New Year, New Ci. Nicole Falls. 2021. 269 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.]
Usually when people say “new year, new me,” there’s a lot of personal agency at play. You know, someone wants a new job and they’ve started planning. Or they want to move and start shopping neighborhoods. Cienna doesn’t have that same fortune. Instead, her career and relationship implode unexpectedly, leaving her heading into the new year with more uncertainty than ever before.
New Year, New Ci does have a heavy focus on Cienna’s dating life, but it’s very much about how she rebuilds not just her life, but herself. More aptly, though, it shines a light on how she sometimes gets in the way of her own success — something I think most folks can relate to on some level. She’s a great example of “once bitten, twice shy,” and while it’s easy to understand why she’s like that, it’s still disappointing to watch. So the idea of crafting a “new Ci” is critical to her moving forward with her great new life.
The book is, of course, filled with drama between friends, family, coworkers, etc. Nicole Falls doesn’t disappoint when it comes to creating a story that has you pulling Cienna to get a win in spite of the obstacles that pop up to test her resolve. Luckily, there’s plenty of room for wins, between a new friend in her corner and new focus on her career.
Cienna was a hard character to read about, not because she’s a bad person, but because she’s so relatable. She’s a mirror of sorts for the problematic ways people respond to hardships. Instead of picking herself up, making all the right choices, and riding off into the sunset, she has a tough go of figuring out what her healing even looks like, let alone how she’ll get there. The result is that old habits of ignoring her gut, rationalizing things that weren’t in her best interest, or lashing out are behaviors she has to reconcile in her healing process. And as much as she may not have always wanted the changes or the accountability her new life calls for, it’s very realistic.
I appreciated that New Year, New Ci was my first book of the year. It was an apt opportunity to reflect on my own intentions and turn a more critical eye to ways I might get in my own way. While that’s not something I look for in every book I pick up, it felt appropriate here. I give this a strong recommendation!
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