At a Glance

Title: Beyond the Point

Author: Claire Gibson

Published: April 2, 2019 by William Morrow

Page: 528

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Goodreads Rating: 4.16

Synopsis

“Three women are brought together in an enthralling story of friendship, heartbreak, and resilience. Set at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, this is an amazing debut novel.

Duty. Honor. Country. That’s West Point’s motto, and every cadet who passes through its stone gates vows to live it. But on the eve of 9/11, as Dani, Hannah and Avery face four grueling years ahead, they realize they’ll only survive if they do it together.

Everyone knows Dani is going places. With athletic talent and a brilliant mind, she navigates West Point’s predominantly male environment with wit and confidence, breaking stereotypes and embracing new friends.

Hannah’s grandfather, a legendary Army general, offers a stark warning about the dangers that lie ahead, but she moves forward anyway, letting faith guide her path. When she meets her soul mate at West Point, the future looks perfect, just as planned.

Wild child Avery moves fast and doesn’t mind breaking a few rules (and hearts) along the way. But she can’t outpace her self-doubt, and the harder she tries, the further it leads her down a treacherous path.

The world—of business, of love, and of war—awaits Dani, Hannah, and Avery beyond the gates of West Point. These three women know that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But soon, that adage no longer rings true—for their future, or their friendship. As they’re pulled in different directions, will their hard-forged bond prevail or shatter?

Beyond the Point is a heartfelt look at how our closest friends can become our fiercest battle buddies. After all, the greatest battles we fight rarely require a uniform.”

---

I have been meaning to read this book since I received it in my April Book of the Month box. I read the synopsis and immediately knew I needed to read it. Once it came in, the size of the book took me by surprise and I’m pretty sure that’s why I kept putting it off. I’m so so glad I finally got around to reading this one though. I’ll start off by saying this one gets ★★★★★, hands down for me. So here is my attempt to get you to read this book.

I grew up in a military family. Both my parents retired from the Air Force as Lieutenant Colonels and while they’re both amazing people, I’ll be focusing on my mom because this book made me think about her the entire time.

Hannah, Avery, and Dani are all athletic, smart, and ambitious. They all come from very different backgrounds but are brought together as recruits for West Point’s Women’s basketball team. Making a college basketball team is hard enough but adding in the extra requirements to get into West Point, just means these women are that much more amazing. I loved all the added detail around the girl’s lives at Westpoint. Some of there stories are similar to the stories my mom use to tell me about when she was a young female Captain in the Airforce and how much more she had to prove herself to gain respect from the ‘boys club’.

This story had less of a focus on 9/11 than I originally thought it would have. It really talks more about the uncertainty that the WestPoint students had once the attacks had happened. Ultimately it did force part of the story line, with the girl’s deployments and evens that happen there are huge for the story, but past a brief mention of the attacks they were most definitely not the center of this books.

I loved the multiple POVs we got in the book. Each of the girls took turn telling parts of the story and I think Gibson did a magnificent job in giving each of them their own distinct voice. I also found the struggles the girls went through were very real, as I felt myself struggling with similar thoughts once I graduated college.

Ah, I want to say so much more about this book but I can’t without giving away parts of the story, so my recommendation is to just read this book. It’s 600 pages long, so it is hefty but I read it in 2 days!  It’s such a unique and beautiful story that I bet you’ll love it. Get it HERE!