There was a lot of attention surrounding this book, I want to say somewhere around 2020 or 2021, and like many others, I bought the book and added it to my shelf. And on my shelf, it sat until February of this year when I dusted it off and threw it into my backpack ahead of my travels to the other side of the country for a Lewis Capaldi concert.
So, I’m sitting here with my book journal open to one side trying to figure out how to structure my thoughts. Looking at it also made me realize I need to get Post-it notes for it, there just isn’t enough space for me to fully note down what I want to (I tend to be quite thorough with notes – the curse of a Literature graduate).
Another curse is starting this book three (almost four) months ago, getting about halfway, and dropping it only to pick it up and finish it in a handful of days. All in all, I guess that makes it a relatively quick read, 50% was read across 12 hours on trains, and the remainder of it on my couch so if you wanted to, I’m sure you could get through it in 24 hours (I know that many probably did). The plot is far from difficult, it’s relatively easy to follow and the pool of characters isn’t large so you won’t run into a situation where you don’t entirely know who’s who – it’s the little things but sometimes the web of character an author weaves, especially in mysteries, makes it a little challenging, and here, Owens sticks to a single protagonist that has a handful of people around her that are not easily mistakable for one another.
I don’t know what to think of this book. Part of me liked it and enjoyed the mild suspense that was threaded throughout it as chapters alternated between the past and present of the characters’ life. It’s not the most cheerful of plots, the protagonist faces hardship after hardship and you really start feeling for them, so by the end, you truly believe that it really is the people against her and don’t know until the very end what the real story was of the mysterious passing of one of the well-liked gentlemen in the town.
The action of the novel is relatively slow-paced, nothing really comes at you out of the left field, the aforementioned past and present POVs aid with that. It’s a simple novel, but very emotive, the loneliness that the protagonist, Kya, feels is transcribed in such a way that the words have the power to make your own heart clench. While reading the feelings are all carried across the pages like they are through Kya’s life that you get a front-row seat as well.
My three-star rating stems from … I don’t actually know what it stems from, but I don’t often rate books 5 stars unless I felt something shift within me, which I didn’t really feel here. It’s not a bad book, it’s easy to read and easy to follow, but it was missing some oomph factor that would have bumped it up to a four for me. Would I recommend it? To some readers yes, and to others, no; like with anything, I try to tailor my suggestions to what I am already aware that the person likes.
aga is reading 