Scan barcode
siobhanward's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a surprisingly fun read for me. I did struggle a bit to get into it at first, but once I was in, I really liked it. I thought the plot was cute and I liked the interactions between the characters. The only thing that really stuck out to me as a negative was how Gabe's mental health was handled. I feel like a book being written in 2019 should have a better attitude than "um have you tried being less depressed??" because that just ain't it. I'm also just kind of over the "mental illness is scary" trope.
Despite that, I still really enjoyed this book and had a lot of fun with it. I'm looking forward to reading more from Vanderah in the future.
Despite that, I still really enjoyed this book and had a lot of fun with it. I'm looking forward to reading more from Vanderah in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction
Moderate: Animal death and Mental illness
shyleek's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I'm not a sci-fi reader but this alien book has me intrigued. The characters in this books were so well created and deep without feeling like I was reading character descriptions for 200 pages. A predictable read but in the way that you were pretty sure how it was going to end but knew it wasn't going to be easy to get there and wanted to go on the adventure with Gabe, Jo, and Ursa.
I don't have triggers when I read normally but check the trigger warnings because there is some sensitive material.
I don't have triggers when I read normally but check the trigger warnings because there is some sensitive material.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Animal death, Child death, Violence, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Blood, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Cancer, Medical content, and Infertility
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Terminal illness and Drug use
hanniontherun's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Addiction and Animal death
locust1266's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I do not understand why this book has such raving reviews at all. Not ane bit . Not even a Little.
Have you ever read a book and gone wtf did i just read at the end of it . Yeah that's how i felt about this book .
Aside form the controversial stuff this book just sucks .
This book was marketed to me as a mistery / thriller and the fuck it is not . Anyway the writing isn't the worst. i thought the writting was tolerable . And i was even liking it in the first 30% of the book . But then it becomes the shitshow that it is . I skimmed through the middle portion of the book because it was soooo boring and nothing was happening. The ending to me seemed really rushed and kinda came out of nowhere. The book is by no means a mistery . I didn't connect to any of the characters and was really glad when i finally finished it. (I do not know why i waste my Time). The characters lacked depth especially Jo . The characters were ok in the beginning but they kept getting worse . The main characters Jo and Gabriel didn't have any chemistry imo . I liked there banter in the beginning. But then it got weird they fell for each other out of nowhere. Some conflicts that the main character gab had were also solved so easily . And some characters did an complete 180. The depression rep in this book is so bad . And the worst of all this book romantacizes cheating so much . Now to the spoilery section of the review -
<Spoiler> the cheating: basically Gabriel's mom Katherine cheats on her husband. With her husbands best friend George Kinney and throughout the book there cheating is romantacizes so much . Kinney who's also married btw cheats on his wife Lynne . Who is an alcoholic. George and Katherine are ' praised for there cheating and the book almost makes it sound invetable.katherine is constantly praised for being a smart women while Lynne is dumb . George is a silent genius and aurther is arrogant this r some actual quotes from the book btw -
“When my mother got pregnant. He knew it wasn’t his because they hadn’t had sex for years. When my mother was four months pregnant with me, she made Arthur and George sit down with her and talk about what they were going to do.”
“Okay, I like Katherine even more now. That was a cool thing to do.”
Yeah so cool 😎
Why do you hate him so much now that you know the whole story? George and your mother obviously stayed with people they didn’t love to make their partners happy. Maybe they realized they shouldn’t have done that, but by then, they had children who would be hurt by a divorce. When they finally got together, they tried to do it in a way that hurt as few people as possible. Can’t you see the beauty in their sacrifices? And in a power of love that withstands so many years
What pure love!!! They made there partners so happy
“I think this story is beautiful. But really sad, too. Maybe Lynne knew George didn’t love her. Maybe that was why she started to drink.”
“That’s why there’s nothing beautiful about it. Their selfishness wrecked people’s lives.”
Their love had changed lives. That mattered to Jo.
How beautiful 😍 a love
He wants to marry my mother when Lynne dies. He asked my permission
I can't even joke about this . This disgusting man is basically waiting for his wife to die so that he can marry his mistress.
