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erinreed13 's review for:

An Invisible Thread by Alex Tresniowski, Valerie Salembier, Laura Schroff
3.0

While I’m a huge lover of fiction, I think there’s tremendous value in a memoir or biography, as it bridges a connection between stories and real people, how our lives hold value and a sense of purpose that is to be told.

Overall I enjoyed the metaphor behind this book, which is that there are people who are meant to be connected in this world, and that connection holds them together throughout the trials and hardships of life. I thought the telling of the story was pretty straightforward, at times very “listy” as I call it, meaning the plot is “this happened and then this happened…” and so on and so forth.

Additionally, I didn’t like the fact that Maurice, one of the main characters, was made to be the victim of the story, and Laura, the other main character, was written as his savior. I understand that the book focuses on their unusual friendship and how they both helped one another, but I wanted to hear more from Maurice’s perspective, not just a quick letter at the end.

Maybe it’s my time spent in title I urban schools, but I feel that people of color are often typecast into these stories of being poor, surrounded by drugs and crime, and virtually helpless and hopeless. While those stories are out there, there are so many more other stories of black people, and I wish they were given the opportunity to be told. Nevertheless, this story has a happy-ish ending, and being a memoir, that’s all that really matters I guess.