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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
For a debut author this book is wonderful. I mentioned, when I first started reading it how it just pulled me in. That feeling never stopped, from first page through to the last.
It's a book about acceptance as well as forgiveness. It's a book about becoming better, about realizing that we need to rise above. Most of all it's about love, chosen families and hope. Hope that it'll all be OK, that we will embrace instances that occur in life only to help us become better versions of ourselves.
It is not at all sugary saccharine sweetness throughout. It's messy, parts are uncomfortable, like life. Ms. Tompkins writing is lush and seemingly effortless. Her characters are well fleshed out and I'm sure I've had people in my life a lot like these people. I think this book will stay with me for some time. I look forward to hearing more from this author.
It's a book about acceptance as well as forgiveness. It's a book about becoming better, about realizing that we need to rise above. Most of all it's about love, chosen families and hope. Hope that it'll all be OK, that we will embrace instances that occur in life only to help us become better versions of ourselves.
It is not at all sugary saccharine sweetness throughout. It's messy, parts are uncomfortable, like life. Ms. Tompkins writing is lush and seemingly effortless. Her characters are well fleshed out and I'm sure I've had people in my life a lot like these people. I think this book will stay with me for some time. I look forward to hearing more from this author.
I feel like I don’t know how to describe this book or what to say about it…but not mad I read it! I liked how human many of the characters felt, but don’t feel like I ever understood Daniel as well as I would have liked.
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Honestly I did not care much for this book. I found that the only parts I enjoyed were Rufus as a manifestation of hope, which then transferred to the Evangeline's baby, as well as the exploration of the Quaker faith through Isaac. I disliked that nearly every character had a tragic background, because I felt like it truly put the characters through too much pain throughout the course of the novel.
I think having 3 points of view, often times of the same event, made the book drag and ultimately redundant. I think this book would have benefited from being condensed, it did drag and I think many of the second and third act twists did not have significant pay off to justify the increase in page length.
Overall not my favorite read or necessarily one I enjoyed, but I can understand why people would gravitate towards this book.
I think having 3 points of view, often times of the same event, made the book drag and ultimately redundant. I think this book would have benefited from being condensed, it did drag and I think many of the second and third act twists did not have significant pay off to justify the increase in page length.
Overall not my favorite read or necessarily one I enjoyed, but I can understand why people would gravitate towards this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment
TW: assault, violence against women
TL;DR: Do not read this book. Lol
One of the recurring themes in the book is forgiveness towards men who are violent against women.
TL;DR: Do not read this book. Lol
One of the recurring themes in the book is forgiveness towards men who are violent against women.
excellent book. good change of pace from what I've been reading. sad, insightful, hopeful
Peeling the onion of the human experience
Well told story with believably flawed characters in a small town setting. Proof that Families aren’t always defined by blood relation
Well told story with believably flawed characters in a small town setting. Proof that Families aren’t always defined by blood relation
2.5 stars. There were two dog deaths that really got to me. The characters’ reactions to events seemed kind of off. Issac’s character development seemed to backtrack at the end. Daniel assaults Evangeline and it’s kind of dismissed. The story felt a bit disjointed.
I picked this one up because of the cover.
I picked this one up because of the cover.
4.5 - To sum this book up in just a few words: Gripping, tragic, heartbreaking, poetic.
It was definitely a tough one to read (TW: graphic scenes, rape, teen pregnancy, murder, alcohol abuse, animal cruelty, suicide, domestic violence), but I found myself so invested in the story and the characters that I stayed up way too late to finish this book way too many nights in a row. None of the characters are very likeable, but that seemed to be part of the appeal for me - is anyone in this world all good or bad? Aren't we all a little both? This is a must-read for the feelers and the healers of the world, those who desire to understand and learn all they can about generational trauma and universal pain. There is plenty here to go around.
So many great one-liners, but I'll leave my favorite here: "Every mother screws up her children one way or another. It's up to you whether you stay that way."
It was definitely a tough one to read (TW: graphic scenes, rape, teen pregnancy, murder, alcohol abuse, animal cruelty, suicide, domestic violence), but I found myself so invested in the story and the characters that I stayed up way too late to finish this book way too many nights in a row. None of the characters are very likeable, but that seemed to be part of the appeal for me - is anyone in this world all good or bad? Aren't we all a little both? This is a must-read for the feelers and the healers of the world, those who desire to understand and learn all they can about generational trauma and universal pain. There is plenty here to go around.
So many great one-liners, but I'll leave my favorite here: "Every mother screws up her children one way or another. It's up to you whether you stay that way."
A very good novel about what can happen after loss. Some story lines felt unfinished but overall a good novel
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
To me it feels like this book was trying very hard to be emotional and to tell the story of loss and grief and new life but instead it just fell flat.
Getting the point of view from three different characters all telling their own specific thoughts and feelings that came from the specific actions of eachother was so obnoxious and felt like the author almost thought she needed to spell out everything to us instead of allowing the reader to piece the story together through subtext and context clues. Giving us everyone's feelings and thoughts doesn't allow the reader to feel anything the narrators are feeling because we are always being told. If character a lies to character b I want to feel the shock and betrayals of the lie WITH character b. Not turn to the next chapter and have character a explain that they are lying, and why they are lying.
The story wasn't awful. But it definitly could have been 200 pages shorter. It felt like twists and turns were thrown in, not as a part of the story, but as a way to hit the page requirement.
Getting the point of view from three different characters all telling their own specific thoughts and feelings that came from the specific actions of eachother was so obnoxious and felt like the author almost thought she needed to spell out everything to us instead of allowing the reader to piece the story together through subtext and context clues. Giving us everyone's feelings and thoughts doesn't allow the reader to feel anything the narrators are feeling because we are always being told. If character a lies to character b I want to feel the shock and betrayals of the lie WITH character b. Not turn to the next chapter and have character a explain that they are lying, and why they are lying.
The story wasn't awful. But it definitly could have been 200 pages shorter. It felt like twists and turns were thrown in, not as a part of the story, but as a way to hit the page requirement.