They decided against a divorce. And agreed Lynne couldn’t know because her alcoholism made her fragile. To this day George has never told his wife or two daughters.”
it would be a different thing if Lynne and Arthur both knew about it but they never fucking tell her.
I knew a woman who made love in a graveyard had to be an incredible romantic.”
He aimed a piercing stare at her.
“Love isn’t a crime, Gabe.”
“She said vows to Arthur Nash. She should have let him out instead of turning him into a cuckold—with his best friend, no less.”
“What about that? His best friend. Have you ever considered that Arthur was okay with it?”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Polygamy is common in the animal world and more common among humans than we realize.”
“So are things like infanticide and rape. Do you want to glorify those, too?”
He was not ok with it . The man was insecure about his impotency and after he found out although he was hurting he let it all go on because he thought he was to blame . Btw the cheated and only told Arthur everything after Katherine was 4 moths pregnant with Gabriel. Because they couldn't hide it anymore also this kind of love should be a crime
Hope’s Ghost. Hope Lovett, dead at age eighteen on a cold winter night in 1899. Had she ever been in love? Made love? In those days, if she was unmarried, probably not. Unlike many male poets of the past, Jo found nothing romantic in the death of a virginal young woman. Or man
This line is so funny. Like wtf do virgin deaths not matter wtf ? . Having sex isn't the end all goal of people's life u know 🤣
Hope had died at age eighteen—the day after Christmas, just before the start of a new century. It couldn’t get much sadder than that. The grave was a strange place to meet a lover.
But maybe not. Katherine was a poet. She might have seen it as a metaphor—a renewal of hope and youth—after she’d given up many dreams for her marriage and children.
Jo swept her flashlight over more faded grave markers, astounded by how many of the dead were babies and children, often buried next to the parents who’d watched them die. Maybe Katherine had been paying tribute to them. Gabe may have been conceived right there, with Hope’s ghost watching
Yay having sex Infront of the grave of children is so poetic . 😍 Gross 🤮 🤢
Ok now that we're done with that time for some info dump lacey is Arthur and Katherine's biological daughter. She hated Gabe who was the proof of her father's failures ( wtf right it's in the book I'm not lying ). She bullies Gabe as a kid they have a 20 year age difference(she's an adult she bullies a 7 year old ) and towards the end of the book her character completely changes she forgives Katherine and George and becomes besties with Gabriel who she bullied all his life . She says this toward the end of the book -
Before I left for Saint Louis, he called a family meeting. When the time came, George Kinney knocked on the door. He’d been over at his property fixing the broken doors. He was as clueless as me about what was going on. Gabe just told him to be there.”
Jo smiled. Wonder of wonders, Gabe had pulled a Katherine.
Lacey studied her face. “You knew what he was going to do?”
“I didn’t, but I can guess what he did when he got you together.”
“He told us the whole thing! About how George and my mom’s affair began and how they and my father had agreed that Gabe should never know he was George’s son. Obviously, my mom and George knew all that. But they were shocked when he told them he’d seen them make love in the forest and found out he wasn’t Arthur’s son. He said that was why he’d started hating them. And then he said the most amazing thing.”
“What?”
“He told them he forgave them. He said now that he was in love with you, he understood everything they’d done. He said he would rather have died the night the guy pointed the gun at you than watch you die. He said love like that can’t be stopped by anything, and he was happy he was born of that kind of passion
I do not by any means blame Nash for anything but... Dude noooooohhh
Also the depression rep in this book is so so bad . Gabriel is a college drop out he is kinda insecure about it. He dropped out of college because of an panic attack i think . Jo the main female lead shames him for this and questions his depression even when Gabriel tries to explain it to her <\spoiler>
This ends my rant i can't waste more of my braincells for this book . I'm so over it .
Have you ever read a book and gone wtf did i just read at the end of it . Yeah that's how i felt about this book .
Aside form the controversial stuff this book just sucks .
