When I started this one, I wondered if I'd finish it because the beginning was so confusing. Dealing with mental illness IS confusing and trying to follow the "logic?" difficult.
Then as Tabitha returns home, the plot becomes more and more interesting. Clearer? No. This is one of those books in which you truly do not know what to expect next.
The characters are interesting, and the reader quickly becomes involved with the lives of Gordo and Barrett and their support of Tabitha. The suspicious death of Tabitha's cousin Davy unites them, and the multiple plot twists are provocative.
The background of a dysfunctional family is revealed slowly with each twist throwing the reader off again. Barrett's girls Willow and Sorrell, and Tabitha's son Albie, and eventually, another teenager become a lighter, positive element as the Muire family secrets and lies gradually surface.
I don't know how the author kept up with all of twists; there were points when I just had to accept them because they came so fast and thick. You aren't going to be able to predict them all even when you think you can.
I couldn't put it down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this one.
Read in April. Blog review scheduled for May 22.
Publication date: June 4, 2024 341 pages.
I'm still having trouble maintaining focus for reading. I'm blaming insomnia. This sounds good, though.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of McPherson's books, but both The Child Garden and Quiet Neighbors sound intriguing. Have you read either of those? More importantly, did you like them?
ReplyDeleteI've read and reviewed both of these several years ago, and yes, I liked both of them!
DeleteI seem to have less and less patience as the years go by, and one of the things that really bugs me is still being confused or "unclear" about a plot line at the midway point of a book. By that point, I'm hoping that I've focused enough to be able to start thinking along with the author and can see things starting to fall into place. I'm not sure this one's for me, but I will be looking at her others to see what those sound like.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning was a little confusing, but the rest was very interesting even if I couldn't predict the outcome. :)
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