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A review by debi_g
I'd Give Anything by Marisa de los Santos
Full disclosure: I am a dedicated, admiring, and loyal reader of all Marisa de los Santos' novels. Her quiet, linguistically delicious writing soothes me, her plucky characters buoy me, her dialogue delights me, and her plots invite me to bask.
One defining feature of de los Santos' books is the inclusion of an observant, precocious, thoughtful, do-right child who is at ease with adults. Since I'm the parent of a child that fits that exact description, it doesn't bother me a bit.
Whole-hearted, delighfully codependent love is another characteristic of her stories. Since I've reveled in a devoted, mutually adoring, and interdependent relationship for 30 years, this doesn't bother me a bit.
This book's type of layered, tangled conflicts do differ from the author's expected tropes in a couple of ways, which also does not bother me a bit.
The complete lack of financial concern bothers me a little bit, but it does make for a pleasant escape.
As ever, I eagerly await more from Marisa de los Santos.
"What if grief isn't only missing people and being sad? What if it's just--reckoning with their being gone and with knowing they're never coming back?" (102).
"Did you stop being your old selves? Did they fall away? Were you always only the self you were in the present? Or were you, every second of your life, all the selves you'd ever been?" (150).
One defining feature of de los Santos' books is the inclusion of an observant, precocious, thoughtful, do-right child who is at ease with adults. Since I'm the parent of a child that fits that exact description, it doesn't bother me a bit.
Whole-hearted, delighfully codependent love is another characteristic of her stories. Since I've reveled in a devoted, mutually adoring, and interdependent relationship for 30 years, this doesn't bother me a bit.
This book's type of layered, tangled conflicts do differ from the author's expected tropes in a couple of ways, which also does not bother me a bit.
The complete lack of financial concern bothers me a little bit, but it does make for a pleasant escape.
As ever, I eagerly await more from Marisa de los Santos.
"What if grief isn't only missing people and being sad? What if it's just--reckoning with their being gone and with knowing they're never coming back?" (102).
"Did you stop being your old selves? Did they fall away? Were you always only the self you were in the present? Or were you, every second of your life, all the selves you'd ever been?" (150).