This book was marketed to me as a mistery / thriller and the fuck it is not . Anyway the writing isn't the worst. i thought the writting was tolerable . And i was even liking it in the first 30% of the book . But then it becomes the shitshow that it is . I skimmed through the middle portion of the book because it was soooo boring and nothing was happening. The ending to me seemed really rushed and kinda came out of nowhere. The book is by no means a mistery . I didn't connect to any of the characters and was really glad when i finally finished it. (I do not know why i waste my Time). The characters lacked depth especially Jo . The characters were ok in the beginning but they kept getting worse . The main characters Jo and Gabriel didn't have any chemistry imo . I liked there banter in the beginning. But then it got weird they fell for each other out of nowhere. Some conflicts that the main character gab had were also solved so easily . And some characters did an complete 180. The depression rep in this book is so bad . And the worst of all this book romantacizes cheating so much . Now to the spoilery section of the review -
<Spoiler> the cheating: basically Gabriel's mom Katherine cheats on her husband. With her husbands best friend George Kinney and throughout the book there cheating is romantacizes so much . Kinney who's also married btw cheats on his wife Lynne . Who is an alcoholic. George and Katherine are ' praised for there cheating and the book almost makes it sound invetable.katherine is constantly praised for being a smart women while Lynne is dumb . George is a silent genius and aurther is arrogant this r some actual quotes from the book btw -
“When my mother got pregnant. He knew it wasn’t his because they hadn’t had sex for years. When my mother was four months pregnant with me, she made Arthur and George sit down with her and talk about what they were going to do.”
“Okay, I like Katherine even more now. That was a cool thing to do.”
Yeah so cool 😎
Why do you hate him so much now that you know the whole story? George and your mother obviously stayed with people they didn’t love to make their partners happy. Maybe they realized they shouldn’t have done that, but by then, they had children who would be hurt by a divorce. When they finally got together, they tried to do it in a way that hurt as few people as possible. Can’t you see the beauty in their sacrifices? And in a power of love that withstands so many years
What pure love!!! They made there partners so happy
“I think this story is beautiful. But really sad, too. Maybe Lynne knew George didn’t love her. Maybe that was why she started to drink.”
“That’s why there’s nothing beautiful about it. Their selfishness wrecked people’s lives.”
Their love had changed lives. That mattered to Jo.
How beautiful 😍 a love
He wants to marry my mother when Lynne dies. He asked my permission
I can't even joke about this . This disgusting man is basically waiting for his wife to die so that he can marry his mistress.
They decided against a divorce. And agreed Lynne couldn’t know because her alcoholism made her fragile. To this day George has never told his wife or two daughters.”
it would be a different thing if Lynne and Arthur both knew about it but they never fucking tell her.
I knew a woman who made love in a graveyard had to be an incredible romantic.”
He aimed a piercing stare at her.
“Love isn’t a crime, Gabe.”
“She said vows to Arthur Nash. She should have let him out instead of turning him into a cuckold—with his best friend, no less.”
“What about that? His best friend. Have you ever considered that Arthur was okay with it?”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Polygamy is common in the animal world and more common among humans than we realize.”
“So are things like infanticide and rape. Do you want to glorify those, too?”
He was not ok with it . The man was insecure about his impotency and after he found out although he was hurting he let it all go on because he thought he was to blame . Btw the cheated and only told Arthur everything after Katherine was 4 moths pregnant with Gabriel. Because they couldn't hide it anymore also this kind of love should be a crime
Hope’s Ghost. Hope Lovett, dead at age eighteen on a cold winter night in 1899. Had she ever been in love? Made love? In those days, if she was unmarried, probably not. Unlike many male poets of the past, Jo found nothing romantic in the death of a virginal young woman. Or man
This line is so funny. Like wtf do virgin deaths not matter wtf ? . Having sex isn't the end all goal of people's life u know 🤣
Hope had died at age eighteen—the day after Christmas, just before the start of a new century. It couldn’t get much sadder than that. The grave was a strange place to meet a lover.
But maybe not. Katherine was a poet. She might have seen it as a metaphor—a renewal of hope and youth—after she’d given up many dreams for her marriage and children.
Jo swept her flashlight over more faded grave markers, astounded by how many of the dead were babies and children, often buried next to the parents who’d watched them die. Maybe Katherine had been paying tribute to them. Gabe may have been conceived right there, with Hope’s ghost watching
Yay having sex Infront of the grave of children is so poetic . 😍 Gross 🤮 🤢
Ok now that we're done with that time for some info dump lacey is Arthur and Katherine's biological daughter. She hated Gabe who was the proof of her father's failures ( wtf right it's in the book I'm not lying ). She bullies Gabe as a kid they have a 20 year age difference(she's an adult she bullies a 7 year old ) and towards the end of the book her character completely changes she forgives Katherine and George and becomes besties with Gabriel who she bullied all his life . She says this toward the end of the book -
Before I left for Saint Louis, he called a family meeting. When the time came, George Kinney knocked on the door. He’d been over at his property fixing the broken doors. He was as clueless as me about what was going on. Gabe just told him to be there.”
