Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

A New York Times Bestseller • A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, TIME, The A.V. Club, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar “I can’t believe how good this book is.... It’s wholly original. It’s also perfect.... Wilson writes with such a light touch.... The brilliance of the novel [is] that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming. You’re laughing so hard you don’t even realize that you’ve suddenly caught fire.” —Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of Fleishman is in Trouble, New York Times Book Review From the New York Times bestselling author of The Family Fang, a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with a remarkable ability. Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help. Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth. Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for? With white-hot wit and a big, tender heart, Kevin Wilson has written his best book yet—a most unusual story of parental love.

Honestly, the book was just kind of a fun quick read (finished it in two reading sessions). There could have been a lot more, but it was nice where it ended. It was a satisfying ending and an amusing premise.

Read in 1.5 days — fantastic book.

STFU I LOVED THIS SO MUCH, audiobook HIGHLY recommended!

I thought this book would, at the very least, be funny, but never expected it to tug on my heartstrings as well. for anyone who's working through the traumas of their childhood and wondering if they'll ever heal from it, this book is for you

Re-Read thoughts:I picked this for book club and decided to re-read it as a refresher, this time via audiobook from the library. It holds up for me! I couldn't put it down again. It's written in a relatively simple way that still manages to just convey who each character is so efficiently and move the pace along briskly. Just a fun read!———Original Review:What a wonderful book.There was something so charming about it to me. The main character isn't exactly a new archetype: the narrator who has had a tough upbringing, yet is naturally witty and intelligent, able to raise herself up, only to come crashing down at times due in part to her inability to fit in. But hey, it's a fun archetype when it's done this well. The character feels fully alive for this entire book and is just fun to spend time with. I actually thought it was really interesting that this was written by a male author and told in a first person viewpoint from a female character, with almost all the important secondary characters female as well. Maybe I don't read enough, but that seems very rare. The character relationships felt authentic to me and were very touching. I loved how the narration effortlessly jumps around in time. The narrator will recall a past event and began discussing it in the past tense, and as the scene develops, it somehow just gradually becomes the present tense, and as a reader you are just living in that moment now, completely invested in these new surroundings and it's happenings. Then suddenly you are snapped back into the real present and the weight of that event washes over you. Just beautifully done. I haven't even talked about the main thrust of this story yet, which I kind of wish I didn't know about before starting it, so I won't even mention it here even though the cover art gives it away. I'm a sucker for this kind of “magical realism” and I loved it here, I was constantly arguing with myself about what it symbolizes and how it would develop in the story. This is one of my favourite books I've read in awhile. It gives me the same feelings in a lot of ways as when I read [b:The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 1618 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479863624l/1618.SY75.jpg 4259809]. Shout out to my wife for recommending this to me, she had taken the ebook version out from the library on a whim since it was trending and looked interesting, and after she got a few chapters in she found a hard copy at the library so that I could read it as well.