camilarussell 's review for:

Our Little World by Karen Winn

3.0

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Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group/Dutton for this arc. 

In this coming of age novel set in the 80s in New Jersey, we follow the twelve-year-old Bee and the relationship she has with her younger sister, Audrina. At the beginning of the book the narrator tells us that Audrina has died but only at the end we will know what happened to her. 

The story explores the relationship the protagonist has with her sister, how their lives were forever changed after the disappearance of their next door neighbor Sally, how their families dealt with this loss and how it was for her, Bee, to grow up without her sister some years later. Secrets, guilty, jealousy, how heavy are the burdens someone carries throughout her life? 

The story is well-written and I liked to see the relationship between the sisters and the closure the lasts chapters give to the story. This book makes you think how the individual is shaped by the family and the environment he/she grew up in. I felt for Bee, I tried to understand her actions and feelings, I got attached to her. I believe this is what you are suppose to feel while reading a book, and Our Little World does just that. It is a good debut novel.