Jo smiled. Wonder of wonders, Gabe had pulled a Katherine.
Lacey studied her face. “You knew what he was going to do?”
“I didn’t, but I can guess what he did when he got you together.”
“He told us the whole thing! About how George and my mom’s affair began and how they and my father had agreed that Gabe should never know he was George’s son. Obviously, my mom and George knew all that. But they were shocked when he told them he’d seen them make love in the forest and found out he wasn’t Arthur’s son. He said that was why he’d started hating them. And then he said the most amazing thing.”
“What?”
“He told them he forgave them. He said now that he was in love with you, he understood everything they’d done. He said he would rather have died the night the guy pointed the gun at you than watch you die. He said love like that can’t be stopped by anything, and he was happy he was born of that kind of passion
I do not by any means blame Nash for anything but... Dude noooooohhh
Also the depression rep in this book is so so bad . Gabriel is a college drop out he is kinda insecure about it. He dropped out of college because of an panic attack i think . Jo the main female lead shames him for this and questions his depression even when Gabriel tries to explain it to her <\spoiler>
This ends my rant i can't waste more of my braincells for this book . I'm so over it .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Drug abuse and Addiction
eheath08's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Cancer, and Child abuse
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Addiction
nicolaparfitt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Animal death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Abandonment, and Gun violence
kylieqrada's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I didn't think I was gonna like this at first, just based on the way the beginning was written. I'm very happy to have been proven wrong, and I'll chock the initial reaction up to the debut novel learning curve. This book made me FEEL THINGS. It explored trauma from so many different angles, all of them nuanced and raw without being exploitative. It made me love a libertarian gun-advocate hero?? In other words, this book performs miracles. Five of them, to be exact. 🤭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Animal death
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Addiction
oceanxbluess's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Ornithologist and cancer survivor Joanna Teale spends the summer in rural Illinois, renting out a cabin in the woods, to study nesting success of the local Indigo Buntings (which are real & beautiful - look them up!)
One evening after work, Jo returns home to a lone girl, called Ursa, on her doorstep claiming to be from another planet sent to Earth to witness 5 miracles before she can return home. Jo & her neighbour Gabe spend the summer trying to figure out how to help this mysterious child.
This book wasn’t anything like I expected it to be, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story and I didn’t want to stop reading! It’s very fast paced, with a lot going on pretty much the whole way through the book, and almost all of the characters were loveable and relatable.
Jo was my favourite character. Her ornithology work is perfectly intertwined with the story - I loved all of the details of her nest sites and surveys.
This was such a heartwarming read, filled with love, family and compassion, whilst also satisfying my thirst for nature/environmental fiction.
For fans of: Once Upon A River, Sharks In The Time Of Saviours, Where The Crawdads Sing.
There are quite a lot of heavy topics, so I would recommend checking the content warnings before reading.
One evening after work, Jo returns home to a lone girl, called Ursa, on her doorstep claiming to be from another planet sent to Earth to witness 5 miracles before she can return home. Jo & her neighbour Gabe spend the summer trying to figure out how to help this mysterious child.
This book wasn’t anything like I expected it to be, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story and I didn’t want to stop reading! It’s very fast paced, with a lot going on pretty much the whole way through the book, and almost all of the characters were loveable and relatable.
Jo was my favourite character. Her ornithology work is perfectly intertwined with the story - I loved all of the details of her nest sites and surveys.
This was such a heartwarming read, filled with love, family and compassion, whilst also satisfying my thirst for nature/environmental fiction.
For fans of: Once Upon A River, Sharks In The Time Of Saviours, Where The Crawdads Sing.
There are quite a lot of heavy topics, so I would recommend checking the content warnings before reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Child abuse
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
sierracook14's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
jo_lzr's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence