Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Berry Pickers

I wanted to love this book, but it just didn't do it for me. There was no suspense or unexpected plot twist. I knew within the first few chapters what had happened, so it was just waiting for the whole rest of the book for the characters to figure it out. Love the setting in Downeast Maine & Atlantic Canada, and the characters were sweet. But not as engaging a read as I'd hoped.

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bookishevy's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

During the summer of 1962, 4-year-old Ruthie vanishes weeks after her family arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the season. The last person to see her is Joe, her 6-year-old brother.

The story is told from two perspectives.

Joe, who is now in palliative care at 56 and still devastated over his sister’s disappearance, narrates how his family coped with the grief of missing Ruthie; and Norma, who recounts growing up as the only child in an affluent family in Maine, with a cold father and a bias, domineering mother who constantly tries to convince her that the recurring visions she has that feel like memories are just dreams.

Norma is obviously Ruthie. This isn't a mystery for the reader, who Norma takes on an emotional journey as she unravels her family's secret. You get the sense that she knows there's something her parents aren't telling her, but her intuition hasn't prepared her for the magnitude of the truth.

I tried having empathy for the woman who raised Norma, but her grief doesn't make it okay to snatch up someone else's child. It was more her beliefs about Native Americans that made her think Ruthie needed saving. She pays for what she did in guilt and spends the rest of her life looking over her shoulder, worrying if someone will take Norma away.

In Nova Scotia, Joe suffers with his own guilt. He struggles the most with Ruthie's disappearance and other losses the family endures because he feels most responsible. His trauma leads to self-medication with alcohol and he rages against people he loves, leading to self-alienation.

But if Norma learns the truth, maybe she could reunite with her family and feel the love that was absent during her upbringing and give Joe some closure before he crosses over.

I was in shambles 😩

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bites_of_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The story of Ruthie and Joe is so sad and so necessary. I loved the writing and the complex characters. It would be easy to be set against the kidnapping family, but even with those characters, there was complexity throughout the book.
Ruthie's journey is hard to read, mostly because of the gaslighting that she endures. I think many things did happen to her and she didn't get to have much agency, but that felt like a big part of the point of the story in this case.
Joe was a potentially unlikeable character who did grow for me and his story is truly heartbreaking. His emotional journey was difficult to connect to at times but there were certain moments that were so heartfelt and real for me that I couldn't help but want to just wrap him up in a blanket.
I'd love to read more of Peters' books! I simply loved her writing, at times I was so wrapped up in it that I did forget everything that was going on around me. That's a great book for me!

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tomcoppola's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! I believe this is the first novel by Amanda Peters and I think she did a great job capturing this story. This book can be sad but reflective and leaves the reader questioning if the main character lived a better life after being kidnapped, despite the lies and secret from her new family. This book nearly made me cry more than once. I think the author has a great ability to convey emotions!

After recently getting married at Acadia National Park in Maine and having a very small amount of Native American ancestry in my blood, I figured this would be a good book to read. I am glad I chose it!

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swamp__hag's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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bellarosereads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Although you sort of know the end from the start, I sobbed through the last 30 pages or so.

Overall, while I was interested in Norma/Ruthie's story in terms of how she ended up learning the truth but not as much what happened to her. I found Joe's inner life and the ramifications of Ruthie's disappearance and his other life mistakes and tragedies more compelling.

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smashbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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