The story is told from the first-person perspective of Alicia, a mom in her fifties who is struggling through life between work and trying to raise her Down syndrome daughter by herself. It is a nice decision to have chosen this point of view; it makes things seem much more interesting. As an added bonus, sometimes the reader gets to hear things from Chloe's perspective, written the way she would talk.
It was nice to hear all of Alicia's thoughts, and it made you feel for her and the struggles she went through. Her personality did seem a little stale through further progression.
When beginning this book, dealing with Chloe's character was a very annoying experience. It was annoying enough to almost stop me from reading the rest of the book, until I realized how it had enhanced the experience instead of damaged it, like I had previously thought. You feel as if you were experiencing the same things Alicia is - annoyances, times of the laughter, and everything else.
Everything was well written, with a perfect amount of detail given. Sometimes the characters felt a little underdeveloped though. The plot was always had some interesting twists throughout, although things did seem to move rather slow.
Just Like Other Daughters may not appeal to everyone, especially to those who are not used to reading about children with Down syndrome and other mental disabilities. The book perfectly captures their essence, but may do so too well to make the book seem a little annoying. Some parts may feel a little rushed, but that does not deter the overall fact that it is an interesting read.
Interested? Get a preview of the book and buy it here.
