Syndrie
I’d say this is really a story about broken and dysfunctional families that keep a few too many secrets, and the children that have to suffer because of it.
All of the characters here are absolutely flawed, but unfortunately they’re also quite realistic. This story really nails how cycles of abuse come to happen — especially when the abuse is more emotional than physical. Neither Chuck nor Lettie grew up with the best of role models to look up to and it definitely shows in their actions. Most of my time spent reading through Chuck and Lettie’s POV chapters I was just left feeling frustrated by their poor choices. And although it was clearly obvious that they truly wanted to do better for their own children, the reality is that it’s not always easy to do so. I was much more invested in Baby’s POV and was rooting for her to break the cycle of bad behavior and be able to really succeed in life. So overall, even though I felt frustrated a lot, I’d say the fact that the story was able to bring up any emotions at all is a testament to it having been well-written enough to cause an impact.
I went back and forth on rating this as a 3 or 4 star, but I’ve settled on 3 for two main reasons: firstly, I just had a hard time keeping track of all the characters names and exactly what their relations to each other were. There are a bunch of nicknames to remember as well as the family trees being confusing due to both confirmed and implied infidelity, with a lot of divorces and breakups leading to the introduction of stepparents that muddy the waters even more. (But I’ll fully admit that I do have a tendency to struggle with larger casts of characters, so there’s probably plenty of other readers that won’t have any problem at all keeping up with all of the names!) My second critique is that the “curse” really wasn’t that prominent in the story at all, and that’s the biggest selling point that had me wanting to pick the book up. The curse definitely has some meaningful mental and emotional effects on the characters that are able to see those premonitions, but overall it kind of felt like a tool of convenience instead of a fully integrated plot piece.
I definitely see this book resonating much harder with readers who grew up in similar situations or who were close with another person that had to face them. Those who have pretty much only seen more happy nuclear families may struggle to really identify with the story being told here, but it might still be a good read if only for the sake of opening your eyes to a different life experience.
(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, Tiny Reparations Books, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)
I’d say this is really a story about broken and dysfunctional families that keep a few too many secrets, and the children that have to suffer because of it.
All of the characters here are absolutely flawed, but unfortunately they’re also quite realistic. This story really nails how cycles of abuse come to happen — especially when the abuse is more emotional than physical. Neither Chuck nor Lettie grew up with the best of role models to look up to and it definitely shows in their actions. Most of my time spent reading through Chuck and Lettie’s POV chapters I was just left feeling frustrated by their poor choices. And although it was clearly obvious that they truly wanted to do better for their own children, the reality is that it’s not always easy to do so. I was much more invested in Baby’s POV and was rooting for her to break the cycle of bad behavior and be able to really succeed in life. So overall, even though I felt frustrated a lot, I’d say the fact that the story was able to bring up any emotions at all is a testament to it having been well-written enough to cause an impact.
I went back and forth on rating this as a 3 or 4 star, but I’ve settled on 3 for two main reasons: firstly, I just had a hard time keeping track of all the characters names and exactly what their relations to each other were. There are a bunch of nicknames to remember as well as the family trees being confusing due to both confirmed and implied infidelity, with a lot of divorces and breakups leading to the introduction of stepparents that muddy the waters even more. (But I’ll fully admit that I do have a tendency to struggle with larger casts of characters, so there’s probably plenty of other readers that won’t have any problem at all keeping up with all of the names!) My second critique is that the “curse” really wasn’t that prominent in the story at all, and that’s the biggest selling point that had me wanting to pick the book up. The curse definitely has some meaningful mental and emotional effects on the characters that are able to see those premonitions, but overall it kind of felt like a tool of convenience instead of a fully integrated plot piece.
I definitely see this book resonating much harder with readers who grew up in similar situations or who were close with another person that had to face them. Those who have pretty much only seen more happy nuclear families may struggle to really identify with the story being told here, but it might still be a good read if only for the sake of opening your eyes to a different life experience.
(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, Tiny Reparations Books, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)