggs to get pregnant and has twins. But the story goes awry and we find one twin in prison for killing the other. We also follow Collette who has had a crazy life, with insanity running in the family. Read how these two families are intertwined and the scary outcome.
Fast read and on Kindle unlimited right now. A real page turner with a surprise ending.
#fourstars
Fast read and on Kindle unlimited right now. A real page turner with a surprise ending.
#fourstars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2021
Loved this book, I couldn’t put it down! Cait wait to read more from this author. Five stars!!!!!
May 17, 2022
A crazy page turner with so many twists and turns! By the second half, I couldn’t put it down!
May 9, 2022
The stories of Collette and Greta's had my attention from the first pages and I just want to keep reading! Definitely a book you want to stay up late to read...and I have. Highly recommended!
June 4, 2022
Fast read. Could be a good book club discussion book. Characters were just unlikeable enough. Tidy ending.
January 31, 2023
A dark and twisty book but a bit too long winded. The second half of the book is what made me push through. I couldn't stand Greta or her husband and their marriage was a hot mess express. A lot of the issues in this book would have been solved with simple communication but drama sells! Colette had a good character arc and turned into the only good person in the book. It was an easy page turner but didn't WOW me.
November 27, 2021
Omg this book was great!! If you love Gone Girl snd big little lies you’ll love An Imperfect Plan. The book has me thinking about what I would do if I went to pick up my frozen eggs at 49 and they were gone! The book also had me turning the pages as fast as I could and in the end I had less of a desire for perfection! This book should definitely be a movie!
May 13, 2022
Wow, what a journey! This is a sweeping saga about family ties, trust, and the ripple effect of lies and betrayals, all wrapped up in a suspenseful page-turner. I was deeply invested in Greta and Colette’s lives and struggles, and gobsmacked when their paths merged. This is one heck of a debut, and I look forward to seeing what Addison McKnight writes next.
July 2, 2022
At first I felt that the main characters were superficial and uninteresting, but after a while I did get drawn into the story. The characters became a little more complex as time went on. The writing was pedestrian, but it was an interesting story. The alternating points of view between the two female main characters worked well.
August 4, 2022
This is not a thriller, whoever has labeled this book as a thriller, I respectfully disagree.
If I didn’t go in this book expecting so, I might have enjoyed it more, but for me it’s just a book about two women, filled with a lot of difficult topics.
TW: substance abuse, miscarriage, infertility, murder, mental health
If I didn’t go in this book expecting so, I might have enjoyed it more, but for me it’s just a book about two women, filled with a lot of difficult topics.
TW: substance abuse, miscarriage, infertility, murder, mental health
May 21, 2022
You are addicting!!! I want MORE!!!
WOW!!! I couldn't put it down!!! I may have to read it again because I was so engrossed I neglected my own duties to take care of myself. The plot structure is unique and you all didn't make any grammatical errors or I was just blindsided.
WOW!!! I couldn't put it down!!! I may have to read it again because I was so engrossed I neglected my own duties to take care of myself. The plot structure is unique and you all didn't make any grammatical errors or I was just blindsided.
February 27, 2022
A real page turner! Full of suspense and twists!
May 19, 2022
Loved the twists and turns an a bit of fun!!! Enjoyed following both stories and trying to guess what was going to happen!! I was never right! The Branch! I’ve been there!
June 9, 2022
This was one of my least favorite books of the year. It was slow reading and not the page turner I usually like. I only gave it a two star rating because the ending was good.
May 6, 2022
Phew, that is a stunning cover! After reading the summary, I was so excited to receive this ARC and couldn't wait to dive in.
From Goodreads: All it takes is one lie for the best-laid plans to go awry.
After decades of pushing away traumatic memories from childhood, Colette De Luca is ready to start a family of her own. It’ll be healthy, a wish come true, with a man she believes is the love of her life. Thankfully, she thought ahead when she was younger and froze her eggs for this very moment.
Greta O’Brien, a wealthy hedge-fund manager, is forced to confront the making of her own family when tragedy strikes her twin teenage sons. As she debates whether to confess a betrayal to her husband, the ripple effects of the family’s devastating circumstances begin to spread far beyond their home.
These two women, hopeful, disillusioned, and desperate, are on an emotional decades-long journey to motherhood by any means necessary. Strangers whose lives explode in the wake of a shocking event—and converge in more ways than one—Colette and Greta are forced to face the twists of fate and the choices they’ve made.
Simply put: I loved this book.
Both Greta and Colette's voices are engaging in different but equally-riveting ways. I wouldn't go so far to say that they are likeable characters, but I am a sucker for unlikeable and found them incredibly realistic and relatable. From childhood traumas to relationship pressures to larger picture questions of morality and redemption, An Imperfect Plan tackles these tricky areas with raw honesty and never shies away from revealing the darkness underneath. And with this unveiling, the reader is asked to reflect on their own choices and judgments, something I see spurring deep and meaningful conversations.
Crossing decades can be a tricky feat to accomplish, but the time passage was also handled well, clearly setting up the lives of these women and how they were inextricably woven together through the years. So similar, yet so different. I loved the dichotomy, seeing how each milestone was marked, and how their lives inevitably collided.
Overall, An Imperfect Plan is a brutal, heart-wrenching read that isn't afraid to tackle real issues with grace and empathy. An absolute must-read on your 2022 TBR.
Big thanks to Lake Union (and the authors) and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.
From Goodreads: All it takes is one lie for the best-laid plans to go awry.
After decades of pushing away traumatic memories from childhood, Colette De Luca is ready to start a family of her own. It’ll be healthy, a wish come true, with a man she believes is the love of her life. Thankfully, she thought ahead when she was younger and froze her eggs for this very moment.
