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A review by liralen
The History of Us by Leah Stewart
3.0
So here's a smart choice: the very beginning of this book characterizes some of the main players of the book very well via their responses to tragedy and newfound responsibility--and then the story moves ahead and focuses on the characters, all adults now, facing the ripple effects of the same tragedy and responsibilities.
The setup of Eloise's sudden unexpected mother role is just that, setup, allowing the focus of the story to be how the characters interact with, and relate to, each other and their surroundings. More than fifteen years down the line, they are a family, but a fractured one; a family in which each person is facing in a different direction.
Of the four characters who tie the book together, and in particular of the three siblings, none is a villain. There are things to like and dislike about each, but what conflict there is is no one character's fault. It's a nice departure from books with a 'good' sibling and a 'bad' sibling -- not that there isn't a place for those books, but the boundaries and possibilities are of necessity different.
A couple of quibbles: First, three years is a long time to keep a relationship secret. I have a hard time believing that that wouldn't have become an issue much earlier. (When you're not comfortable being honest about a relationship, should you be moving in together?) Also, I found it interesting that Claire is the only one of the main characters not to have a voice in the book. In some respects it makes sense, as that makes it easier to hide her secret (and there is such a thing as having too many POV characters). At times she feels like the least developed character, though, and I wondered whether it would have helped to see things from her perspective some of the time.
But there's some nice nuance here. Eloise never regrets her decision to take care of her nieces and nephew, but that doesn't mean she doesn't resent it -- and them -- sometimes. Theo doesn't expect Eloise to act in the way her mother did, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want her to sometimes. All of the characters are in, or at some point end up in, relationships they're not certain about.
Not a life-shattering book, but solid and quite quotable. Would be three and a half stars, were half stars possible.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
The setup of Eloise's sudden unexpected mother role is just that, setup, allowing the focus of the story to be how the characters interact with, and relate to, each other and their surroundings. More than fifteen years down the line, they are a family, but a fractured one; a family in which each person is facing in a different direction.
Of the four characters who tie the book together, and in particular of the three siblings, none is a villain. There are things to like and dislike about each, but what conflict there is is no one character's fault. It's a nice departure from books with a 'good' sibling and a 'bad' sibling -- not that there isn't a place for those books, but the boundaries and possibilities are of necessity different.
A couple of quibbles: First, three years is a long time to keep a relationship secret. I have a hard time believing that that wouldn't have become an issue much earlier. (When you're not comfortable being honest about a relationship, should you be moving in together?) Also, I found it interesting that Claire is the only one of the main characters not to have a voice in the book. In some respects it makes sense, as that makes it easier to hide her secret (and there is such a thing as having too many POV characters). At times she feels like the least developed character, though, and I wondered whether it would have helped to see things from her perspective some of the time.
But there's some nice nuance here. Eloise never regrets her decision to take care of her nieces and nephew, but that doesn't mean she doesn't resent it -- and them -- sometimes. Theo doesn't expect Eloise to act in the way her mother did, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want her to sometimes. All of the characters are in, or at some point end up in, relationships they're not certain about.
Not a life-shattering book, but solid and quite quotable. Would be three and a half stars, were half stars possible.
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.