Greta O’Brien, a wealthy hedge-fund manager, is forced to confront the making of her own family when tragedy strikes her twin teenage sons. As she debates whether to confess a betrayal to her husband, the ripple effects of the family’s devastating circumstances begin to spread far beyond their home.
These two women, hopeful, disillusioned, and desperate, are on an emotional decades-long journey to motherhood by any means necessary. Strangers whose lives explode in the wake of a shocking event—and converge in more ways than one—Colette and Greta are forced to face the twists of fate and the choices they’ve made.
Simply put: I loved this book.
Both Greta and Colette's voices are engaging in different but equally-riveting ways. I wouldn't go so far to say that they are likeable characters, but I am a sucker for unlikeable and found them incredibly realistic and relatable. From childhood traumas to relationship pressures to larger picture questions of morality and redemption, An Imperfect Plan tackles these tricky areas with raw honesty and never shies away from revealing the darkness underneath. And with this unveiling, the reader is asked to reflect on their own choices and judgments, something I see spurring deep and meaningful conversations.
Crossing decades can be a tricky feat to accomplish, but the time passage was also handled well, clearly setting up the lives of these women and how they were inextricably woven together through the years. So similar, yet so different. I loved the dichotomy, seeing how each milestone was marked, and how their lives inevitably collided.
Overall, An Imperfect Plan is a brutal, heart-wrenching read that isn't afraid to tackle real issues with grace and empathy. An absolute must-read on your 2022 TBR.
Big thanks to Lake Union (and the authors) and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.
May 19, 2022
Thank you so much to @addisonmcknightofficial for sending me the cutest package and an early copy of this book.
📚WHAT I ENJOYED:
-honestly the whole story was intriguing and I wanted to know more about Colette and Greta. How were they different? How were they connected? What was going on with the family? The kids?
-fast paced
-this was emotional and raw at times. It brought many questions up and had me thinking.
-twists and turns
-stunning cover!
-plot driven story
📚I think this book tackled a lot of questions well regarding being a mom and working, wanting to be a mom, family issues, personal issues, relationships, feeling the need to be perfect, etc. I feel like we got a good view of different opinions/concerns. I loved that! My only iff was that at times in the beginning, I felt like some things were dragged on so I felt myself quickly reading by. But, I think that this would be a great book club book!
📚WHAT I ENJOYED:
-honestly the whole story was intriguing and I wanted to know more about Colette and Greta. How were they different? How were they connected? What was going on with the family? The kids?
-fast paced
-this was emotional and raw at times. It brought many questions up and had me thinking.
-twists and turns
-stunning cover!
-plot driven story
📚I think this book tackled a lot of questions well regarding being a mom and working, wanting to be a mom, family issues, personal issues, relationships, feeling the need to be perfect, etc. I feel like we got a good view of different opinions/concerns. I loved that! My only iff was that at times in the beginning, I felt like some things were dragged on so I felt myself quickly reading by. But, I think that this would be a great book club book!
July 24, 2022
A Great Read
I usually don't give five stars to a book. This book was so well written. The characters are fleshed out and well developed. Even the minor characters made sense.
Having spent many years as a mental health professional working with individuals with severe and persistent illness this book rang true for me.
It also seems that so many women and men have need of some kind of assistance in conceiving children. Allowing for fictional license, many methods, procedures and repercussions are encountered by both Greta and Colette in a realistic manner.
I was surprised there were two authors! It worked well in the way they structured the book. I imagine each author took on one of the two different narratives in each chapter.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a great read that is also informative. Women of all ages.
I usually don't give five stars to a book. This book was so well written. The characters are fleshed out and well developed. Even the minor characters made sense.
Having spent many years as a mental health professional working with individuals with severe and persistent illness this book rang true for me.
It also seems that so many women and men have need of some kind of assistance in conceiving children. Allowing for fictional license, many methods, procedures and repercussions are encountered by both Greta and Colette in a realistic manner.
I was surprised there were two authors! It worked well in the way they structured the book. I imagine each author took on one of the two different narratives in each chapter.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a great read that is also informative. Women of all ages.
May 25, 2023
Really Good
This was a long, twisty journey. The story followed these two women for decades. For much of the book I was confused about what their connection was to each other. I didn’t mind because both of their storylines were really interesting. Their battle with fertility issues was heartbreaking. Colette went through so many bad times. I felt really bad for her. It was much harder to sympathize with Greta because she was so deceitful and shallow. When their stories intersected, the book got even better. This was such a creative way to deliver the backstory of a crime. The “evil” twin plot was a really good too. The fear of passing on mental illness from parent to child was very relatable. At times it felt like it was taking so long to get to the point, but it was such an entertaining ride to get there.
This was a long, twisty journey. The story followed these two women for decades. For much of the book I was confused about what their connection was to each other. I didn’t mind because both of their storylines were really interesting. Their battle with fertility issues was heartbreaking. Colette went through so many bad times. I felt really bad for her. It was much harder to sympathize with Greta because she was so deceitful and shallow. When their stories intersected, the book got even better. This was such a creative way to deliver the backstory of a crime. The “evil” twin plot was a really good too. The fear of passing on mental illness from parent to child was very relatable. At times it felt like it was taking so long to get to the point, but it was such an entertaining ride to get there.
May 23, 2022
A MUST READ
An absolutely riveting story of 2 different women, following their lives from childhood to midlife. They don’t know each other Their choices in life are what will bring them together, eventually. I don’t want to give spoilers, you have to read it for yourself. Actually, the audible version is fantastic. Please enjoy.
An absolutely riveting story of 2 different women, following their lives from childhood to midlife. They don’t know each other Their choices in life are what will bring them together, eventually. I don’t want to give spoilers, you have to read it for yourself. Actually, the audible version is fantastic. Please enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews